Blackburn-based Ribble Homecare to create 60 jobs

A homecare provider in Lancashire has revealed plans to create dozens of employment opportunities and expand with a second base.

Following support from Boost, the county’s Business Growth Hub, Blackburn-based Ribble Homecare will hire 60 new staff over the next three years and increase its regional footprint with an additional office in Chorley.

Ribble Homecare was founded in 2014 and provides personal care, dementia-related services and end-of-life-care across various local authority and local health trust contracts.

The firm’s registered manager, Deborah Meaghan, saw that support was needed to develop the company’s structure and unlock future growth.

Deborah said: “I had worked for a care agency and had experienced problems with it and the way they worked and I thought I could do a better job myself – so that’s what we did. At that time, we only had a moped to get about. Over time the district nurses and doctors could see what a good job we were doing and praised the quality of care we delivered.

“Our latest CQC report overall rating is ‘good’ which we are delighted with and now are working hard towards an outstanding result for our next inspection.”

She continued: “With support from Enterprise4all we registered with the CQC and we attended the Boost workshops which were very informative and helpful. I was really impressed by everybody’s interest and eagerness to help.

“We are now receiving support to help us open a secondary location in Chorley to meet the demand for work in that area and Boost is helping us explore funding options to enable future growth.”

Boost’s Growth Support Programme, which helps entrepreneurs create business plans and grow their ventures, is delivered by Lancashire firms Winning Pitch and Enterprise4all and led by the Lancashire LEP alongside Lancashire County Council.

The programme is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

Winning Pitch’s head of entrepreneurial solutions, Rona McFall, commented: “Through the Grow How Master Classes Ribble Homecare received support to identify what it needed to do to achieve its business aspirations.

“Very often we hear of people unhappy in a role but who love their work and it can be a big step to set up a new business with many unknowns along the way but Ribble Homecare is just one great example of the support available from Boost and the difference accessing that support can make to a business.”