Having operated in the UK since 2005, Home Instead now has a network of over 255 offices running successful Home Instead franchises across the country. One region where territories are available close to some of our existing franchisees is the North East.
When it comes to successful neighbours, Gavin Morrigan and Michelle Fairless, the owners of Home Instead Cleveland tick all the boxes having grown a strong Home Instead presence with a positive reputation across the area. Here, they tell us more about their journey so far with the UK’s number 1 Home Care company.
Following redundancy and finding ourselves at a crossroads with what to do next in life, we started to explore a number of different options, working for someone else wasn’t appealing. We had thought about setting up a business, and at that time knew little about franchising and so, by chance, we heard there was a large franchise exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham so decided to attend.
We listened to a speaker on a panel of franchise representatives including one from a bank and one from legal services, the speaker was a Home Instead franchisee who was giving an overview about being an owner and answering FAQs. They really struck a chord with both of us, everything they said was so inspiring, leading us to go and meet the team on the Home Instead stand to find out more.
The business model seemed to make perfect sense and coupled with Michelle’s passion for elderly care following her own life experiences when she struggled to find quality home care for her grandparents and parents, we wanted to find out more, once we did, we never looked back.
In June we had opened our doors, less than 4 months from deciding to make the move and owning our own franchise business.
With positive support from National Office, we networked and developed new ways of broadening our name and reputation in our local community receiving more and more recommendations and with that more employees wanting to work with us and clients wanting care.
One highlight of being with Home Instead was the work Home Instead national office had developed, the ‘Fraud Public Education Programme’ which was aimed at protecting older and vulnerable groups from scams. This was something we felt was so important and enabled us to give back to the many groups and communities across our territory in Cleveland and the North East, something that would benefit everyone, whilst helping to showcase our company and reach many more people.
We approached our Local Police and Crime Commissioner to see if we could work closely with them to promote fraud presentations across the area, this became a wonderful collaboration of like-minded people. We were able to talk to and support so many, helping them to be aware and as safe as possible from fraudsters.
Our business also went from strength to strength, as we became known in the area for the quality of care we provided, we continued to follow the model and build upon our growing reputation as being the best care company.
We have continued to take advantage of the fantastic support and initiatives provided by Home Instead’s National Office as we continue our growth and now offer even more services including live-in care and specialist care. We are proud to say we have also gone on to receive many awards for our care including being rated at Outstanding by the CQC, the Care Quality Commission. This is the highest rating and is testament to our team of over 150 of the very best people, everyone is passionate about caring for others.
Joining Home Instead was absolutely the right decision for us, we have built a substantial and profitable business as well as being able to give so much to our local community. The only time we look back is to see how far we’ve come!
If you’d like to join Gavin and Michelle in the North East, and own your own Home Instead franchise, there are currently territories available in: Hartlepool, Gateshead, Sunderland & Seaham, South Shields, Consett, Spennymoor and Middlesbrough. To find out more, call: 01925 730 723 or email: [email protected]