Bluebird Care's exciting joint initiative with Boots

\"We see Bluebird Care as a major provider of quality care in the UK'and Ireland.\"

Chris Glass, Boots

The UK and Ireland's fastest growing care franchise, Bluebird Care has great pleasure in announcing an exciting new working relationship with Boots UK. 'Boots has unveiled a £65 million re-brand of its UK pharmacies - hailed as the biggest single change in the company's history and we are delighted to be working with them as they push into the care at home market,' says Bluebird Care Managing Director Paul Tarsey.

Franchisees will have the benefit of joint marketing with their local Boots pharmacies, together with staff training opportunities within Boots Training courses. 'As a major provider of care at home we were approached by Boots to see how we could work together for mutual benefit, in the huge and growing market in which we operate,' explains Paul. 'This led us to exploring different ways of working together and now we are in a position to announce our joint initiative.'

This is fantastic news for Bluebird Care franchisees being able to work alongside such a major brand and shows potential franchisees that the company is a serious player in the care at home market. 'We are delighted to be working with Bluebird Care,' says Chris Glass, Boots Development Manager for Domiciliary Care, 'who we see as a major provider of quality care in the UK and Ireland.'

Bluebird Care's growth and success has been phenomenal. Launched as a franchise in June 2006 following a very successful two year pilot scheme, the franchise network has now grown to 43 franchises in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

FRANCHISEE SUPPORT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
'We never lose sight of the fact that our success depends upon the success of our franchisees,' says Paul, 'and that is why we place so much emphasis on exceptional support to our network. The Boots initiative is a good example of the support provided to franchisees.'

Bluebird Care is well placed to support its franchisees from their early start-up phase through to early trading and growth with a team of support staff lead by Business Development and Training Manager Lorna Liney. 'My background is care management in nursing and community care,' states Lorna, 'and with my growing business development team we have the experience to provide the kind of support we know franchisees require.'

Bluebird Care's business development and support team now numbers 10. 'We are constantly looking at better ways to increase efficiency and profitability in the business,' she continues. 'Through our own care businesses we are able to ensure any changes to our business systems improve the business, prior to rolling them out to franchisees. Our own two offices are centres of excellence for our franchisees.'

Experience is something Bluebird Care has plenty of. 'We are the most experienced franchisor in this sector in terms of both franchising and care provision experience,' says Paul. 'Our franchisees have the benefit of over 40 years of joint experience in these two key areas and this has had much to do with the success the business enjoys. This, combined with the fact that those working in the business actually started the business from scratch, so have full empathy with our franchisees, means that franchisees have unrivalled advice to call upon.'

BBC WORKING LUNCH
Further evidence of Bluebird Care's high standing in care provision in the UK is the recent appearances on the BBC2 Working Lunch programme. After being featured last year as a good example of a growing company, Working Lunch has been back to show the continued growth of the business particularly in relation to continuing employment opportunities. 'Working Lunch were keen to show that it is not all doom and gloom out there and companies such as Bluebird Care are creating jobs,' says Paul. 'We expect to create over 500 jobs this year.'

OPPORTUNITY
Bluebird Care does not necessarily seek franchisees with care experience. 'The majority of our franchisees do not have a care background,' Paul reveals. 'We seek people who have a passion for starting their own care business, the necessary management experience and an empathy with providing high quality care. We continue to be successful because we are very good at what we do and we have very successful franchisees growing their own businesses with our exceptional support and guidance.'

Reported by Simon Dalziel