Sitters

What Sitters does

Sitters is a UK-based childcare introduction agency operating as a trading division of 288 Group Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales. Per the company's own history, the business has operated continuously since 1967 and is headquartered in Poole. The company connects UK parents with vetted, experienced childcare professionals — babysitters, nannies, childminders, nursery nurses, teachers, and midwives with at least two years of recent professional childcare experience — through a mobile-first platform available on iOS (App Store ID 1595101750) and Android (Google Play), supplemented by a web application. The platform architecture is built on Microsoft Azure cloud hosting, with Firebase handling user authentication and push notifications, Stripe processing all in-app payments, and Loqate providing address/postcode lookup. Every sitter undergoes DBS checks (England/Wales) or PVG checks via Mygov.scot (Scotland), identity verification, an interview, and reference checks; all bookings are covered by £5,000,000 public liability insurance facilitated through Morton Michel on behalf of QBE UK Ltd. The service portfolio spans evening and overnight babysitting, daytime and wraparound childcare, hotel and holiday-home childcare, wedding and event childcare, and emergency/last-minute bookings with a stated dispatch capability of as little as 90 minutes.

The business operates a hybrid revenue model. Parents pay a £19.95 membership fee for 3 months of unlimited booking access (approximately £1.50 per week), with a 7-day free trial for new customers; cancellation is available anytime through the app. Separately, parents pay hourly rates directly to sitters through the app, with rates quoted per family (not per child) and inclusive of the Sitters service charge; sitters set their own rates and can customise them for individual bookings. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-consumer and digital: the iOS and Android apps, the sitters.co.uk web platform, paid acquisition across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and YouTube, organic content marketing through a 102-post parenting blog, email marketing via Mailchimp and Mailgun, and Trustpilot-verified review badges. Customer support is handled through Gorgias. The company claims 133,000+ verified parent reviews and "millions" of completed bookings since 1967, serving UK families nationwide. Target segments include families needing evening/overnight care, daytime wraparound care, travel and event childcare, and emergency coverage — a horizontal segmentation approach with no enterprise or B2B customers disclosed.

Name

Sitters

Legal name

288 Group Ltd

Website

https://sitters.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sitters is a UK-based, app-driven childcare introduction agency (a trading division of 288 Group Ltd) that has connected parents with vetted, insured babysitters, nannies, and childminders nationwide since 1967, operating on a £19.95/3-month membership plus per-family hourly booking model via iOS, Android, and web.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (6244)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Date Night & Evening Babysitting (HSAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Event & Wedding Babysitting (Kids’ Corner/Group Sitting) (HSAAAAAE), On-Call & Last-Minute Babysitting (HSAAAAAC), Overnight Babysitting (Ad Hoc) (HSAAAAAJ)

Keywords

• Childcare services
• Babysitter booking platform
• In-home childcare
• Vetted nannies
• Childcare marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Poole

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Parent membership subscription: Parents pay a membership fee to access the platform and book childcare. Membership costs £19.95 for 3 months (approximately £1.50 per week), giving unlimited access to childcare bookings during the membership period.
2. Hourly childcare fees: Parents pay hourly rates directly to childcare professionals through the app. Hourly rates are quoted as a single price per family (not per child). Childcarers set their own rates and can customise rates for specific bookings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sitters is a UK-based app-based childcare introduction agency that connects parents with vetted, experienced childcare professionals (babysitters, nannies) for in-home childcare. The service covers evening, daytime, hotel, holiday, wedding/event, and emergency childcare, with parents paying a £19.95 quarterly membership plus hourly rates set by individual childcarers, all processed through the Sitters App via Stripe.

