Start-up Stories: Nicola Grant, Holiday Nanny

How do you find a nanny like Maria? With great difficulty apparently, which is why ex-Goldman Sachs banker and mum of two Nicola Grant decided to set up her own agency, Holiday Nanny. The business has since sky rocketed, with a top award to its name and acres of press coverage. Gina Dyer finds out her venture got off the ground.

Even mums need a holiday sometimes and former investment banker Nicola Grant was no exception, but finding the right nanny to take care of her two small children proved to be an arduous process. After a long and fruitless search for an agency that could accommodate her, she decided to advertise privately.

Having waded through about 80 CVs, completed lots of reference checks and hosted a lot of interviews, she eventually found "a gem of a nanny" and was the envy of fellow holidaymakers. "It was a lot of effort but really worthwhile, and many people asked about her when we were in Spain," she says.

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