Care group sells three of its homes
Sep 3 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal
ONE of the region’s care home operators has sold three of its properties in a £5m deal. County Durham-based Autumn Care Group has sold two sites in Durham at Seaham and Ferryhill and a further site in Jarrow, South Tyneside, to Kent-based firm DOSON.
The deal, worth £5.15m and backed by a funding package from The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), leaves the Spennymoor-based firm with only three sites, including a care home in Morpeth, Northumberland, and one in Selby, North Yorkshire.
Autumn Care, which is headed by chairman Alan Lax, has also retained the Whitworth Hall country house hotel, also in Spennymoor, which was home to the 18th-Century MP and North-East legend “Bonnie Bobby Shafto”.
The purchases almost double DOSON’s portfolio to seven care homes and represents the company’s first investment in the North East.
It said that the jobs of the 100 staff at the three homes were safe and that it was assessing the need for additional training.
It is now on the look out for other sites in the North East but said that any additional purchases would take at least a year as it undergoes the refurbishment of its new acquisitions.
DOSON director Kanagasabai Logendra said: “I am delighted with our recently acquired homes. We have long aspired to grow our business further and build upon the successful operations we currently run.
“We were looking for a care home in the North East and it was fortunate that Autumn was able to sell three at once. Our plan is to work on the homes we have bought and then look for further additions to our portfolio. This includes looking at sites in the North East region.” All three care homes bring the Kent firm’s capacity to nearly 250 residents, from 112 before the deal and its staff from 200 to 300. It now hopes to use its expansion in the North East to almost double its turnover to £6.5m by next year.
