The Nursery Desk — Back Office Support for Early Years Settings

The real cost of in-house admin

Every hour your staff spend on paperwork is an hour they’re not in ratio.

In an early years setting, staffing ratios aren’t just a courtesy they’re a legal requirement. Every team member pulled away from the floor to chase invoices, process funding claims, or prepare welcome packs reduces your capacity, risks your compliance, and puts pressure on the staff who remain.

It becomes a cycle. Admin piles up, staff get stretched, standards slip, parents notice. The answer isn’t to hire more it’s to keep your qualified staff where they matter most, and put the back-office work where it belongs.

That’s exactly what The Nursery Desk is here to do.

Admin that never catches up

Invoicing, funding paperwork, and new starter packs get pushed back then pile up into a bigger problem.

Funding claims left on the table

Government early years funding has tight deadlines and complex forms. Errors or missed submissions cost real money.

Qualified staff doing the wrong job

Your practitioners trained to care for children, not to manage spreadsheets and chase outstanding payments.

What we handle

Everything behind the desk, so you can stay ahead of it.

Invoicing & Fee Collection

Monthly fee invoicing sent to parents on time, every time. Outstanding balance chasing handled professionally, with records kept clean and up to date.

Government Funding Claims

15 and 30-hour free entitlement claims, EYPP, DAF, and Disability Access Fund submissions processed accurately and on time so you never leave money unclaimed.

New Starter Packs & Prospectus

Professional welcome packs, parent prospectuses, and enrolment documents prepared and sent to new families first impressions that reflect the quality of your setting.

Admin & Record Keeping

Keeping on top of the day-to-day paperwork that keeps your setting running smoothly organised, accurate, and always accessible when you need it.

Compliance Support

Helping you stay on top of paperwork obligations attendance registers, registers of interest, and documentation that inspectors expect to see in order.

Bespoke Support

Every setting is different. We’ll discuss exactly what’s causing the most pain and build a package around what you actually need not a one-size template.

About Lauren

“I spent years on the inside of a setting. I know exactly what it costs when admin takes over.”

Lauren ran Kids2Day, an independent nursery and preschool in the UK, for years. She’s seen first hand what happens when the back-office work starts to overwhelm the team the admin that doesn’t get done, the funding that doesn’t get claimed, the parents who get a scrappy welcome pack instead of a professional one.

The Nursery Desk exists because she knows that in the early years sector, the gap between a well-run setting and a struggling one often isn’t the quality of care it’s everything that happens off the floor.

When you work with The Nursery Desk, you’re not hiring a virtual assistant who’s learning as they go. You’re working with someone who has run exactly the kind of setting you run.

Lauren

Founder, The Nursery Desk · Former owner, Kids2Day

Getting started

Simple to set up, simple to run.

Book a discovery call

A free 30-minute conversation about your setting, your pain points, and what would make the biggest difference.

We agree a package

A clear monthly retainer covering exactly what you need no hidden extras, no hourly guesswork.

Lauren gets to work

Fully remote. You share access to what she needs, she handles the rest and keeps you updated.

Your team stays in ratio

That’s it. Your staff are back on the floor, doing what they’re trained to do.

Pricing

Straightforward retainers. No surprises.

Essentials

£750 / month

For smaller settings that need help with the core admin that’s slipping through the cracks.

Monthly fee invoicing

Parent payment chasing

New starter packs & welcome letters

Email support included

Book a call to discuss

Ready to put your team back where they belong?

Book a free, no-pressure 30-minute call with Lauren to talk through your setting and see if The Nursery Desk is the right fit.

Book your free discovery call

No commitment. No sales pressure. Just a conversation.

Your staff belong on the floor. Not behind a desk.