Care business blossoms at Eliot Park Innovation Centre
"I knew I needed to present B24 with a professional outlook to our providers, service users and staff and, after looking at various premises, I chose Eliot Park Innovation Centre to aid our expansion plans."
A registered nurse who started a business in her spare room to provide domiciliary care for adults in their own homes has expanded at a Warwickshire business centre.
Barbara Akoachere established B24 Healthcare Solutions after the experience of caring for her sister-in-law, Anke Akoachere, who was diagnosed with cancer.
She moved from Reading to Nuneaton to help her brother look after his three children after Anke passed away, and with the vision of creating a leading domiciliary care provider within adult social care to supply experienced staff to provide high-quality care.
She began with one client in Whitestone in 2022 and, after gaining her first contract with Warwickshire County Council to provide packages of care, usually when people have been discharged from hospital, within a year she had found a permanent office setting at Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Barling Way, Nuneaton.
B24 Healthcare Solutions now has 65 staff and has moved to larger premises within Eliot Park Innovation Centre to continue its year-on-year growth.
Barbara said she wanted the business to become known for its bespoke care throughout Warwickshire and Leicestershire.
“When I was helping to care for Anke, the district nurses would often say I had done their job for them and to a high standard,” she said. “I wanted to bridge the gap between hospitals and the community to provide personal home care services focused on quality and providing the best possible training for my staff.
“I was given my first contract by Warwickshire County Council in August 2022 which involved eight people and they continued sending me more people to look after. I knew I needed to present B24 with a professional outlook to our providers, service users and staff, and after looking at various premises, I chose Eliot Park Innovation Centre to aid our expansion plans and we moved in last January.”
Tina Silk-Neilsen, who joined the team in July 2023 as Registered Manager, said her and Barbara had a passion for providing great care to people who were often frail and elderly.
She said: “We have had amazing growth over the last seven months, and have doubled the number of individuals we are caring for which is now more than 80 people.
“We soon realised we had outgrown our office space and after speaking with the team at Eliot Park, we started on our next chapter by securing a larger office space to meet our growth and needs.
“We have many visitors including Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors and commissioners from local authorities that we work with, and all have said how lovely the building is and how well Eliot Park caters for its clients.
“We have further aspirations of growing into an even bigger office to take on more staff and have the training space for our staff.”
Cllr Martin Watson, Portfolio Holder for Economy at Warwickshire County Council, said it was brilliant to have played a part in B24 Healthcare Solutions’ continued growth.
“The business centres owned and managed by Warwickshire County Council are often a platform for start-ups and micro businesses to move from their home or garden shed into a more business orientated location,” he said.
“We have the space for businesses to start in a small unit and then move to a larger unit as they expand – just like B24 Healthcare Solutions.
“That’s exactly what Barbara, Tina and the rest of the team have achieved at Eliot Park Innovation Centre and it is fantastic that we are part of their future growth plans.”
For more information about Warwickshire County Council's Business Centres, please visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/businesscentres
* Please find out what other support is available to your business by calling Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub on 0300 060 3747 or visiting https://www.cwgrowthhub.co.uk