A calling for care

Sareet and Priya Shah became Caremark franchisees to give their community the support it needs

Sareet Shah and Priya Desai-Shah have just reached two incredible milestones: their Caremark franchise has achieved an Outstanding rating on its first ever Care Quality Commission inspection and they have recently welcomed their first child, a son, into the world.

Sareet previously worked as a catastrophe risk analyst and, through supporting people involved in large-scale disasters such as hurricanes, flooding and terrorism, found his calling for care. When Priya’s father received unsatisfactory end of life care, the couple realised they could improve the delivery of care in their local community.

Taking action

Sareet says: “We were naive in the choices we made for Priya’s father’s care. We chose the first provider we looked at, then when he didn’t receive the quality of care we expected we felt devastated. We knew we had to act to improve the standards of care in our local area.”

Sareet and Priya spent a long time researching before deciding to open a Caremark franchise. “Caremark’s ethos aligned with ours straight away,” Sareet explains.

Even though Sareet’s experience was in a different industry, he knew he had the passion and drive necessary to succeed. Caremark provided him with the support and proven track record he could rely on in his quest to make a difference.

“Care is a highly regulated industry and rightly so,” Sareet says. “When you’re brand new to a sector like this, it’s important to have the correct support and training in place, as well as a proven business model.

“Our Caremark support manager gave us weekly visits at first and now visits us on a monthly basis. It has been incredibly useful to receive guidance on the care industry, marketing, recruitment and more from someone so experienced.

“It’s been really beneficial to have such a large and engaged network of other franchisees, too. We’re always sharing our ideas and learning from each other.”

Outstanding results

With help from their support manager, Sareet and Priya have gone above and beyond to better serve their community, putting on charity events, engaging with local students and even starting a free ‘Time to Talk’ phone service to help tackle loneliness among their clients.

Now their franchise has received an Outstanding rating from the CQC on its first ever inspection. According to The Guardian, only three per cent of home care agencies receive an Outstanding rating, so this is a significant achievement.

“We ensure the Caremark ethos resonates through all levels of our business,” Sareet says. “We promote transparency and working together, a sense that we are all on the same team and part of something much bigger.”

Next steps

With a new baby in the family and the franchise going from strength to strength, the couple have their eyes firmly set on the future.

“We’re over the moon about our Outstanding rating, but I’m a perfectionist,” Sareet says. “I’m already coming up with ideas to keep improving.”

Caremark’s franchise network is full of people who are empowered to do extraordinary things every day. The network recently passed a milestone of its own, breaking records by delivering 100,000 hours of care in just one week.

At a glance Caremark

Established: 2005
Number of franchised outlets: 106
Location of units: UK wide
Investment range: £100,000
Minimum required capital: £30,000
URL: caremarkfranchises.com
Contact: 01903 266392