Care-in-the-home dynasty wins major industry award

13-January-2022

The McCormack family have a magic touch when it comes to care - and that’s landed them a major industry honour in the Great British Franchisee Awards 2022.

The owners of Bluebird Care Essex have the Midas touch, too, snapping up additional franchise territories and aiming to reach a turnover of £11 million by 2026.

“They’re the embodiment of the wider brand,” says Julie Farrow of Bluebird Care. “Since Tracey and Kevin opened their first offices in Redbridge, they’ve expanded and grown into an exemplary multi-site home-care provider.

“Lucy, one of two of their daughters in the business, has learnt a huge amount and taken it to the next level with fantastic commercial competency which sits alongside her natural compassion and understanding for the needs of the care industry.”

Bluebird Care Essex didn’t just adapt and survive in the pandemic but positively thrived, achieving above-forecast growth in a sector in which many other care providers collapsed.

“At the height of the pandemic, many of our customers had fewer visits from family members, which increased their loneliness and isolation,” says Lucy.

“So we adapted and innovated to grow our Live-In Care service. Our customers’ loved ones saw it as a solution to not being able to spend time with them.

“That improved the quality of life of our customers as well as enhancing our stability as a business.”

The McCormack family took on a second franchise territory in Essex West, bought the Mid Essex territory a year later, then acquired the Southend and Rochford Territory.

“We’ve applied for our sponsorship licence which will allow us to recruit personnel from abroad as well as domestically, enabling further recruitment and business growth,” says Lucy.

“We’re one of the very few organisations that pay staff not only for the costs of travel but for the time it takes them to travel between visits, which means our carers are paid even when they’re not actively at our customer's houses.”

The Great British Franchisee Awards recognise franchisees’ exceptional performance and business experience, ability to drive business growth, staff retention, customer satisfaction, community involvement, inspired leadership, and franchise involvement.

The awards are run by whichfranchise, supported by Lloyds Bank, BDO, AMO Consulting and Chantry Group.