New build
Building a care community: Inside Dunham Care’s ambitious Herne Bay debut
Dunham Care’s first home, Herne Bay Manor, is aiming to offer luxury rooted in community, distinctive design, discreet technology and a culture built around care, independence and local connection. TCHE editor Mary-Louise Clews travelled to the Kent coast to find out more.
When a provider opens its first care home, every design choice, technology investment and staffing decision offers clues about the kind of organisation it wants to become. Herne Bay Manor, the first home from
new operator Dunham Care, backed by the McGoff Group, is set within a wider senior living development on the Kent coast. The 67-bed home arrives at a moment when the sector is taking in increasing numbers of older people with complex needs, at the same time as facing ongoing workforce pressures, technological transformation and changing expectations from residents and their families. For home manager Trisha King, the most
important thing about opening a new home is creating a culture. “I love setting up homes,” she says. “You start with a blank canvas. You recruit and
build the team. We lead the way with the culture and develop our own ethos.” Ms King has spent more than four
decades in care, healthcare and management roles, including NHS leadership positions, regional director posts, commissioning new homes and supporting struggling services. That experience informs her vision for Herne Bay Manor, where she says she is looking to build a culture to match the ambition behind the design and build. “We say to people, be entrepreneurial,
think outside the box,” she explains. “If they’re creative and they’ve got ideas, then let’s do it.”
Why Herne Bay? The McGoff Group is a long running, successful operator whose decision to get back into developing and running care
homes via the launch of new operating brand Dunham Care, after having sold former operator New Care to Lovett two years ago, was clearly backed by solid forecasting ( it has so far attracted investment from both AJ Bell founder Andy Bell and Virgin Money). The choice of location for its first opening
was therefore obviously far from accidental. Kent’s coast continues to attract retirees,
while improved transport links have made towns such as Herne Bay and nearby Whitstable increasingly accessible from London. But demographics tell only part of the story. The site itself carries deep emotional
significance within the local community. Long before Herne Bay Manor existed, the location was home to a much-loved Christian conference centre.
October 2026
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