Expansion on the cards for Darfield care home

A Darfield care home is set to expand and create new jobs after a change in ownership funded by a £1.1 million European Investment Bank (EIB) loan through Lloyds TSB Commercial.

Thornhill House, on Church Street, was purchased by Strong Life Care in August 2010. Strong Life Care, which is based in Huddersfield, was founded by former financial services worker Harpreet Banwait in order to purchase Thornhill House and other care homes in the future.

Since the takeover of Thornhill House was completed, four full time staff have been taken on with the addition of five more planned for the next 12 months. Two more bedrooms have been added to the property, with three currently under progress, to bring the bedroom capacity to 36.

Harpreet has also introduced short term respite care, such as for those recovering from operations, in addition to the long term residential care traditionally offered by the home.

An additional property in the grounds is currently being converted into a dedicated day care centre, which will accommodate up to 14 people at a time, and will be completed in the next eight weeks.

Plans are also being put in place to build an elderly mentally infirm facility, for patients with conditions such as dementia, in the next 12 months.

After deciding to enter the care home sector, Harpreet, whose extended family has over 25 years’ experience in the industry, approached Lloyds TSB Commercial’s Healthcare Banking division which provided the funding to enable the purchase and renovation work on Thornhill House.

The loan was made through the EIB scheme, which allows firms to secure standard fixed or base rate loans with a 0.80 per cent interest rate discount. The funding can be used for a variety of purposes, such as purchasing or renovating property, or meeting research and development expenses.

Strong Life Care is now on track to generate £560,000 turnover by the end of its first year, and will look to increase this by 20 per cent in the year after.

Harpreet Banwait said: “When we first took over the running of Thornhill House, we didn’t want to make too many changes too soon, as we were concerned this would unsettle the residents and the employees.

“Now, after a successful initial period, we are looking forward to expanding the services offered by the home, and the building itself with the addition of the new day care centre and elderly mentally infirm facility.

“We have ambitious plans for Thornhill House, and when we have completed those we will eventually look for future acquisition opportunities, initially in the north west of England but then potentially into the rest of the UK and possibly Europe.”

Graham Scott, senior healthcare banking consultant for Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: “Thornhill House has been established in Darfield for a couple of decades now, and is a vital resource for elderly people in the area. The changes already made by Harpreet, and those in the pipeline, further strengthen the home’s offering and will lead to increased services and capacity for care.

“Harpreet’s plans for the Strong Life Care business are ambitious but achievable, and his previous finance experience and thorough planning made it possible for us to assist with funding for the Thornhill House project.

“EIB is one of the innovative ways we use to provide funding to customers. Strong Life Care was an ideal candidate for an EIB loan, and this meant we could offer an even more competitive loan for the purchase and renovation of Thornhill House.”