Caremark I
although his first thought after that bombshell was relief – “Thank God I’m not getting the 6 o’clock train in the morning” – it left him with huge decisions
to make. With his experience, he could easily get another job in the trade but did he really want to continue working under a boss, no equity, little fulfilment, exhaustion – all while heading towards the end of his 40s? At a crossroads, Barney decided to call an old friend with previous experience of redundancy – who just happened to be a now- successful Caremark franchisee. His friend didn’t push
Caremark, but he did provide an all-important nudge towards franchising. “He told me: ‘Look, there's a franchise exhibition at the NEC tomorrow’. I mean, literally, the day after I got made redundant!” Given his background Barney imagined a food or drink franchise might be the answer, but soon realised that homecare – doing great work in your community while running your own profitable business – ticked many of the boxes of what he was looking for. He went on to research
different homecare franchises and found Caremark’s quality and integrity stood out. “One of the things I really liked about Caremark was I never felt like I was being sold to … they wanted me to be 100% confident and happy that I was doing the right thing. I really liked that honest approach, with no hard sell.” After signing the franchise
agreement, Barney embarked on his training and soon met like-minded franchisees at the annual conference. “I got a really positive feel for the network – very, very supportive.” But it was early 2020 and unavoidably, COVID interrupted Barney’s plans with unpredictable consequences – furloughed employees being able to provide their own family care, for example. But as the country emerged from lockdown, so did the business positives. “People's
“A really positive feel … very supportive”
attitudes towards care have changed now. They’re thinking ‘Crikey, my mum was left on her own for all that time, maybe I need to put something in place?’” So even though he launched a business in a pandemic, Barney realises his timing was strangely fortuitous. “If I’d stayed in the wine business, I would have been made redundant again. I didn't think so at the time, but with hindsight, I was very lucky.” With support from the network
and Caremark’s Franchise Support Centre, the business is now flourishing – with a waiting list of clients, well-planned marketing and a successful contract the local authority, Barney’s office now has the Caremark award for 500 hours of care. Barney and his team have a suite of across-the-board ‘Good’ ratings from the CQC and tons of positive reviews. He confirms: “We are absolutely focused on quality. There's no point doing it unless it's the best possible care, we strongly believe in that.” For Barney, the rewards are obvious: a great word-
of-mouth reputation for his business, alongside a work/life balance and spending more time with family.
p Barney Davis
caremark.co.uk
n 2019 Barney Davis was suddenly made redundant from his role in the wine industry and
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