Senior care franchise fills gap in market

by Catherine Woods - Friday, 10th October 2008 -

Trevor Brocklebank and his wife, Sam, bought the UK franchise for alternative care business Home Instead Senior Care after struggling to find appropriate services for his ailing grandfather.

Two years on, the business, which provides companionship-based in-home services for the elderly, turns over £18m and has 27 offices across the UK.

Brocklebank bought the franchise after selling the IT consultancy he had also run with his wife for £4m. He says: “Most people assumed we’d do another IT company, but at that time my grandfather was ill and we couldn’t find the right care. For me, the motivation to get into this business was to stop other people going through what we went through.”

The same motivation drives many of the business franchise owners. “More than half our franchisees have had personal experience with the care sector. They’ve had a grandparent or parent who has needed help,” Brocklebank says. “Until you get involved in the sector, you don’t realise the gap in care. Our typical owners are in their forties, have had a very successful business career and want to maintain their income and lifestyle but want to find something that makes a difference.”

Brocklebank turns down more franchisees than he accepts. “The most important thing for owners is people who have a real affinity for what we do,” he says.