Local nursery closes due to "devastating" virus

Wednesday 08 April 2020

A local private nursery with premises in Beaumont and Les Quennevais has had to shut after the "devastating" effect of covid-19 left the owners unable to meet their operating costs.

Rainbow Tots Nursery, which looked after children from as young as three months to the age of five, will soon be placed into liquidation.

In an email sent to the parents of Rainbow Tots, owner Jayne Newton announced “with great sadness” that she had taken the “very difficult decision to close Rainbow Tots as a business”. 

“The effect of Corona Virus on the ability of Rainbow Tots to continue trading has been devastating and in the month of April, we do not have the income to meet the operating costs of the nursery,” she explained. 

“With no certainty of when we may be able to reopen and with it how many parents may wish to return to the business, I feel that I have no alternative but to close down.”

Ms Newton said that Rainbow Tots had ceased trading with immediate effect and would be placed into formal liquidation later this month. She said all parents that had paid fees for April should have received a full refund of those fees, or would receive one within the next few weeks.

“This is a tremendously sad time both for me as Director and for the nursery staff, some of whom have been with Rainbow Tots for 17 years,” she added.

“It has been a great privilege and pleasure to care for your children and we are so sorry that we will not now be able to welcome them back to Rainbow Tots later in the year."

Pictured: “It has been a great privilege and pleasure to care for your children," Ms Newton said.

Deputy Louise Doublet said a number of parents were upset for the owner and the staff, but also concerned they would not be able to find a place for their child once lockdown is over.

She said the concern wasn’t merely to find any place but also one that parents are happy with, as they take great care in choosing the nursery that feels right for their child.

Deputy Doublet added that parents had expressed concern at the “important” bonds that the children had built with the staff and that have now been broken.

“Children can often be in the nursery for five days a week,” she said. “There are so many families where parents both work all week. People in nurseries have worked really hard to maintain bonds with video chats, story times or activities. 

“But for those children that bond and relationship with the staff has stopped. Many parents will have reassured their children that they will be going back to nursery. As parents we try and reassure that things will go back to normal.”

Pictured: Senator Tracey Vallois, the Education Minister.

The news of Rainbow Tots closure was met with sadness by the Education Minister, Senator Tracey Vallois, who said she “truly regretted that the owner has had to take this very difficult decision”.

She assured islanders that the Education Department is working with families and other providers to ensure that families left without childcare will have options available to them. 

She also said the Department has been in regular contact with the sector through its membership organisation, the Jersey Early Years Association (JEYA) to offer support and guidance about the options available for financial support and the business continuity measures that private nurseries are eligible for.  

She also announced that a new project board to review all the funding and fee issues pertaining to nurseries, schools and colleges as been established, and promised an update on its work later this month.

“The Government recognises that the childcare industry makes an essential contribution to the community and economy in Jersey,” she said. 

Pictured: A new project board has been set up to review all the funding and fee issues pertaining to nurseries, schools and colleges.

“It provides a much-needed service for families and children and we are committed to doing all that we can to ensure that it remains able to sustain the services it provides once covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. 

“It was a hugely difficult decision to close schools and advise nurseries to do likewise due to the coronavirus crisis and I am extremely grateful to all those who work in the early years, schools, youth and wider education sectors for their tremendous efforts at this very difficult time. 

“The issues that we are facing have never before been encountered, and all areas of society are being presented with unprecedented challenges. As ever, the health and well-being of the young people in our care and all our staff is our top priority." 

The nursery wasn't the only local business to have fallen victim to covid-19 this week.

On Monday, a freight company with 42 employees in the Channel Islands collapsed. 

Pictured: The Directors of all Channel Island Lines group companies decided they had “no alternative but to cease operations with immediate effect."

In a statement released on Sunday night, Paul Davis Freight Services (PDFS) CEO Andy Jehan (pictured top) said that the Directors of all Channel Island Lines group companies had decided they had “no alternative but to cease operations with immediate effect".

The owner of a St. Brelade-based dog grooming service also decided to close the business permanently on Monday.

“The coronavirus has sadly been the final nail in the coffin for this small business which is no longer financially viable,” Pauline of ‘Hair of the Dog’ wrote on her business's Facebook page.

Pictured: The post announcing the grooming business's closure on Facebook.

“I would like to thank you for your support and your friendship during the time I have been open. You have been amazing and I will miss you’re gorgeous dogs more than you know.

“Until we meet again please stay safe, stay well and above all stay 2 meters apart. Lots of love.”