Product overview

Sitters is a UK-based childcare introduction agency operating as a single, unified app-based platform that connects parents with vetted, experienced childcarers (babysitters) for in-home childcare. The platform consists of the Sitters App, which serves both parents (for registering, browsing sitters, booking, and paying) and childcarers (for managing profiles, receiving booking offers, and getting paid). The service covers evening babysitting, daytime childcare, emergency childcare, hotel babysitting, and wedding/event childcare nationwide across the UK. Membership costs £19.95 for three months (approximately £1.50 per week), with hourly rates charged per family rather than per child. All sitters are carefully vetted — including background checks, reference verification, and interviews — and are covered by £5,000,000 public liability insurance facilitated through Morton Michel on behalf of QBE UK Ltd. Payments between parents and sitters are processed exclusively through the Sitters App via Stripe. Sitters has been trusted by families since 1967, with over 133,000 parent reviews.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sitters App (Childcare Matching and Booking Service)
• Evening and Overnight Childcare
• Daytime and Wraparound Childcare
• Hotel, Holiday, Wedding and Event Childcare
• Emergency and Last-Minute Childcare

Quantifiable outcome

• Babysitter can be dispatched in as little as 90 minutes for emergency bookings
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is the exclusive payment processing partner for Sitters, handling all in-app payments between parents and childcare professionals. Stripe processes payment cards associated with parent accounts and distributes funds to childcare workers.
• FirebasecoreTechnology or IntegrationFirebase provides push notification services and user authentication for the Sitters platform, enabling real-time booking updates and secure login functionality.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Azure provides cloud hosting services for the Sitters platform, supporting the web application and backend infrastructure.
• Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)coreTechnology or IntegrationDBS checks are conducted as part of the childcare professional vetting process to verify criminal record status.
• Morton Michel / QBE UK LtdcoreTechnology or IntegrationMorton Michel facilitates £5,000,000 third-party public liability insurance on behalf of QBE UK Ltd for childcare professionals attending bookings made through the app.
• TrustpilotminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTrustpilot provides review management and aggregation services, with Sitters displaying Trustpilot-verified review badges and ratings on their platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bubble: Bubble is a UK-based app that connects parents with vetted childcarers for evenings, weekends, and ad-hoc bookings. It directly competes with Sitters in the same UK urban parent segment using a similar mobile-first, membership-based model.
• Koru Kids: Koru Kids is a London-headquartered UK childcare platform focused on nanny and babysitter matching with an emphasis on qualified, vetted carers. It competes head-to-head with Sitters for the same UK family customer base using a tech-enabled matching model.
• Yoopies: Yoopies is a European platform with a UK presence that helps families find nannies, babysitters, childminders, and tutors. It overlaps directly with Sitters' offering in the UK childcare introduction and matching space.
• Childcare.co.uk: Childcare.co.uk is a UK childcare directory platform connecting parents with nannies, babysitters, childminders, and tutors nationwide. It is a direct peer to Sitters in the UK childcare introduction agency category, though with a broader service scope.
• Tinies Childcare: Tinies is a UK nanny and maternity nurse agency that introduces qualified childcare professionals to families. It is a direct traditional-agency peer to Sitters, though it relies more on agency-led placement than a pure app-based model.
• Babysits: Babysits is an international platform operating in the UK that connects parents with babysitters and childcarers for ad-hoc, recurring, and live-in care. It competes with Sitters in the UK for online babysitter matching and booking.

Regional players

• Sittercity: Sittercity is a US-focused online platform connecting parents with babysitters, nannies, and tutors. It is comparable to Sitters in business model and category but operates primarily in North America and does not directly compete in the UK.
• UrbanSitter: UrbanSitter is a US-based app and online platform for finding babysitters and nannies, with a similar sitter-profiles-and-reviews model to Sitters. It is comparable in product but regional to the US and does not compete in the UK.

Emerging players

• Helpling: Helpling is a UK and European platform primarily for domestic cleaning services, with adjacent categories including childcare in some markets. It is comparable to Sitters as a tech-enabled home services marketplace, though its core focus is cleaning rather than childcare.

Broad incumbents

• Care.com: Care.com is the largest global online marketplace for family care services (childcare, senior care, pet care, housekeeping) with UK operations. It is a broad incumbent competing with Sitters in the UK online childcare matching category as part of a much wider portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sitters
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sitters-co-uk

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sitters