As joint CEO of Caremark, David Glover has overseen impressive growth for the in-home care franchise business. He attributes the expansion to Caremark’s dedication to providing compassionate, professional care for all those needing assistance.
“Progress has been excellent,” he declares. “The company is the most successful it’s ever been in our history.”
Glover points to an engaged franchise network, strong corporate support teams, and exciting plans fuelling momentum into the future.
People power
The difference, according to Glover, starts with “great people” across the organisation who live the company’s stated values of integrity, compassion and reliability. Caremark stands apart in the industry, he says, because of a commitment to serve every client with excellent care, regardless of their social standing.
He explains: “We believe we have a social responsibility to provide care for all, no matter if customers can pay privately or if they require their local authority to fund care for them. Everyone has the right to receive high quality care in their own home and we’re proud to enable that.”
This ethos resonates with franchise owners aligned to Caremark’s mission. It also opens up the full market to fuel growth.
“Why would we limit ourselves to the private market when it accounts for just 27%?” reasons Glover. “By serving both privately funded and publicly funded clients, we’re able to operate in 100% of the home care market as a trusted brand.
“There’s a belief that local authority work isn’t profitable, but we see first-hand that this isn’t the case. Our company owned office is proof of this; it’s a business that runs on a high percentage of local authority work that pays a great hourly rate. The business subsequently enjoys a large turnover and high operating profits.”
Be honest
The firm has built success through honesty, integrity and transparency, Glover says.
“What we tell prospective franchise owners at every stage is the absolute reality, not optimistic projections,” he states.
“With nearly 20 years of experience, our data and promises have been proven factual time and again.”
Meanwhile, Caremark invests heavily in its support infrastructure to power franchisee success.
“Our ratios show that we have three Franchise Owners for every one support centre team member,” says Glover. “We have big support teams with deep expertise.”
This knowledge translates into excellent service for clients. Independent surveys give Caremark training an 89% approval rating, which Glover says is 33% above industry benchmarks.
Standout year
The Caremark formula continues to yield impressive gains, especially over the last 12 months.
“We exceeded our targets in terms of financials and saw 20% year-on-year network growth in net turnover for 2023,” Glover reports.
Franchisee satisfaction has hit high marks as well, with leadership trust scores rating 25% above industry averages. This 88% approval rating in trust demonstrates the worth of a collaborative franchisor-franchisee relationship.
Other 2023 highlights include launching an accredited leadership programme, evolving Caremark’s brand identity and marketing to better appeal to care seekers, and collaborating with government around issues affecting the in-home care sector.
Recruiting and retaining care assistants remains a sector-wide challenge. But Glover says improved staff retention at Caremark will enable expansion to help fill rising demand. He believes spotlighting the rewards of this vital work can shift perceptions over time.
“Our staff retention rates have improved dramatically which of course helps Caremark to grow. I also anticipate that our recent appointment of a Talent Acquisition Manager will enable us to attract more of the best Care Assistants into the Caremark business, and to retain them.”
Tailored support
As the franchisor supports larger enterprises within its nationwide network, Caremark introduced new tailored services. “We created the 360 Group for businesses achieving £3m-plus in turnover,” Glover explains.
This group gives mature businesses specialised support and a voice in shaping Caremark’s future. It earns rave reviews from top franchise owners.
“The group and the Franchisor Senior Management Team meet twice per year to discuss their needs, their challenges, to share best practices and, in collaboration with the Senior Management Team, shape the future of the business. We also work with them to provide additional support such as individual external mentoring or other forms of top-line business insight. We’re pleased to say this group is well appreciated by its current members and, even better, is growing.”
Ongoing training evaluations also ensure continually improving franchisee preparation as the network scales.
Growth roadmap
With a model powering 20% year-over-year gains, Caremark is raising the bar again with its strategic plan.
Goals include adding 15 new franchise owners in 2024, growing network turnover 18%, and ongoing discussions regarding the introduction of a National Marketing Fund to keep fuelling growth.
Glover says he wants to “continue our successful momentum and build on our accomplishments to date” in the years ahead.
“In terms of gaining new Franchise Owners, we simply focus on us and what we do well. We are confident in our model, in our policies, in our ethos and we stay true to this. We are also engaging more with industry and are regularly being asked to speak at industry events. We continually promote the Caremark offering and a have strong pipeline of prospects. A new introduction into this process is to psychometric test all new franchise owners as an additional tool to help us understand the person behind the application.”
For a company already delivering over 10,000 care hours per week in some locations, hitting its goals and objectives for 2024 is definitely achievable.
Caremark’s mission-focused approach should enable increasing access to high-quality care across the country.
When social responsibility guides business decisions, Glover believes profits and community impact grow in equal measure. As more families turn to in-home care, he’s confident Caremark can meet rising needs while upholding its standards.
