PAUL NEWMAN, CEO, GREENSLEEVES CARE THE BIG INTERVIEWAugust 2019 | CARE HOME PROFESSIONAL 23high quality care where you have
motivated and compassionate carers,
led by an inspiring home manager, is
what we sell rather than a building.”
Having assessed the financial means
to fund its growth, the provider became
the first care home provider to launch
a retail charity bond in 2017 (see
box below).
In terms of its reinvestment
strategy, Greensleeves Care currently
has three homes undergoing major
redevelopment. This includes the
reopening of a mothballed, 57-bed
residential and dementia home in
Tunbridge Wells in 2020.
Greensleeves Care is also building
a 40-bed dementia annexe at its care
home in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire.
“The residential wing will drop to
around 24 beds and we will have the
specialist dementia unit as well,” Paul
said. “It’s a constant challenge to keep
homes up to date.”
In terms of acquisitional growth,
the not for profit added three nursing
homes to its portfolio in 2010, 2015
and 2016.
“Our nursing homes are doing
very well and are rated ‘good’ in all
categories but increasingly dementia
care has become our bread and butter
alongside respite and end of life care,”
Paul noted.
Several of the provider’s homes are
registered to provide Gold Standards
end of life care.
When looking at acquisitions, Paul
stressed the long-term viability of
the existing building was of intrinsic
importance.
“Any existing buildings are bought
in the knowledge that they are fit for
purpose or adaptable to the future,”
he stressed.
The CEO said Greensleeves Care
would also consider turnaround
opportunities.
“A couple of homes we have acquired
have been where the previous owner
has run out of cash and didn’t have
the right business model and didn’t
undertake the necessary investment,”
Paul said.
“We have had to fund that and play
catch up. Fundamentally they are
good businesses and are popular in the
local market.
“We have bought care homes in the
past that were requires improvement
and turned them around.”
Due diligence is carried out in each
home before acquisition as well as a full
condition survey and full quality and
HR audit.
“It’s certainly time well spent
knowing what you are getting yourself
in for,” Paul stressed.The provider is committed to at
least matching the existing terms and
conditions of staff at acquired homes.
“We don’t go in and change people’s
contracts from day one,” Paul said.
“There’s very little for them to push
back against. Some of the homes we
buy might be standalone homes. They
welcome the fact we are a professional
care organisation that speaks their
language and understands what they
are talking about. They are able to
share ideas and challenges with new
colleagues who understand where they
are coming from. All our staff are paid
over and above the Living Wage.
“It tends to be more affluent market
towns where we struggle most to attract
and retain people or where there are
a lot of providers who have suddenly
moved into a market.
“I have done 40-year length of service
presentations. We do well in retaining
staff. I would like us to do better. It’s not
just down to pay. It’s down to culture
and values as well.”
Paul said Greensleeves Care was
about to commission a rewards
specialist to review its pay and
benefits for staff at all levels, as part
of its bid to further boost recruitment
and retention.
“Because of the challenges some
of the more affluent areas present,
you need to have a more flexible pay
policy to respond to the local market
challenges,” Paul commented.
The care home provider is carrying
out pilots looking at increased pay
at a couple of its services, which, if
successful, it plans to review spreading
more widely after six months.
The charity’s payscale is graded to
recognise people’s qualifications with
differentials uplifted between each
different job description each year.
A 4.9% wage hike was introduced for
staff last year.
“We have two outstanding homes in
the Lowestoft area and I am told our
pay rates there are head and shoulders
above the rest of the local competition,”
Paul said.
“They are not excessive by any
stretch of the imagination and I wouldRETAIL CHARITY BOND
“Back in 2015 we started to take a
long term look at the funding of the
organisation for growth. We had
until that time a number of small
loans with a number of individual
banks and what we decided to do
was to try and streamline that and
reduce the complexity in terms of
managing the different covenants
which came with each lender and
we became aware of a product
called a Retail Charity Bond,
which at the time had only been
issued by housing associations.
We took a long hard look at it and
we felt it worked very much for
us as it removed lots of different
covenants, nobody had charges
over any of our assets and itreturned complete control of our
asset base to the Board. So we
worked with our advisors and in
2017 issued the first social care
bond for the sector. It sold out
within a week. We raised £33m
that week and had a further £17m
of retained bonds which we could
draw down. As we have grown
and used up that funding we are
now in a position where we need
to draw down further bonds. They
are trading healthily. We have
had other operators follow what
we have done and more housing
associations have participated. We
are in a good place and it is most
certainly our preferred way of
funding for our growth strategy.”