ISSUE 1558 Tuesday 31 August 1999

No takers for Millennium babysit agency By Katie Nicholl

A MILLENNIUM entrepreneur who has invested her life savings in setting up a professional babysitting agency is facing huge financial losses after failing to get a single booking for New Year's Eve.

Diane Hawtin, 50, set up Babysitting Services in May, convinced that her agency would be indispensable during the celebrations. "I am amazed that people are taking so little interest in the Millennium; there is an unbelievable amount of apathy," said Mrs Hawtin, of Shipston on Stour, Warwicks. "It seems as if no one wants to do anything. There is very little advertising of any functions or celebrations."

Mrs Hawtin usually charges #4.50 an hour but was planning to charge #20 an hour per child on New Year's Eve. "I have been told it is one of the fairest rates around," she said. "I do not think the price is the problem, it is just that no one seems to know what they are doing yet. It is very weird. The Millennium is a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Mrs Hawtin, a mother of two, has 500 qualified sitters registered to work on New Year's Eve, but she will be forced to close over the holiday if there are no bookings by December.

"I am hoping that when all the children go back to school after the summer break, parents will start thinking about what they are going to do for the Millennium."

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 30, 1999

Answers

Perhaps she is pitching to technical staff, who will be working that evening! That would be a mistake...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), August 30, 1999.

Gosh, she wanted to charge maybe $150 bucks a kid for the evening and is surprised she has no takers? Maybe British parents have more sense than she thought. Stay at home with the kiddies. Watch the television for developments. Have some champagne. Kiss. Go to bed and hopefully the lights will come on in the morning.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 30, 1999.

20 pounds/hour = approx. $30/hour.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 30, 1999.

And she is a year too early. New Year's Eve this year we only celebrate the start of the year 2000, and watch for any sign of the Y2K issues. It is new year's eve 2000/2001 that we celebrate the start of a new millennium.

Malcolm

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), August 30, 1999.