Some 17 years after opening its first office in the UK, Home Instead boasts a network of 246 offices across the country.
Ruth Brown, who became Chief Operating Officer of the company this year, has been with the operation for 12 years and says that while well established it is continuing to extend and refine its offering.
“Over the last few years we have been extending our service offering to ensure our franchise owners are able to offer the full care continuum to clients and their families. One major change has been our live-in care offering. It’s been a fantastic way for franchisees to extend the length of time they are able to support existing clients but has also brought new clients to them.”
“Healthcare at home has been another area of expansion, and a really important one as we look to find ways to better integrate healthcare and social care.”
“We are now part of Honor, giving us a global view of the home care landscape, particularly highlighting the increasingly important role that technology will play in the future of home care, allowing care professionals to perform to their highest standards.”
The firm now has individual franchisees employing teams of over 30 key players and more than 250 Care Professionals, with turnovers in excess of £2.5 million. That doesn’t include the more experienced multi-unit owners who have even bigger teams.
“It has been a pleasure to see these businesses flourish,” says Brown. “And, like in any good business, our franchise owners have exit plans in place for when they retire. When they do, their businesses present a really exciting opportunity for the entrepreneurially-minded to invest in a thriving business that they can then take to new heights.
“The other part of franchise ownership that we are delighted to offer is multi-unit ownership and we have seen a significant increase in such owners in the network.
“We are very particular about who joins this elite group of owners but it’s a really attractive proposition for our most ambitious franchisees. So far, we have seen 25 owners/partners acquire an additional territory.”
Home Instead is proud to be evolving its social purpose strategy and the role of its own charity within that.
“It’s been really exciting to lead the development of our social purpose strategy and to give our own charity, Home Instead Charities, an important place as part of that strategy.
“Our brand has in-built social purpose; inherent in our mission to ‘expand the world’s capacity to care’ but our social purpose strategy and the work of Home Instead Charities within that, takes it to another level.”
Right now, as is the case for other care providers and in a lot of other employment sectors too, the company is focused on attracting and retaining the best people, all while expanding the business.
“It’s a challenge across many sectors but for us it’s amplified by ever-growing demand for our services.
“And great things come out of a challenge – such as national television campaigns in support of the network. Next year we have a number of new initiatives across marketing and recruitment and it’s going to be really exciting to see the impact these have.”
Anyone considering a Home Instead opportunity needs to be aligned with its values says Brown: “We expect our franchisees to share our values and be ambitious with a focus on growth and market share – it’s how we will achieve our mission.”
