Now, HC-One owns more than 320 homes and cares for more than 15,000 residents. HC-One was set up in 2011 from the ashes of care group Southern Cross - which was the UK's biggest care home company until it collapsed when it couldn't pay its rents. And one of the other biggest groups, Four Seasons, was owned by private equity firms until recently.īetween them they have nearly 39,000 beds, and there have been concerns about the amount of debt they all carry.Įarly this year, Jason Ward contacted Panorama about some research he was carrying out into the UK's biggest care home operator - HC-One. In the UK, two of the biggest care groups, HC-One and Care UK, are owned in this way. © BBCįinancial investigator Jason Ward works for an international tax justice group They will often do this by making them more efficient, then selling it on at a profit. Typically, private equity investors are wealthy individuals or institutions who buy businesses looking for a better return on their money than from other types of investment. Jason has been investigating where money goes in the care industry in countries around the world - and in particular the role of private equity investment. He works for an organisation called CICTAR - the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research - which is funded by trade unions and charities. When someone says "follow the money", that is probably what Jason will be doing. In his basement home office on the outskirts of Sydney, a short walk from the beach and the South Pacific, Jason Ward spends much of his time poring over spreadsheets and going through company accounts trying to make sense of how businesses work. "We need the Competition and Market authority to make sure that market is operating in the interest of consumers, particularly the very vulnerable people who need that sector." © BBC "It's the Wild West out there," says Mr Hunt. Three of the UK's biggest care home groups are owned by private equity companies and are saddled with significant amounts of debt.īBC Panorama has been looking at what this means for people living and working in the homes run by two of those groups, and for the future of care in this country. The finances of some of the UK's biggest care providers should be investigated by the competition watchdog, according to the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.