A DOMICILIARY care business with an office in Bradford has secured substantial private equity investment to expand its operations.

Routes Healthcare, which provides NHS-funded intensive home care, has received a the investment from private equity firm Key Capital Partners which has a strong track record of investment in the sector, including experience with Nurse Plus and Hallam Medical.

The investment is the first to be made following the launch of KCP’s new £80 million growth fund in November.

Routes Healthcare was established in 2005 by managing director Andrew Healing and now has nine offices across the North of England serving public sector bodies, blue chip organisations, SMEs and private individuals.

The KCP team which executed the deal was led by investment partners Mike Fell and Philip Duquenoy, assisted by investment manager James Excell. Mike will join the board of Routes Healthcare to provide strategic advice to the business.

Andrew Healing said: “With its proven experience in the healthcare industry, KCP was the ideal investment partner for us to assist with our continued growth. Excellence in all we do is the company’s philosophy and the expertise of their senior advisers and the invaluable strategic advice they can bring to management teams were crucial factors in our decision. Maintaining excellence in the clinical care we deliver is imperative and we are already enjoying working closely with KCP to ensure this is managed safely as the business grows.”

KCP’s Mike Fell added: “Building on our deep sector expertise working with companies like Hallam Medical and Nurse Plus, this is a great opportunity to support what is already a very successful business, to reach the next stage of its development.

“ Our investment will provide development capital to support the continued expansion of the network of branches both organically and through acquisition while ensuring that the business’ ethos of ‘always putting the patient first’ remains central.”