Member Article

Jobs saved as buyer found for Gateshead care home

Over 75 jobs have been saved at a Gateshead care home bought out of administration earlier this month.

Gateshead Dispensary Nursing Home (Craigielea) Limited, the charitable operator of the Craigielea Nursing Home, went into administration after falling occupancy levels lead to a decline in revenues.

The Corporate Finance and Recovery & Insolvency teams at RMT Accountants & Business Advisors Ltd found North East care home operator Solehawk Ltd as a buyer.

The firm, which runs Kenton Manor and Kenton Hall homes in Newcastle, retained the entire Craigielea workforce.

Richard Warren, finance director at Solehawk Ltd, says: “The quality of the buildings, facilities and gardens, its location within easy distance of our existing properties and the strong market for care services in this area made Craigielea an ideal addition to our portfolio of care homes, and we’re very pleased to have reached this agreement.

“We are extremely impressed with the passion of the Craigielea team for their work, including the standard of care they provide for the residents. We’re now working with them to ensure that collectively we further improve the services which focus on the needs of residents and their families.

“RMT and their advisors, Muckle LLP, worked with our solicitors, Mincoffs Solicitors LLP, and all have done a very thorough and professional job. We’re grateful for their contributions towards helping to make this deal happen.”

Bill Worth, chair of the Craigielea Board of Trustees, adds: “We wanted to find a buyer that had similar values to ourselves, with a primary focus on providing the best possible conditions for both residents and staff, and we also wanted to move as quickly as possible due to the financial circumstances”

Greg Bolton, head of corporate finance at RMT, who led the team’s work in identifying potential buyers, says: “This was a well-staffed, essentially sound business that experienced difficulties.

“Due to our contacts within the care home sector, we felt we would be able to generate a lot of interest in the short term, which was essential for this assignment.

“We took a very targeted approach to find the right buyer for Craigielea, and Solehawk provided the right mix of sector expertise and commercial acumen.”

Kelly Jordan, solicitor at Muckle LLP, says: “It was a pleasure to work very closely with the Trustees right from the outset of and throughout this process to determine and execute a successful strategy which has ensured the survival of this long-established provider of care in the North East.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .