Meet Blossom Home Care’s first Scottish franchisees

Blossom Home Care is expanding into Scotland, following a franchise agreement with Innocent and Josephine Iba

Scotland is set to welcome its first ever Blossom Home Care franchise location, with the business launching later this year.

The Blossom East Scotland will cover Arbroath, Forfar, Montrose, and Dundee and will be launched by husband-and-wife duo, Innocent and Josephine Iba.

In the lead up to launch day, they discussed why they’d made the decision to take the English brand further North.

You’re the first Blossom Home Care franchisees in Scotland. How does that feel?

Josephine: Honestly, it’s an honour because we see it as paving the way for Blossom in Scotland. 

We’re introducing the people of Scotland to the quality home care Blossom clients are enjoying in England – we believe everyone deserves quality time from carers who actually care.

Innocent: We feel really privileged to be the ones starting here.

Do you have any previous franchise experience?

Josephine: No, we’ve always been in professional academic fields before moving into the home care sector. Although you wouldn’t believe my husband hasn’t been in business before – he’s so meticulous with paperwork!

What are your backgrounds and how has it motivated you to enter the care sector?

Innocent: My initial interest started when my grandmother had Parkinson’s and I was sent to go and stay with her in the village. The skills I garnered motivated me to take up care work in a residential care home while studying for my doctorate. Josephine, who holds a master’s degree in human resources management, also has similar stories and experience working in a residential care home. Also, we have two children with complex medical conditions requiring home care. Hence, we have experienced care from both sides and potential problems associated with the delivery of care.

Josephine: Despite the challenges of caring for our special needs children, Innocent delivers pastoral care as a volunteer at his local church. Likewise I support vulnerable families as a Home-Start volunteer.

What was it about Blossom Home Care that resonated with you?

Josephine: We found Blossom to be a key provider that met with what we wanted to do, which is to really provide the very best care possible. Blossom just felt like a match made in heaven – in particular the 50-minute visits gives you the time to relate and really meet clients’ needs safely and professionally.

Innocent: Also the fact relatives can see the care being delivered in real time. We know that provides peace of mind because we have been there ourselves. Even at night, you’re wondering, ‘Are they being given their medication now? What’s going on?’ Giving other families that reassurance really resonated with us.

Josephine: And the co-founders, John and Fiona, are so lovely. That is why we are here!

Were there any other care franchises in Scotland that you were considering?

Josephine: There were a number of options, but none had the unique approach that Blossom had. The emphasis Blossom has on motivating carers was important too – if you don’t motivate them, they won’t deliver suitable care, and your business will suffer. This approach made Blossom stand out.

Innocent: We liked the culture too – it’s more of a relationship kind of business rather than strictly delivering care. Blossom is a very warm environment where you want to work, where you feel at home with your team, which just completely resonated with who we are and what we want for all of our carers, staff, and most importantly our clients.

What are your long-term goals for your Blossom business?

Innocent: We want to achieve our targets and make sure the clients we serve are always happy, enjoying the independence they want, and can keep on being who they are in their own home.

Josephine: We want more people to enjoy the benefits of Blossom – not just clients, but other franchise owners too. We want more people like us to experience our business and discover what they can achieve themselves. We are ambitious, but we don’t plan on taking over the whole of Scotland ourselves!