Care home operator expands with move into specialist market

Last week, Leeds-based Maria Mallaband revealed that it had taken over 35 care homes from stricken operator Southern Cross.

The deal, which safeguarded 2,250 jobs, also led to the launch of a new company, Countrywide Care Homes. In July, staff and residents at more than 500 care homes were left unsure over who would be running them when Southern Cross revealed that it planned to shut down. The cash-strapped company said it would close after landlords refused to restructure rent agreements.

Southern Cross had been the UK’s largest care home operator. The firm ran into a financial crisis after accepting higher rents and lower fees as occupancy rates declined in the wake of local authority cutbacks.

Countrywide Care Homes will manage the Southern Cross homes that have been taken over by Maria Mallaband. There are plans to grow the operation to 70 sites in the next five years.

The Maria Mallaband Care Group was founded by Philip Burgan, a pharmacist, in 1996 who named it after his grandmother.

Before this, Mr Burgan had built up the Medimart pharmacy chain, which he sold in 1995.

The £90m-turnover Maria Mallaband Care group now operates 111 properties and has 4,000 staff.

Yesterday, Mr Burgan confirmed that the company planned to buy two homes specialising in autism care which are based in the north east.

“It’s a very niche market,’’ said Mr Burgan. “We have got an excellent team and our reputation has spread.” Maria Mallaband provides specialist autism care under its Autism Care UK operation.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person relates to others. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support.

People with autism may also experience over-sensitivity – or under-sensitivity – to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

According to the National Autistic Society, more than 500,000 people in the UK have autism. More than 40 per cent of children with autism have been bullied at school. Mr Burgan said Maria Mallaband had four or five homes in the pipeline for next year.

“We don’t see much acquisitive growth in the upmarket elderly sector,’’ he added. “The Southern Cross deal gives us scale and gets us attention.

“We will be able to build on these businesses. I see other distressed assets coming along.”

He said one of the reasons for the collapse of Southern Cross was that the company had bought too many poor quality assets.

He said many of the Southern Cross staff were well-trained, but they had lacked support in some areas.

He added: “The fabric of the buildings had become very tired.”

Maria Mallaband has grown organically and through acquisition.

“In 2002 we had just four homes, the growth over the nine-year period has been a rollercoaster,’’ said Mr Burgan.

“We want to improve the profitability of the businesses we have got.”

Mr Burgan said the top of the market could be seven to 10 years away, and the period of economic uncertainty had at least another three years to run.

“The worldwide events that brought us to this point have been unprecedented,’’ he said. “Providing first class customer service will always be our main objective. We will take the acquisitions as and when they come.”

Part of Anchor’s away with Ark

Home care company Ark Home Healthcare has acquired part of Anchor Trust and taken over the running of its care teams across Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax. Ark is looking to expand its operations across Yorkshire and create 150 jobs.

Ark’s operations director for Yorkshire Jackie Grant said: “Our main priority is to ensure there is absolutely no disruption to those being cared for.”