YOUNG entrepreneur Claire Hale has a growing future in childcare since the Prince's Trust helped her take those crucial first steps.

After learning all about being a nanny the hard way, Claire set up her own agency and runs it from her home in Ford Road, Bromsgrove.

Holly's House - from her maiden name of Hollyer - now provides qualified and experienced help for parents who need nannies, babysitters or any other childcare in the home.

Hundreds of clients and carers have passed through the database on 28-year-old Claire's computer since she set it up two years ago.

"I was looking for work as a nanny and I came across a number of agencies that just didn't seem to get anything right so I decided to set up my own," said Claire. "I've always enjoyed being involved with children but I didn't want a career as a nanny."

Claire spent a year as a live-in nanny looking after 12-month-old twins and a five-year-old girl in Boston, America, when she was 18. On her return, she worked for a family in England and carried on part-time while she got a human geography degree at university in Cheltenham. "I come from a large extended family so it was natural for me to be around children of all ages," she said.

After leaving university, she worked for an internet marketing company. Being made redundant from there, about to marry husband Richard and move house, she decided the time was right to be her own boss. The trust was there to help her and its latest initiative, launched last week, is to help one new business start up every week across Worcestershire.

If you have a business idea, you can check out the website, www.princes-trust.org.uk, and once you've got in touch, they can provide the expertise to make it into a working proposition.

"When you first have an idea, you need someone to point you in the right direction," she said. "The Prince's Trust gives you a boost when you need it because it can be quite daunting. You have a business mentor and they show you how it can be straightforward."

Now Claire - who is one of the first involved in a new regulatory body, the Association of Nanny Agencies - would have to think very hard before working for someone else. "Working for myself, the more I put in, the more I get out," she said. "That's a good feeling."

Find out more at www.hollyshouse.net or e-mail info@hollyshouse.net