Home support firm expands after new business loan
A BLACK Country family has expanded its home care service business by purchasing new premises after securing a six-figure bank loan.
Diamond Home Care Ltd provides domiciliary care to the elderly and physically disabled across the West Midlands. The firm visits people’s homes and helps them with their daily routines – from preparing meals to getting in and out of bed. Further services include accompanying clients out of the house to appointments or with their shopping.
Established by Sue Baines in 2007 in her converted home garage in Halesowen, the business now has a turnover of £500,000 and employs five office staff and a further 45 people who go out into the community.
The new office building off Birmingham New Road in Wolverhampton will enable the business to further diversify, with plans to convert the large attached warehouse into a day centre.
Harpal Baines, director at Diamond Home Care Ltd, said: “My mom converted our garage into an office four years ago now and since then the business has really taken off. There is a huge demand for home care services in the region and it was becoming impossible to service this demand from such a small space.
“We plough all of our profit back into the business so we had no capital to put behind the purchase of new premises and struggled to find a bank that would provide us with a 100% mortgage.”
The family approached Lloyds TSB Commercial and it agreed to support the venture.
The loan has also enabled the business to invest in new IT infrastructure that links the two offices and makes the operation far more efficient.
Steven Fletcher, relationship manager at Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: “Diamond Home Care Ltd is a prime example of a start-up business that has gone from strength to strength, even during what have been difficult economic times. From converting a garage and delivering and managing all services themselves, to employing fifty local staff, they have come a long way in a short space of time.
“These new premises will be a great asset to the business and allow the Diamond Home Care team to expand in areas that to date they have not had the opportunity to consider. They came to us with a strong business plan, and their drive to succeed and enthusiasm for the home care industry was obvious.”
