Built on over 30 years of specialist expertise, Active Care Group has been gradually developing its name and expanding its reputation in what continues to be a highly competitive arena. Following a number of mergers overseen by its operator, Montreux Capital Management, the company has pushed on further in recent years and now operates nearly 70 sites, supplemented by around 30 leasehold operations. Josh Worrell, Head of Property & Estates, recently outlined to Construction Industry News what the impact of this growth has been from an asset point of view and how it’s being managed.
“We carry out quite a mixture of care including assisted living, as well as providing care for individuals with specific health issues, such as ventilation and respiratory problems, spinal injury, brain injury, epilepsy, neurological conditions, mental health and learning disabilities,” explains Mr Worrell. “Given the breadth of the services we offer, we have a varied portfolio of properties so that we’re able to provide the best possible care. As a result of this diversity, our approach to facilities management is equally varied to ensure any issues are quickly identified and resolved.
“We have a small in-house maintenance team but supplement services with a select band of sub-contractors covering various disciplines to meet our requirements, along with tendering out for larger packaged works. In terms of the strengths we look for from sub-contractors, the most important are the quality of their work and their behaviour. When operating on sites where there are people with severe mental health issues or learning difficulties, you have to have contractors that are extremely competent and can adjust to the environment that they’re in. There’s simply no compromising on this.”
As well as ensuring its sub-contracting partners are of the required calibre to meet its needs, Active Care Group has also fully embraced technology, and has recently been updating its FM system.
“The previous incarnation of our FM system was beginning to get slightly dated, so we’ve been rolling out its replacement since just before Christmas and this has been a process that has been progressing really well. The new system has a particular focus on a number of areas to give us clear understanding that we are meeting our SLA’s, while reactive works are also logged and updated accordingly. This gives us a fully traceable record with the sub-contractors for the work that we’re expecting them to carry out, along with full costings, along with giving us the ability to manage our maintenance operatives’ diaries.”
While ongoing repairs and maintenance is a major undertaking day-to-day, Mr Worrell is also heavily involved in the development side, which has become increasingly important since the mergers and expansion plan. “A great deal of my time is spent on the real estate side of the operation; such as conducting negotiations, sense checking acquisitions, disposals and development work. Once we’ve found a site that we’re happy with, we’ll put together a business case before presenting it to Montreux Capital. This could be from the adaptation of an existing building or involve the purchase of a plot of land for new build work. I’ll then work with our supply chain to put the build plans in place to give us an outline of budget, outline the ROI and if positive, place the package out to tender.
“One of our latest development sites has been Kings Norton Hospital in Birmingham, which was a large project comprising a 32-bed mental health unit including 20 beds for acute mental health treatment and 12 beds for intensive care. It was quite a substantial CAPEX project and really showcased what we can achieve.
“We have been progressing with other development sites too, such as a residential unit for supported living in Croydon. We are due to commence a new build to one of our units in Stafford, and we’re acquiring a new home in Wales soon that will require some CAPEX work.”
The fact that Active Care Group’s development plans have been ramped up reflects the highly competitive nature of the marketplace. “It’s an extremely fast and competitive sector to be involved in, so it’s a case of ‘expansion, expansion, expansion’. It’s very much the nature of the beast, as it’s such a competitive marketplace, which makes securing sites quite challenging. Thankfully we’re a very proactive organisation and are able to complete projects very quickly, without compromising on quality, because of the partnerships we have built and the experience we’re able to bring to the table. For example, we were able to turnaround our Birmingham site in just 12 months, which is very impressive given that it involved a complete strip out, remodel and refit.”
Despite the progress that Active Care Group has been making as it continues to further cement its standing within the marketplace, the company hasn’t been without its challenges, although it is certainly not unique in this regard. “The biggest issues we’re having to deal with are the same as everyone else really, especially the cost of materials, which have absolutely rocketed,” says Mr Worrell. “Labour is also in short supply, so there are some serious financial headaches that everyone’s having to deal with in construction at the moment. There used to be a bit more wiggle room but it’s incredibly hard for everyone currently. It’s going to start easing up soon, so it will become less difficult to negotiate in the long run, but in the meantime we’re having to tackle with the current issues by thinking smarter and utilising our strong links with our suppliers.”
Challenges aside, it is clear that Active Care Group is in no mood to take its foot off the accelerator just yet as it strives to continue growing in all areas of its operation. “We have major growth plans across the business and we’re currently building the reactive side of the operation, so we’re recruiting more staff into the call centre. As we grow we’ll also be looking to add more property managers and call centre operatives to the team. It’s important that we continue to expand our support network in all areas to underpin the progress we’re making.
“We want to continue along this upward trajectory and keep expanding. Things are going really well at the moment, so we want to just keep ploughing ahead with developing both our assets and infrastructure. I believe that we’re at the peak in terms of the price of materials and labour, so hopefully the cost of development will reduce slightly moving forward, which will free up more money for further projects.”
With its ongoing commitment to further expansion, Active Care Group is definitely on the right track and becoming an increasingly important name within the sector. What’s more, it’s clear that the company has the infrastructure to support its growing property portfolio, both from a development and a maintenance perspective.
Josh Worrell is Head of Property and Estates at Active Care Group, the UK’s leading provider of complex care. Their multi-award-winning specialist care services support people with complex conditions including acquired brain injury, acquired spinal injury, neurological conditions, learning disabilities, and respiratory & ventilation.
