Care provider profile
entrusted The Burlington with a precious reminder of the site’s history – a gold cross presented to the residents of the old care home by the Queen Mother. It is still used every time a Christian service is held in the home for residents. The Burlington’s first years of business
(and indeed, the first year of business at the company’s Newmarket home, Brampton Manor) were badly affected by the pandemic and the lockdowns. It was a nightmare for all of us in the social care sector, especially seeing residents being unable to receive visitors and restricted to the care home itself. The Burlington team rallied together, supporting not just residents, but each other in difficult times.
Smooth expansion In the meantime, the development of new Boutique homes followed steadily, with Brampton Manor opening in Newmarket in June 2021, and Chartwell House opening in Broadstairs in January 2023 [The Care Home Environment visited Chartwell House not long after the opening – see our April 2023 issue]. Brampton Manor’s construction journey, although affected by the national lockdowns, was relatively smooth, and the home opened on time, the first new care home in Newmarket for 10 years. Chartwell House was another development sorely needed by the local community – the first new care home to open in Thanet in over 20 years. We were careful to look for locations where a high quality care home would be an asset to the local community – relieving
pressure on local hospitals and family carers caused by a rapidly ageing population. No sooner was one acquisition complete, than the search for the next site began. Each site’s characteristics were drastically different, from an existing care home in Shepperton, to a single house on a large plot in mature gardens in Newmarket, to part of a bare agricultural field in Broadstairs. Each posed a new learning curve as we worked to design a ‘Boutique’ end product in very different local contexts. Another learning curve were the evergrowing difficulties of securing planning consent from the local authority.
We are continuing to grapple with
planning matters on several of our new sites. Like many across the real estate industry, delays in receiving decisions, new initiatives like biodiversity net gain, and occasional opposition to development, all combine to cause frustration and increased costs. Yet it is important to remain upbeat – there might be some bumps along the road, but Boutique is focused on delivering a vision which has not changed in the five years since we first opened our doors.
Home from home Our vision has always been to provide a ‘home from home’ atmosphere, but with a classy and refined finish – something
April 2024
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
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