ThinCats provides seven-figure growth funding for Churchlake Care

ThinCats, the leading alternative lender to mid-sized UK SMEs, has facilitated a £4m loan to Churchlake Care, headquartered in Surrey, to acquire three care homes, adding to their existing portfolio. Established in 2017, Churchlake Care operates residential and nursing homes across the UK. The company began with two care homes in Bury, Manchester, inspired by founder Alan Jebson’s own grandmother’s experience living in residential care during her final years. In 2018 the team acquired three further homes in Somerset, and a nursing and dementia care home in Bodmin. Across the facilities they offer nursing, residential, respite and dementia care.

The experienced team is headed up by Alan Jebson and Chairman, Fred Sinclair-Brown, who are working towards a five-year goal to acquire a portfolio of care homes providing 3000 beds. They acquire homes to build into regional clusters, with the aim of creating an exceptional care home experience as well as value for residents. The most recent step towards their goal involved the acquisition of three care homes in Cumbria: Holmwood Residential Care Home, Hames Hall and Chichester Hall, forming part of their North West England cluster. The senior management team at Churchlake approached ThinCats to discuss funding for these and future acquisitions; they were looking for a long-term relationship to enable future growth. Law firm Wright Hassall provided legal support for the deal.

Alan Jebson, CEO of Churchlake Care, said: “We were searching for a lender that we could work with long-term; we have targeted plans to increase our care home provision over the next few years, and continue to deliver quality care to all our residents. ThinCats moved quickly to understand our business and offered a good funding structure with flexibility. We were very impressed with their in-house team and resources, and the speed in which they managed to turn around our funding application. More widely, the Churchlake Care board are indebted to the efforts of managers, nurses, carers and ancillary teams across the group throughout COVID-19. Their diligence and hard work, in addition to following rigorous infection control measures, have kept residents safe from COVID-19. There are no confirmed cases across the group since the outbreak began.”

Richard Henshaw, Director National Development Healthcare at ThinCats, said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to support the growth of Churchlake Care Group and we are very pleased that we were able to turn this around quickly and complete, despite unprecedented market conditions. We remain keen to support both this sector and Alan, Fred and team with their further growth ambitions.”