- Tell us a little about Bespoke
Bespoke is one of the UK’s leading providers of complex care at home, delivering its services through a nurse led, carer delivery model. It employs 670 people, of whom over 600 are trained carers. The care packages it provides are bespoke and always aim to enable and empower those with complex health and social care needs to be supported within their own homes and communities. Bespoke works in partnership with its clients, their families, circles of support and multi-agency teams, to support children and adults with physical disability, mental health conditions, learning disability and autism. The company is committed to driving the Transforming Care agenda, which aims to provide care in homes, not hospitals. Headquartered in Nottingham and with a strong reputation for the quality of its provision, the company manages contracts from 58 of the UK’s Clinical Commissioning Groups.
- When and what did WestBridge invest?
WestBridge invested in Bespoke in June 2020, investing £9.6m in the transaction alongside further finance provided by Shawbrook Bank. WestBridge partnered with the senior management team, who will steer the future strategy of the business alongside the chairman, Craig Rushton (who was appointed at completion). Founder Paul Sais retained a significant shareholding and holds a non-executive position to support the executive team going forwards.
- What was it about Bespoke that appealed to you?
Bespoke is a successful business that benefits from a reputation for high quality care, a strong track record of growth and significant recurring income from its NHS contracts. The market in which it operates is highly fragmented so there is continued potential to develop the business through a focused acquisition strategy. Alongside M&A, which represents a key value driver for this buy and build investment, there is an increasing market demand for Continuing Healthcare funded activity, and the company’s introduction of a Learning Disability and Autism service in late 2019, which sees them returning people with challenging behaviours from hospitals to their own homes, presents a further opportunity for growth.
- How is WestBridge adding value?
Since completion, the board has been focusing on a number of operational improvements including IT and HR. We have also supported the senior management team with the introduction of a new COO, Christina Walsh, who joined the business in 2020. Additionally, we have been working with the management team on the buy and build strategy - assisting with origination, execution and plans for integration. Our experience of growing businesses has allowed us to help the management team manage the challenges of growing a business whilst still maintaining clinical excellence.
- And what of the future?
We have begun to prepare the business for its future growth and plan to use our team of operating consultants to help Bespoke become a platform that is ready to quickly integrate acquisitions. We have just completed our first acquisition and are working with the senior management team to successfully integrate the business. We will also be continuing to look for acquisition targets that fit Bespoke’s strategy and would complement its service offering or geographic footprint.
We are excited to work with Paul, Craig and the rest of the Bespoke team to take the business through its next phase of growth.
Typically, we invest between £10m to £20m in established, profitable and fast-growing UK SMEs with enterprise values of up to £50m and are always keen to hear from ambitious management teams that require development capital, acquisition funding or support for a management buyout. To hear more about our investment criteria or discuss the suitability of a company, do get in touch.
