A nursery near Inverness is set to enter administration after giving parents just a few hours notice that it would not open today.
Country Bumpkins in Ardersier was highly regarded by parents with the outdoor facilities seen as a popular attraction for their children.
Parents found out through the nursery app on Sunday afternoon that it would not open its doors on Monday morning.
The nursery said it had “no other choice” due to a private nursery staffing “crisis”.
Established in 2012 and based at The Old School, the nursery’s ethos was to “get children back to basics in a countryside location”.
Facilities included a yurt classroom, compost eco loos across an acre of land.
Childcare crisis for parents
The sudden closure has given worried parents little time to find replacement childcare.
One parent said: “We found out via a message posted by management on the nursery app at around 2pm on Sunday.
“It was such a massive shock. We are feeling angry, upset and extremely anxious about the future.
“We had absolutely zero prior warning and now an entire nursery of kids are looking for alternative childcare.
“The staff found out at the same time that we did and now all those wonderful people who have looked after our kids for many years are out of a job.”
The parent described the nursery “like a second home” for the children, who will not see their friends and teachers day-to-day anymore.
The mum said she had spent hours trying to find nursery places elsewhere.
She adds: “I haven’t been able to eat or sleep since finding out and have spent all morning making frantic phone calls whilst trying to keep myself together in front of the kids.
“We have so far been unable to secure any alternative childcare.
“If we can’t find anywhere with space to take them then I won’t be able to carry on working and we’ll be forced to sell our home to survive. It feels like we are living in a nightmare.”
Another parent said their two-year-old son was “heartbroken”.
“The nursery gave us all less than 18 hours notice to try and secure any kind of childcare.
“We’re all so shocked. The owners have been investing money in the nursery and been making improvements and recruiting as recently as last week.
“I am eternally grateful to all other childcare providers who have dropped everything to try to accommodate some very desperate parents.”
Country Bumpkins statement
The nursery has removed its Facebook page, which had advertisements for staff jobs posted last week.
The statement to parents thanked them for choosing Country Bumpkins.
It said: “It is with much regret and sadness that we must inform you that we will not be opening our doors tomorrow (12th June 2023) and will go into administration by the end of this week.
“We are so sorry for putting you all in this situation, but we have no other choice due to the current private nursery staffing crisis which has left us in a situation where we cannot open all rooms next week.
“Unfortunately we cannot see this situation improving over the next 6-12 months.
“Administrators will take over from some point this week and final bills will be issued by them.
“We would like to thank you for choosing Country Bumpkins, some of you have been using us for childcare for many years as your families grew and it has been a privilege to have been involved along the way.”
Calls to the nursery went unanswered on Monday morning.
Conversation