Care home expansion for Ashberry

A WARRINGTON care home operator has spent £3.8m on a new nursing home in Surrey.
 
Ashberry Healthcare has acquired Moorhouse Nursing Home with backing from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The bank has also financed a £1.5m extension at Ashberry’s Heathercroft Care Home just outside Warrington.

The expansion comes as Chai Patel, a former health adviser to the government and chief executive of the Priory Group and Westminster Health Care, warned of tough times in the sector.

Some operators such as Wilmslow-based Four Seasons Healthcare are struggling with heavy debts and local authorities are take a harder line on the fees they pay for residents. Falling house prices are also reducing the capital available to those who pay for themselves.

For Ashberry the latest acquisition is its eighth home and means it now has 350 beds in England and Wales. 

Moorhouse, an Edward Lutyens-designed property set in two acres, was owned by a family business.

Paul Sednaoui, chief executive of Ashberry Healthcare, said: “Moorhouse is a well managed and maintained home that has an excellent reputation locally. Our strategy has been to grow our portfolio by acquiring good quality homes and this certainly fits that criteria.” 

Ashberry Healthcare was established in 2003 with two Warrington-based care homes; Heathercroft and Meadowview. The company expanded in 2006 by buying two homes in Hereford that provide dementia care and three in Mid and West Wales.

Simon Howard, relationship manager at RBS, said: “Paul and the rest of his team are experienced operators and have a long record of delivering excellent care facilities. The latest acquisition is a good strategic fit and demonstrates the strength of their business model.”