Agency selection guide
How to choose a domestic staff agency in London
Choose a domestic staff agency by checking whether it defines the role clearly, explains its fees and terms before commitment, describes how candidate information is gathered, distinguishes introductions from guarantees, and provides a practical post-placement route. Compare what the agency can demonstrate, not only what its homepage claims.
How do you choose a good nanny or domestic staff agency?
Compare agencies on the information they obtain from the household, the role-specific evidence they use, fee and term transparency, how interviews and checks are handled, and what support exists if the placement later changes. Ask who makes the final hiring decision and which checks remain the household's responsibility.
Do not treat a review score, “vetted” label or replacement headline as enough on its own. Ask what the wording means, what conditions apply and where those commitments appear in the current terms.
Seven questions to ask a domestic staff agency.
What information do you need from the household?
An agency should be able to explain how duties, hours, location, working arrangement, start date and genuine role requirements shape the search.
What do you know, and what does the household still need to verify?
Ask how experience, references, qualifications and right-to-work information are handled and what is left to the employer's own assessment.
When is a fee due and how is it calculated?
Read the current fee schedule and terms rather than relying on a headline. FDS does not publish the unverified “no fee until you hire” claim while its claims gate remains open.
What happens if the role changes or a placement ends?
Replacement, refund or cancellation wording should be read with its conditions and time limits rather than converted into an unconditional guarantee.
Who interviews and makes the final decision?
The household should understand whether the agency introduces candidates, supplies temporary workers, employs them, or operates another arrangement.
Does the agency understand the specific household role?
A nanny, housekeeper, nanny-housekeeper, maternity nurse, companion and cleaner have different duties and evidence requirements.
What support exists after the start date?
Ask how to raise a problem, how the original brief is reviewed and which current terms govern any replacement or other commercial remedy.
How do you start looking for a nanny agency?
Embarking on your search begins with compiling a list of reputable nanny agencies. Personal recommendations from friends and family can provide trustworthy leads. They have firsthand experience and can share insights into the agencies' strengths and weaknesses. Online searches offer a broader scope, allowing you to discover agencies with strong online presences and positive reviews.
Reading online testimonials gives insight into other parents' experiences. Trusted platforms often feature detailed feedback that highlights the quality of service provided by various agencies. These real-life accounts can guide you toward agencies that consistently deliver excellent results. Exploring the agencies' websites can provide information about their philosophies, services offered, and any specialties they might have.
These two paragraphs are preserved from the original FDS page because the mapped query “how to get a nanny” currently holds a position-one answer. The surrounding guidance on this rebuilt page adds a stricter verification step: reviews and claims still need to be checked against the agency's current process, fees and terms.
Know whether the business is acting as an employment agency or employment business.
GOV.UK's June 2026 guidance explains that acting as an intermediary between a work-seeker and a hirer can fall within the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and Conduct Regulations 2003. An employment agency generally introduces work-seekers to be employed by the hirer, while an employment business supplies workers under a different arrangement. The Fair Work Agency is now the state regulator for private recruitment agencies and employment businesses in Great Britain.
The distinction matters because the household should understand who employs or pays the worker and which terms apply. This page is general information about choosing a recruitment intermediary, not legal advice about a particular contract.
From our work: we want the household to be able to see where the agency process stops and its own hiring responsibility begins.
Filipino Domestic Services' current How It Works page begins with the household brief: correct role, recurring duties, normal days and hours, location, working arrangement, duration and intended start date. FDS then uses reasonable endeavours to introduce candidates it considers relevant to the described work. The household decides which candidates to interview and makes the final employment decision.
That boundary is important when comparing agencies. A strong marketing statement can make it sound as though an agency has already made the household's decision for it. Our rebuilt pages instead state what we know from the introduction process and what the household must still satisfy itself about, including references, qualifications, right to work and the practical fit of the candidate with the home.
We also separate the fee page from salary and employer on-costs, and the post-placement page from the initial search. That lets a household review the agency charge, the employment budget and any conditional replacement provision as different decisions rather than one vague “cost and guarantee” promise.
For FDS, this means the best comparison question is not “which agency says it has the best people?” It is “which process gives me enough role, evidence, term and responsibility detail to make a defensible hiring decision?”
Compare fees and commercial terms before accepting an introduction.
Use the domestic staffing fees page to separate agency charges from salary and other employer costs. Read the current client terms for the conditions attached to replacement, refund, cancellation or transfer provisions.
GOV.UK guidance also requires agencies and employment businesses to provide specified information to hirers and work-seekers. The exact rules depend on the operating model, so a household should ask the agency to explain its own arrangement rather than assume all recruiters use the same terms.
Domestic staff agency questions.
How do I find a good nanny agency in London?
Start with recommendations and online research, then compare the agencies' current process, fee transparency, role specialisation, candidate evidence, terms and post-placement support. Verify what headline claims mean before relying on them.
What should a domestic staff agency tell me before I hire?
You should understand the role brief, search model, fees, applicable terms, what candidate information is supplied, which checks the household must complete and who employs or pays the worker under the chosen arrangement.
Does a nanny agency guarantee that a candidate is suitable?
Do not assume so. Read the agency's current terms and process. FDS introduces candidates for the household to consider, while the household remains responsible for its own interview, checks and final decision.
Should I choose the agency with the cheapest fee?
Not automatically. Compare what the fee covers, the search process, role expertise, terms, evidence supplied and post-placement route. Also keep the agency fee separate from the employee's salary and employer on-costs.
What is the difference between an employment agency and an employment business?
GOV.UK describes an employment agency as an intermediary that introduces work-seekers to be employed by the hirer, while an employment business supplies workers under a different arrangement. Ask which model applies to your instruction.
Does FDS charge no fee until I hire?
The rebuilt site does not publish that unverified claim. Check the current fees page and client terms for when the relevant charge becomes due and how it is calculated.
Sources and preserved search passage.
The agency-comparison framework is grounded in FDS's current process, fees and client terms. The two search-start paragraphs above preserve the PP5 wording from the legacy source before its planned redirect.
Compare the process before comparing the promises.
Review the FDS service hub, current fees and matching process, then decide whether the agency model fits the household.