New care business to create 100 jobs with help from NatWest

Business partners Kiran Rao and Damo Baliga have bought the franchise for SureCare, the UK’s leading provider of person-centred care and support, in North Surrey, Kingston, and Richmond with an £80,000 loan from the bank.

The loan, which is backed by the Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, also enabled the business partners to set up an office and start recruiting staff. First to join the team was Care Manager Yvonne Mavunga who will oversee the training, and delivery of care to elderly clients and anyone who needs care in their own home across the region.

SureCare is a part of Housing 21, a UK based multi-million pound charity with an outstanding reputation for putting clients’ needs at the centre of everything they do.

Demographic trends

Kiran Rao, Operations Director for the new franchise, said: “Damo and I have backgrounds in education, working in start-up businesses and IT. We felt that the time was right to enter the care sector given the demographic trends and compliance challenges this sector is encountering today.” 

“We both have personal experience in caring for family and chose to set up as a franchise of SureCare, a nationally-recognised brand in the homecare services market. Our mission is to give maximum choice to our customers to ensure that their dignity is always paramount and endeavour to make every day the best ‘first day’ of the rest of their life.”

Time constraints

The business partners worked with Annick Stevenson, Relationship Manager at NatWest, London and South East, on the deal.

Rao said: “We found Annick very helpful and were happy with the service from the bank. NatWest understood the time constraints we were under and did everything they could to help us. This helped us apply and get our Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration within a record time of five weeks.”

The company projects a turnover of £300,000 and intends to reach a target of 600 care hours delivered per week in its first year.