OakNorth Bank completes £7.5m development loan for luxury care home

By Bridging Loan Directory 21st June 2021

OakNorth Bank – the UK bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has provided a £7.5M loan to Springfield Healthcare Beverley Limited, led by the experienced, award winning team behind Springfield Healthcare.

With over 425 beds across five care homes in York, Leeds and Ilkley, Springfield Healthcare is a well-established, family-owned business, providing exceptional care across Yorkshire.

Having expanded considerably throughout its five decades of operation in the sector, the firm also offers a range of care services to people in their own homes, based from its six regional offices covering Yorkshire, Humberside and the North East.

The business is backed by the BGF which predominantly invests in small to mid-sized businesses. BGF has cumulatively invested £2.3B across 330+ companies with exposure in Technology, Retail & Leisure, Media, Business services, and Infrastructure & Construction, among others.

The capital from OakNorth Bank will be used to develop a new, three-story, purpose-built care home in the historic and attractive market town of Beverley, East Yorkshire.

The bespoke debt finance facility will be used to develop 79 care home rooms, six care home apartments, and seven retirement flats for independent living.

Graeme Lee, Founder and Group CEO of Springfield Healthcare, commented:

“Over the past 50 years, Springfield Healthcare has grown substantially but our core values have remained constant – to ensure the wellbeing of our clients, whether that’s at one of our homes or their own.

Given the projections for people living with dementia over the next two decades, providing excellent care facilities is only going to become more vital.

James and the team at OakNorth Bank had a clear understanding of the sector, as well as the Yorkshire region, and were transparent and collaborative throughout the process.

We’re proud to be backed by a bank that has supported some of the strongest operators in the sector.”

James Espley, Director of Property Finance at OakNorth Bank, added:

“Graeme has almost three decades of experience in the care sector, having built a successful portfolio of five care homes with strong operational performance.

Despite the obvious challenges presented by COVID-19, the business has continued to perform well with performance in excess of its revised budget.

The fact that it’s managed to secure equity backing from the Business Growth Fund, is a testament to the exceptional work of Graeme and his team, and we look forward to building on the relationship in the future.”