Having launched in the UK less than 10 months ago, Visiting Angels, one of America’s largest care franchises, welcome their first two UK franchisees. Gareth Redmayne and Dunni Awoyemi are both passionate about supporting their local communities and are determined to fulfil the brand’s mission – to become the UK care sector’s ’employer of choice’ – in their respective areas of Hatfield and Windsor.
The company, that commits to being ‘carer-centric’, was established in 1998 in the US and has since grown to have over 600 franchisees operating in five countries. Within a year of launching, the UK’s pilot office in Sheffield was awarded ‘Best International Franchise’ at the brand’s annual conference. Officially the first Visiting Angels franchisee in the UK, Gareth launches his Hertfordshire-based business in September.
“I was impressed with the
vision that Visiting Angels had for the UK. The whole concept of being
‘carer-centric’ completely aligned with my values and I knew it was something
that I had to be a part of. Setting up a home care business is hard work but it’s
a fantastic commercial opportunity which is matched by delivering a social
benefit. I think I am most looking forward to having a great team in place
delivering care that will have a positive impact on the local community.”
Gareth describes himself as an experienced healthcare manager but, just like all new Visiting Angels franchisees, flew to head office in Philadelphia for part one of his initial training. Gareth, Dunni and their fellow new recruits from across the pond met with the international franchise support team for four days of classroom-style training.
“My time in the US allowed
me to meet some of the best and brightest in the homecare business, and also
network with my fellow franchisees. Part two of training, at the UK head office,
provided me with more in-depth grounding of what I needed to do to get my business
up and running properly. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and it will be great
to start putting it all into practise and making a difference.”
Gareth and Dunni will be championing Visiting Angels’ carer-centric approach, which puts the carer at the heart of everything they do. By doing so, they will be happier in their job, enjoy what they do and, as a result, provide a better quality of care to their clients. This is something that UK managing director, Dan Archer, feels passionately about.
“I’m thrilled to welcome our
first two franchisees into the family. It’s so important for us to award
franchises to people who, like Gareth and Dunni, really share our commitment
and ambition to do things differently. We’re hoping that the rest of the care
sector will get behind our carer-centric approach – in fact, some of them are
already doing so, which is great to see.”
