McCarthy & Stone to deliver care services directly

John Tonkiss, McCarthy & Stone chief executive

McCarthy & Stone has ended its nine-year partnership with Somerset Care and will directly deliver care, domestic support and property management services across its 92 Retirement Living Plus (Extra Care) sites.

As part of its strategy to move from a housebuilder to developer, manager and owner of retirement communities it agreed a ‘consensual conclusion’ of its partnership with Somerset Care.

The partnership, YourLife Management Services Ltd (YLMS), had provided care and domestic support services in all Retirement Living Plus developments and it will now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group.

Full ownership of YLMS will allow McCarthy & Stone to roll out new services, including smart technology, electric car clubs, an expanded care offering, including providing care into the group’s 293 Retirement Living developments.

The group is also launching multi-tenure options, including rental and part rent, part buy offerings.

John Tonkiss, McCarthy & Stone chief executive, said: ‘We have developed considerable expertise in providing care and the long-term running of our developments and I would like to thank everyone at Somerset Care for being such an excellent organisation to work with.

‘Now our care service is at significant scale and the partnership with Somerset Care has concluded, we have an exciting opportunity to develop the next generation of products and services in line with our new strategy. The growth of our care and service business is integral to this approach and it is essential that these services are delivered wholly by McCarthy & Stone.’

As reported in April, in the six months to 28 February 2019, the group saw profit before tax fall to £3.6m (2018: £10.5m). This was impacted by £14m of charges in relation to delivery of the company’s business strategy including restructuring and redundancy costs, realignment of its land bank and consultancy fees.

Gary Ridewood, Somerset Care chief financial officer and interim chief executive, said: ‘Somerset Care are proud of the strong partnership that we have built with McCarthy & Stone.  The high level of care that we have provided over the years has enabled thousands of YLMS customers to enjoy life, while continuing to live independently.

‘During the nine years of the partnership, both of our organisations have developed considerably, and this decision marks the beginning of a new phase for Somerset Care’s home care provision which continues to grow, supporting customers in their own homes as well as in retirement communities nationwide.’

Tonkiss is featured in the Aug/Set edition of CM.