Bluebird Care’s focus is ‘people, people, people’, reveals Carole Stubbs, the company’s new franchise development manager
One of the great triumphs of the last century was improved life expectancy for people all over the world, but this achievement also looks set to be one of the great challenges of the future.
With an ageing demographic, the importance of a service that enables people to stay at home when they need care cannot be emphasised enough - and this is where Bluebird Care comes in.
The demand for home care and support services is increasing exponentially, meaning Bluebird Care is well placed as a business network. As a private sector business, the company seeks to attract, develop and keep Franchise Owners with a team of committed, high quality carers in order to deliver the best possible customer service.
Today Bluebird Care provides more than seven million home care visits per year - or almost 20,000 care visits each day - and boasts an exceptional average annual growth increase of 112 per cent.
Franchise development manager Carole Stubbs explains that what underpins every aspect of the business is the sheer quality of its care.
“What sets us apart from other home care businesses, I think, is that the ethos of caring comes from the highest level down,” she says.
“Bluebird Care was set up in 2004 as a family business initially in response to a need to provide outstanding care. Now the franchise network attracts people who want to actually make a difference in their community and genuinely care about what they do.”
The care sector often receives negative coverage in the press and people who work in the sector can feel chronically undervalued. Not so with Bluebird Care.
“The network’s focus is ‘people, people, people’,” Carole says. “The workforce live and breathe the values they hold.”
The company uses cutting edge technology to deliver real-time information to customer’s families, so they can see when care for their loved ones has been delivered.
Bluebird Care places a firm emphasis on collaborative working, with working parties gathering to discuss everything from the specialist IT used to run the business and communicate with clients, to marketing, to its Career Journey package for carers.
Bluebird Care’s mission is to be the UK’s home care provider of choice through delivering outstanding care and support, giving peace of mind to customers and their families.
How far off is this vision from being achieved? Carole points to the company’s recent Annual Conference in Brighton.
“The biggest ovation was when it was time to announce the ‘Carer of the Year Award’,” she reveals. “Hundreds of committed carers were nominated and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the overall winner was announced.
“To me, that sums up the values and passion held by this organisation. It’s run by an amazing bunch of people and they in turn attract people who want to contribute to society.”
With the UK population aged 65-plus forecast to increase by 48 per cent over the next 20 years, Bluebird Care could hardly be in a sector with a stronger future.