Hi, I’m Adam the Managing Director and Founder of Belmont Healthcare. I am an entrepreneur who is embedded in the health and social care sector, a charity trustee and an author. Oh and father to an amazing cheeky 4 year old daughter…
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Belmont Healthcare is a group focussed on breaking the boundaries of traditional care companies by offering multi forms of care and really focused on the clients and their families. Looking at creative and innovative ways of supporting the ongoing wellbeing of those in need of care and support. This is created through a wide range of initiatives including predominantly care homes for older people with ailments such as Dementia or Parkinsons, home care in the community and through hospital rehabilitation. We aim to create a bespoke holistic approach of supportive care following time in an acute setting such as the NHS.
2. How did you get into the industry?
Initially through family after the sale of a business in the Telecommunications sector. I went to support my father in the sale of his care home in Kent and essentially fell in love with the industry and felt it would be an area I could really make a difference as many of the elements within it didn’t seem to really work effectively and I felt it was crying out for new ways of working – I saw this challenge and felt it was the next step for me. I had always been passionate about property too so there was a real synergy of business and the property element. One of the things I knew I wanted from the next career move was to be a transactional business model. I wanted something that held tangible value development, which comes with assets also, so the healthcare industry lent itself not only by design but by taking me out of my comfort zone of essentially being a salesperson.
3. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
Our biggest challenge is around the perception of the industry as a whole for working within and for caring for loved ones, there is a huge stigma and lack of understanding we need to overcome.
As for opportunity, it is the wider education of what the social care sector can deliver for families as the realisation of the support it offers can help reduce the pressure on the NHS and ultimately reduce the rising costs of acute care.
4. How would you describe your leadership style?
A very open and collaborative approach. I believe our business is only as good as the people in it and needs to be able to live, breathe and be open to making mistakes and listen to ideas. I feel that I tend to work with rather than expect people to work for us. I feel being this way enables people to be at their best, I have found that breeding a strong culture of support brings loyalty and team engagement.
5. How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
Through developing them and enabling them to fulfil their own ideas. But ultimately it’s about creating a supportive family environment which hopefully makes our teams feel as though they are part of something whereby we as a business support them and vice versa.
6. What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
Keeping our teams motivated and supported. Without them we cannot deliver quality care. However from a business perspective the key is in ensuring we are on top of the KPIs because with so many fluctuations and different cost centres within a care business the need to ensure you manage the KPI costing effectively to ensure the business has the ability to reinvest.
7. How has the past 12 months been for you?
In all honesty they have been the worst 12 months of my professional career as we have been at the forefront of the pandemic, our teams have been commendable in their efforts. I have learnt a lot about how to react and make changes to ensure the business has the correct direction. When I reflect in a few years, I’m sure I will see it as a positive in terms of learning, but the challenge is still very raw.
8. Is there anything you’ve learnt during the pandemic that you’ll take forward in your business?
To be more fluid and flexible on our business plan to ensure we survive a crisis. Plans change and it’s ok!
9. What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
Further developing our long term strategy to become an innovator in the sector and raising awareness for the great people we employ. Our growth was stunted naturally following the year that was but we are firmly focused on adding new facilities to our portfolio. We are also in planning for a new purpose built wellbeing centre in the MIdlands, which is a real passion project, including clinics, treatments centres and a nursery on site providing free employee child care, we are very excited about this project and hope to share more information on that in a few months.
10. What are the highlights of your career so far?
I have been fortunate enough to have some real highlights but developing this business has been a joy. In 2019 I was awarded a national recognition for outstanding contribution to the social care sector which was a real highlight and also invited to be a trustee of the Care Workers Charity which is something I really believe in and am still involved in now.
11. What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
Not acting quick enough, I have experienced the issues that arise when you see a problem but hope that it will fix itself without your intervention. Believing in your own judgement is vital, its like a sixth sense as an entrepreneur, you need to learn to trust it.
12. What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
Its not so much advice but I have learnt how not to do things. In my time I have worked for some real horror show of business owners and in 2018 I actually published a book called “Risk v Reward: The employee employer conundrum” This basically scripted out things I had learnt but focuses in on a particular employer of mine in the past who I found profoundly misled in his approach. I learnt a lot from him, how not to do things and how to be engaging and ‘open door’ with your approach to leadership.
