STAFF at a Hyde nursery threatened with closure claim they have not been paid.
Banana Moon, which operates out of Bayley Hall inside Hyde Park, says it will shut its doors permanently on Friday, October 13 because of the financial dispute with Tameside Council over rent and electricity bills.
It is already closed ‘until further notice’ amid claims it did not meet the early years foundation stage (EYFS) criteria.
Now more than one staff member has approached The Correspondent to allege they have not received wages they are owed.
In a post on Facebook, nursery manager Stacey Hirst said: “Unfortunately due to not being able to meet the legal requirements as stated in the EYFS, nursery will be closed on Monday, October 2 and will remain closed until further notice.
“I apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and I will do my upmost to support you all. However, due to circumstances out of my control I have no other option.”
Banana Moon, a franchise whose head office is based in Warwick, called on Tameside Council to ‘take responsibility for their actions’ over the dispute.
However, the authority hit back at claims made by the nursery, which said in a statement: “Before opening, we were unaware that the electric meters within the basement of the nursery building covered the whole of Hyde Park.
“This includes the lights, bowling green, bandstand and toilets. This amounted to a monthly electricity bill of £3,210.
“We were in an impossible position, as we cannot operate without electricity.
“On September 6, with no prior notice, enforcement officers arrived at the nursery, informing us that Tameside Council were taking us to court for not paying rent and threatening to remove the children from the premises.
“In order to safeguard our children, we had to pay over E50.000 on the spot in order for the bailiffs to leave.”
Banana Moon cares for 100 children from the Hyde area but publicly, staff say they are ‘heartbroken to be ending our journey and seeing parents and children facing a stress of finding alternative childcare at such short notice.’
However, the tale appears different in the messages The Correspondent has received and Tameside Council portrayed a different tale.
In response to Banana Moon’s statement, it said: “The council is in dispute with Banana Moon nursery – which is a private business and the tenant of the property – over the non-payment of rent and business rates.
“We would not be taking the action we have taken unless there was a significant reason for doing so.
“Despite an overpayment of electricity which has been taken in lieu of rent, the nursery is unfortunately still in significant rent and business rates arrears which it has informed us it is not in a position to pay.”
In relation to the claims regarding bailiffs, it added: “Despite lengthy recovery processes, no payments were forthcoming until enforcement action taken and bailiffs were instructed and attended the nursery premises.
“However, we can confirm that neither the council nor enforcement officers would ever remove children from a nursery building as part of the process of recovering debt.”
The Correspondent has approached Banana Moon for comment over the wage allegations.