WHEN Helen Cooper discovered the difficulties involved in getting a suitable nanny to care for her two children she decided to take the problem into her own hands -- quite literally.

With the obvious advantages of being motivated, and fully conversant in the world of business, Helen has set up her own Internet nanny network.

Now she is hoping to recruit nannies, and nanny agencies, from the Bolton area to help fill what she believes is a void.

She says: "We have covered south Manchester and Cheshire, but we would like to get into the Bolton and north Manchester area."

Helen's network, ClickKids, is an on-line nanny service which finds the perfect nanny for couples or individuals looking for childcare.

For Helen it is a complete career change. She previously worked as a global marketing director for the cosmetics' company Yardley.

It was during one of 39-year-old Helen's long plane journeys that she came up with the basic idea for ClickKids.

"In 1999 I was on a plane more than I was at home and it was on one of the many trips that I was struck by the idea."

Helen, who originally hails from Leigh but now lives in the Midlands, had already come to the conclusion that nannies were the most flexible form of childcare.

But finding the right nanny was always a problem and many nanny agencies, says Helen, were not as good as they could be.

"Some agencies do not offer complete confidentiality for nannies and I felt that was wrong. So I decided I would have a go at starting my own Internet source."

ClickKids is not an agency but a network which works as a matching service to find the right nanny for the right parents, and vice versa.

Most of the families who use the service are professional people, mostly families with two incomes, just like Helen and husband Gavin, aged 38, who works for a logistics and exports group.

Some want live-in nannies and other people prefer their nannies to live independently.

"Some nannies want to live out, they want their own independence. Again it's up to the nanny and the family."

Nannies have changed considerably over the last few decades. A typical picture may be of an older woman, wearing a uniform and pushing a pram, or a Mary Poppins-esque child expert.

"Today's nanny may be much younger, but what I look for is maturity. Someone may be young in years but incredibly mature and very able to take care of children."

Norland Nannies are still very popular, says Helen. They are the uniformed nannies who are given strict training and able to perform a multitude of household skills, as well as childcare. But many people are looking for a different style of nanny and this is where ClickKids comes in.

For Helen it is a big change in lifestyle. She works from home -- although still employing a nanny "because you can't care for children properly while working"-- and is now there to put Sophie, aged eight, and four-year-old Emily to bed, something she has not been able to do before.

Safety is Helen's first priority and that means ClickKids prom-

ises only professional candidates verified by the industry regulator, CACHE, and thorough security and police checking is carried out before any nanny arrives on the doorstep.

The Internet is, says Helen, the way forward. "Most professional people have a computer and computers are used to get all sorts of information, so why not to find a nanny?"

For the busy working parent it is a fast and efficient way of accessing childcare, Helen believes.

And ClickKids is not, says Helen, "just for the landed gentry". She explains: "A lot of working parents are using nannies now, it is not just for the very wealthy. It is a flexible and very successful way of caring for children."

Helen, who still has family members living in the Bolton area, hopes her service will help a wide range of different families.

"We have even started to offer a nanny service for parents of children with special needs.

"They may be children who cannot see and then we would need a nanny who can read Braille and is conversant in sign language. It really is a very exciting project and something I feel should help a lot of families and nannies."