Council swoops to acquire 100-resident care home out of administration

Care for more than 100 vulnerable residents, and around 200 jobs, have been saved with the rescue of a Chadderton care home.

Oldham Total-Care Ltd (OTCL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oldham Council, has acquired certain business and assets of the company out of administration.

The council team negotiated the deal over an intense couple of weeks, advised by a multi-disciplinary team from Liverpool-based national law firm Weightmans.

They sought a legal solution to the deteriorating financial condition of the existing care provider, and effected a deal after the existing provider was placed into administration on July 26, 2023.

The acquisition is conditional on OTCL securing a Care Quality Commission registration and, in the interim, management arrangements have been put in place to ensure the proper running of the care home. Addleshaw Goddard acted for the administrators, BDO.

Leader of Oldham Council, Arooj Shah, said: “Acquiring the home is not a decision we’ve taken lightly but the alternative was cruel, with job losses for hard working staff, vulnerable people being forced to move and the wider risk to patient care in Oldham.

“We’ve taken this action to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

The upheaval for vulnerable residents and their families, the loss of community jobs and the significantly increased costs of provision for the local authorities all weighed heavily on Oldham MBC in making the decision.

Charles Boyne, partner at Weightmans, said: “This was a transaction which required a rapid turnaround in order to safeguard the position of the residents in the immediate term.

“All the professional advisers (including the main stakeholders at the council) across the piece were aligned in respect of the need to find solutions pragmatically and speedily to the developing risks of closure.”