Mears Group
Mears Group is a housing and social care provider. It repairs and maintain over 700,000 social homes across the UK.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1988 in Gloucestershire, where it is still based, and floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange, as Mears Group Plc in 1996. In 1999 it acquired Haydon & Co and in 2007 Careforce. In 2008, the group had 8000 employees, and moved to the main market at the London Stock Exchange, with a £420m turnover. In 2011 it took over more than 20 Home Improvement Services from Anchor and in 2012 acquired Morrison. In 2012 it acquired Independent Living Services Scotland[2] and launched Mears Nurseplus, enabling the company to offer health services as well as social care. In 2014 it acquired Omega Group, the largest provider of temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention schemes in England. In October 2014 it took over Omega Group Ltd, a private sector provider of residential lettings and management services to the social housing market.[3] In June 2015 it bought Care UK's home care division, with about 6,000 employees for £11.3 million. It was renamed Mears Care. It looks after about 13,000 people.[4]
Performance
Profits in the first six months of 2014/5 were £18.7m, an increase of 11%. Total group revenue was down 3% from £439.1m to £428.1m.[5]
Nurseplus was awarded a place on the NHS framework contract to supply staff into NHS establishments across Scotland in November 2014. Nurseplus specialises in the care of adult and paediatric service users who have a range of complex health conditions, both acute and chronic that require clinical intervention and management.[6]
The Group is creating 100 new support jobs in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire areas in October 2014.[7]
Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust named the Group as the preferred bidder to run its Living Well@Home Services contract which will integrate IT systems and deliver a range of community-based services for a minimum of five years.[8]
Political involvement
The group, with the Local Government Information Unit, supported a report, in December 2014 by former care minister Paul Burstow calling for home care workers to be given key workers status and a living wage.[9]
It is one of the companies nominated as Social Mobility Business Compact ‘Champions’ as a signatory of the Social Mobility Business Compact, set up by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in 2011, to encourage employers to offer young people fair and open access to employment opportunities.[10]
Staffing
The company holds annual fun days for between 7,000 and 10,000 staff and their families. In July 2014 this was held at Drayton Manor Theme Park.[11]
References
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