Brexit means business

For home care franchise Visiting Angels, that’s exactly what it means!

Whether you voted to remain or leave the EU, the country was not anticipating the problems that would be faced in resolving Brexit.

Successful home care franchise Visiting Angels has launched its UK operation in the last three years. They have built a successful pilot business in South Yorkshire and also recruited the first 4 franchisees to join the growing national network. UK Managing Director Dan Archer is very much of the opinion that Brexit can mean Business for the right opportunity with the right approach.

Many would assume with thousands of European citizens working in the care sector that uncertainty over Brexit would be a problem for Dan’s business. He explains that this could not be further from the truth. Dan says, “Many home care providers staff from the European Union. Our business is very different to the majority of home care providers. It is common for home care businesses to complete contracts for local authority care packages, where the charge rates are low, and as a result the pay rates have to be low. At the minimum wage end of the market, caring roles can often be filled by European staff. Our business is a private client home care provider, we charge more and we can afford to pay more. As a result we do not struggle to find care staff because working for Visiting Angels is an attractive alternative to working for many of our competitors. We also find as many as 50% of our caregivers are new to care and wouldn’t consider working for a typical home care provider.”

Dan understands the European staffing business model well, having previously run a care provider which recruited in Poland and the old Eastern Block countries. He feels however that the uncertainty over Brexit is putting European workers off coming to the UK. “Since Brexit there has been a decline in the numbers of people willing to come to the UK to care. Some of this is because they do not know whether they will be able to stay and some of it because they feel less welcome than they did. We find though that this makes staffing harder for our competitors which is actually good news for us. In my franchise (which is the pilot) in South Yorkshire we are winning business from other care companies because we have a solution to the staffing problem.”

For Visiting Angels if you are able to say yes to a new care client when your competitors cannot, then Brexit can present an opportunity. For this franchise taking an approach which puts the carers at the heart of the business, it means Brexit hasn’t been a barrier to growth. Dan concludes, “The shortage of people working in other care businesses and the lack of capacity in residential care means that there is unprecedented demand for the Visiting Angels service. We have an aging population and that will be the case no matter what flavor of Brexit we get.

For more information on joining a very different care franchise call 01144333000 or visit www. visitingangelsfranchise.co.uk

At a glance Visiting Angels

Established: 2017
Number of franchised outlets: 4
Location of units: UK
Investment range: £90,000-£110,000
Minimum required capital: £30,000-£50,000
Contact: Dan Archer 07854 178 458 www.visitingangelsfranchise.co.uk