Southern Cross to escape worst

The Garforth entrepreneur said residents were unlikely to be forced to move homes because the group should come to a deal with its landlords. Last week Southern Cross said it could not pay its full rent and yesterday it announced it would update investors on July 12.

Mr Tomlinson told the Yorkshire Post: “Southern Cross homes are not just going to start closing down. It is the last thing a landlord will want. The only way they will get rent is if it (the property) stays as a care home. (However) it can be a bit self-fulfilling because who wants to place their loved one in a place where people say it may close down?”

Southern Cross cares for about 31,000 mainly elderly people in 750 homes, including 63 in Yorkshire.

Mr Tomlinson is chairman of Ideal Care Homes, which has more than 1,000 beds in homes across Yorkshire, the North West and the Midlands. It was set up after he sold his previous care home operation for £175m in 2007.

He said landlords had invested in Southern Cross and should not be seen as “the villain” in the controversy but called for the Government to do more to recognise the differing qualities of care in the market. Ideal’s new-build homes are high-spec but there had been little incentive for Southern Cross to invest in its buildings because there is no “premium on quality”, he added.

Mr Tomlinson, who has been in the care sector for more than 25 years, said he remained sympathetic to Southern Cross despite the problems it has had since floating in 2006. “I feel desperately sorry for the current management team and staff who are doing the best they can with the circumstances they are in.”