Raj expands his care home empire

Jun 18 2009 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

ENTREPRENEUR Raj Singh is expanding his care home empire with a £7.5m development in Ingleby Barwick, creating up to 60 jobs.

To be built near Tesco supermarket, the scheme will be the 11th care facility operated by Mr Singh through his Stockton-based Prestige Group.

The company, which is aiming to double turnover to £60m, has also completed land purchase deals for two other schemes - a 74-bed mixed-care facility in Hull and an £11m care village in Nuthall, near Nottingham. However difficulty in securing investment has put the projects on ice.

Construction has started on the 75-bed Ingleby Barwick home, which will include a doctors’ surgery and a children’s day nursery and is expected to open early in 2010.

Andy Wilson, Prestige’s recently appointed finance director who previously spent 40 years with NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland, said demand for care homes continued to grow despite “real” difficulties in securing funding for building projects.

Demand is likely to grow further, with one in four people in Britain predicted to be over 65 by 2031.

“The spike in our elderly population, caused by the post-war baby boom in the 1950s, is not diminishing and is, in fact, gaining momentum,” he said.

Since building his first care home in Middlesbrough in 1994, Mr Singh has completed several schemes including a £3.7m, 67-bed home on the site of Skerne House in Darlington.

Meanwhile, former estate agent Angela Swift recently opened Reuben Manor care home in Yarm, which will be the blueprint for a string of luxury care home communities; while Matt Matharu, owner of Four Winds Care Homes, is planning a £2.5m 50-bedroom facility in Hartlepool and a £1.5m 30-bed home in Seaton Carew.