We’re delighted to announce that Bridges’ Private Equity funds have completed a new investment in Alina Homecare (“Alina”), a leading UK provider of care that helps vulnerable elderly people live independently at home.

Bridges first invested in Alina in 2014, via an earlier private equity fund. This new investment – which follows an advisor-led competitive sale process – comes via its dedicated Inclusive Growth private equity strategy, which focuses on growth businesses that are delivering positive outcomes for vulnerable people in the UK.

Between 2024 and 2040, the UK’s elderly population is set to increase by about 2% per annum; by 2040, there will be 1m more people aged 80-85 than there are today. Coupled with the rise in chronic health conditions and increasing pressures on the primary care system, this creates an ever-growing need for high-quality care in the home that allows older people to continue living independently.

Alina has become a market leader in this sector, delivering 1.1m hours of care to over 1,300 people across the South of England last year. It has a strong focus on quality provision: 100% of its assessed branches are rated Good or Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, and it enjoys 99% service user satisfaction. The key enabler of this is its highly engaged and motivated workforce. Alina employs 100% of its carers and has a strong employee value proposition, particularly in terms of training, progression and pay. As a result, it has employee satisfaction of 98% and an Indeed rating of 4.2, both well ahead of the industry average. This helps it to recruit and retain high-quality carers, and support them to deliver the best possible care for service users.

Bridges is backing Alina’s existing management team, led by CEO James Deeley, who are re-investing alongside Bridges and will continue to lead the business. Emma Thorne, Partner and Head of Inclusive Growth at Bridges, and Tom Street, Investment Director for Inclusive Growth, will join the Alina board. With support from Bridges’ specialist impact value creation team, they will work closely with the business to support organic growth, further build out the senior team, and deepen its focus on quality outcomes for vulnerable older people.

Emma Thorne, Partner and Head of Bridges Inclusive Growth, said:

“Alina’s focus on providing quality employment for carers – enabling better care outcomes for vulnerable people – makes it a great fit for our Inclusive Growth strategy. As our elderly population grows, the need for this kind of high-quality care in the home is increasing steadily. We think Alina is perfectly placed to help address this unmet need in the coming years.”

James Deeley, CEO of Alina Homecare, said:

“Bridges have been a great partner for Alina over the years, and we are delighted to be partnering with the Inclusive Growth team for the next phase of our growth journey. It will allow us to maintain our emphasis on quality of care and quality of employment – which in turn help us to attract new clients and support the continued commercial growth of the business. We look forward to achieving further growth and impact in the coming years.”

The sell-side was advised by KPMG and Pinsent Masons; Bridges Inclusive Growth was advised by Grant Thornton, Addleshaw Goddard and Deloitte (tax structuring).  Due diligence providers included LEK (Commercial) BDO (financial), Global Counsel (Policy) and Palladium (digital).