Funding support helps care and education provider buy historic property

West Yorkshire business Timeout Children’s Homes today announced the completion of the purchase of Brearley Hall, with funding support from Barclays.

The company was established in 2004 and the business is headquartered at Ripponden Mill, Sowerby Bridge, Halifax. The business provides specialist care and education to disadvantaged children. Brearley Hall is its 16th home and it will be redeveloped over the next two years.

Situated in Bronte country the 17th century manor house was recorded in the 1841 census as being the home of Patrick Branwell Bronte – brother to the famous authors Charlotte, Emily and Anne – during his time working as a clerk at Luddenfoot Station.

The property sits in 44-acre grounds consisting of formal gardens woodlands and paddocks.

Dominic Macauley, managing director, Timeout Children’s Homes, said: “We’re a family run organisation which we established with the aim of making a real and lasting difference to the lives of children with complex needs.

“Brearley Hall will enable us to reach more children to offer one-to-one care so that we can nurture them to learn how to live a positive and independent life. The redevelopment of the hall is the largest project we’ve taken on so far and Barclays support means we can totally refurbish the hall to provide state of the art facilities in this iconic historical setting.”

The business operate across 16 sites and will be recruiting locally once the redevelopment has completed. Turnover for the current year is expected to exceed £4.5m and the company recently won Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the regional finals of their entrepreneur awards.

Tom Islip, Barclays business relationship director, put together the funding package for the deal. He said: “Dominic and his team are passionate about the service they provide for young people and they really impressed me with their growth plans supporting more disadvantaged children through therapeutic and education care.

“Timeout has become a first-call company for many local authorities and their dedication to provide tailored education for every pupil is exceptional.”