Arlinda

Extremely unreliable

Unfortunately, I had a very negative experience with Sarah.

We had agreed for her to start with our family on a specific date, with the contract ready to be signed and everything arranged through NannyTax, a service we paid for specifically for her position.

At the last minute, we also agreed to a significant change to her requested rate, involving an additional cost of over £2,500, in order to accommodate her request, as she explained that she had miscalculated her original figures.

Less than 48 hours before she was due to start, Sarah told us she had injured her ankle and would not be able to start. We were understanding and were initially told she expected to recover within a few days, and then within around a week.

A week later, she told us it might take another couple of weeks. Communication had also become increasingly slow. I completely understood that an injury can be unpredictable, so I asked whether she had been given a clearer indication of her expected recovery time, as we needed to understand when she might realistically be able to start.

A few hours later, rather than providing an indication of when she might return, she informed us by email that her circumstances had changed and that she would be relocating for family reasons.

I appreciate that circumstances can change and that neither an injury nor a relocation can necessarily be predicted. However, the timing of these developments and the way they were communicated left us with a strong sense that the situation had not been handled with the level of transparency and professionalism we would expect.

I cannot comment on Sarah as a nanny, as clearly we never had the opportunity to work together. However, reliability, clear communication and professionalism are particularly important when arranging childcare, and unfortunately our experience fell significantly short of this.

Based on our experience, I would not feel comfortable recommending Sarah to another family.

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by Arlinda about SB35 (Nanny) on 30/09/2026

An exceptional nanny and a wonderful support

I almost wouldn't recommend Nina, because… we'd much rather keep her for ourselves :)

Unfortunately, we're moving away, which means we have to say goodbye after having her with our family from when our son was 4 months old until almost his first birthday. During such a transformative first year, she has been absolutely invaluable.

Beyond being an exceptional nanny, she is genuinely kind, honest, professional, and incredibly hard-working. Having had the chance to get to know her a little personally, I can say she is someone you can trust and, importantly, someone who truly keeps her word and honours the commitments she makes. In a big city where relationships can sometimes feel quite transactional, this is something we have valued enormously.

With our son, she has always been warm, sweet, patient, and deeply attentive to his needs as a newborn and now a baby. With her experience both as a mum of three and as a nanny, she is often able to anticipate developmental stages and assist you through them.

As a native English speaker, she has also been a wonderful linguistic influence for our Italian family during our son's first year.

She actively asks for feedback and guidance to understand how you like things done, but is then incredibly proactive, organised and self-managed. She notices what needs doing without being asked and truly makes family life easier.

Any family lucky enough to have Nina care for their children will quickly understand how special she is. We are incredibly grateful for everything she has done for us. And while we are so sad to be losing her because of our move, we couldn't recommend her more highly.

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by Arlinda about Nina (Household Help) on 13/08/2026