Latest Issue – Radfield Home Care
Published: 20 January 2024
At the age of 28, Ed Gill was ready to make his next career decision. He knew he wanted to be a business owner in his own right and had a 10-year career plan percolating at the back of his mind. But it was a strategy that he’d never truly kickstarted into firm action until he settled on a franchise future.
Ed, who has a background in journalism and public relations, was driven by three key factors in his decision-making. He wanted to be a business owner that could pay at least the Real Living Wage to his employees; to be an employer of choice in a meaningful sector that created career opportunities for people and to establish financial security for himself and fiancée Caroline, a secondary school teacher.
For Ed, the franchise ‘trifecta’ lay in the home care sector and franchisor Radfield Home Care, a brand with a 40-year family legacy in older people’s care and a core mission: to make ageing a more enjoyable and rewarding experience for all involved. It does this through four facets of care service: visiting care, live-in care, day care and connected care, assistive technology that provides protection and peace of mind.
Ed’s outstanding journey
It proved a perfect business, professional and values match for Ed. Fast forward three years and Ed has a market-leading home care business employing a team of 30 people in his York, Thirsk and Ryedale territory, which is supporting 45 clients. In just 24 months of trading he received the highest care accolade possible, an overall “Outstanding” rating from the care regulator, the Care Quality Commission. And he is getting married this Easter to Caroline, who has walked by his side through his franchise set-up to exceptional success.
Says Ed: “As a business owner I knew I wanted to be a trusted face in my community and I knew paying at least the Real Living Wage was important to me. I wanted to be able to provide career opportunities that were worthwhile, not run-of-the-mill jobs. Care made total sense as the sector backdrop to do this in. We have an ageing population with people needing quality care to be able to live as independently as possible, as long as possible, in the comfort of their own homes and in the communities they have been a part of. And people working in care have been under-appreciated for too long. I wanted to be able to support career growth with training and qualifications and be a proud employer of choice in my locality. If Care Professionals are supported, valued and invested in, our clients’ care is then in the absolute best of hands.”
Speaking of Radfield’s USP, he adds: “I wanted to be part of something, part of a vision, mission and culture. Radfield had that in buckets-full, thanks to its founders Hannah, a GP, and her brother Alex. They created the franchise on the core tenet of family values after growing up in a residential care home, owned by their parents. Yes, I could have made a decision to set up a care business on my own, independently, but that would have been a very lonely place. And it would have meant doing everything the ‘long way round’ when you don’t have to do that with a great franchise model, the tools and support are all there to grab with both hands and run with.
“So, what I value is that sense of belonging, being part of ‘Team Radfield’, that’s the ‘pack’ I run with, that’s my tribe, my people! And the support is there from day one, so the way I would describe it is that all the right, tried and trusted tools are there in your Franchise Partner toolbox. You don’t have to go off and Which? research them, googling to see which are the most recommended tools to put in your toolbox, then go out yourself and buy each one. Your toolbox for success is all there, set up, shiny and ready for you to jump right in and use.”
Royal recognition and 2:1 support ratio
At Radfield, there is a sector-leading 2:1 ratio of Franchise Partners to business support team,
and support and training covers: care compliance, finance, information technology, human resources, marketing and business development. There has been royal recognition for the franchisee onboarding process too, with the company acheiving the Princess Royal Training Award for its Radfield Runway programme – the only home care franchisor to have received this prestigious accolade to date for its onboarding training for business owners. The programme has generated a topflight experience for its Franchise Partners to start their business on a strong footing and to create a stronghold for success in their territory.
What does it feel like to be a Radfield Franchise Partner?
Ed comments: “It’s about pride and about being part of the next chapter of that 40-year founding family legacy, at the same time as building a business legacy for our own families and home lives. As Radfield Franchise Partners, we’re creating a growing national family of exemplary home care business experts, working together we are realising our brand’s mission to make ageing more enjoyable and rewarding for all involved.”
Radfield’s Franchise Partners are all united behind a purpose that drives everything it does. It is a collective, simple and powerful promise – to Be There to keep people connected to the things that matter to them. It is equally committed to looking after Care Professional wellbeing through its Caring for our Carers Pledge™, which has a focus on Culture, Appreciation, Reward and Empowerment of, and for, employees.
Experts in the business of care
Radfield is the only GP-led home care franchise in the UK, founded by GP Hannah MacKechnie and brother Alex Green, siblings who grew up in the Radfield residential care home run by their parents Chris and John. When the care home’s time came to an end, Hannah and Alex embarked on their own second careers. They gave the family’s business name a new lease of life, taking the spirit of family and exemplary care standards they had grown up around into a home care business.
Success followed, with the siblings franchising their home care model
in 2017. Accomplishment continued to follow their vision for care. Radfield Home Care received recognition from the British Franchise Association as the Emerging Franchisor of the
Year in 2019. Four years on, Radfield is in another franchise class, receiving the Association’s Established Accreditation in 2023.
Road tests and real world insights
Being part of the Radfield national network also creates master insight too. Ed comments: “There are campaigns and tactics, for example, to support our business development but on top of that we have 34 real-world sets of data or ‘road-tests’ from our family of offices that show what’s worked well, and importantly what’s not, so we can lean into that intelligence and tweak materials and content to be mindful of what makes our own territories tick.”
When it comes to finding the right franchisor for your future, Ed says that you’ll know you’ve found the right match because with it comes a sense of inner peace. “It’s a major life decision, absolutely. So, there should be honesty, transparency and challenging questions on both sides. The peace point comes when you know you have a franchisor that’s got your back and you can say to yourself, I’m on that team, it’s going to work and I’m going to be just fine! I’m three years on, and now I’m focused on further growth and scaling up the business that’s now wrapped around my lifestyle and my home life.”
Radfield is UK owned and based, is well established and royally recognised. It has 34 offices across the country and has business opportunities available
in territories spanning the UK.
Radfield’s marks of excellence
- 100% of Radfield’s Care Quality Commission-rated offices are rated overall “Good” or “Outstanding”
- Princess Royal Training Award 2022 for its franchisee training programme
- BFA Emerging Franchisor Award 2019
- BFA Established Accreditation 2023
- Top 20 Home Care Group Provider (6 consecutive years)
- Ranked #47 in the Elite Franchise EF100 Awards 2023
- Five Star Franchise Satisfaction in the WorkBuzz Best Franchise Awards 2023
- Home Care Awards 2023: Most Outstanding Home Care Franchise Network, Outstanding Independent Home Care Provider (within a Group or Network) ‑ Radfield Home Care Shrewsbury & Oswestry ‑ Pilot Office, Nutrition and Hydration Award - Radfield Home Care Bexhill, Hastings & Battle
- 93% of Care Professionals would recommend Radfield as a place to work
- 95% of clients would recommend Radfield to friends and family
To read the full Radfield Home Care cover story from the latest edition of Business Freanchise - get your free issue here >>
For more information on the Radfield Home Care franchise opportunity, go to the profile page >>
