5 minutes with Andy Boardman, MD of Alcedo Care Group

Andy Boardman leads home care provider Alcedo Care in the North West and Wales. The dad of four works alongside his wife Jo Boardman, who is also a director.

In February, he piloted a moped scheme involving the purchase of mopeds and paying staff to take a CBT moped course to enable recruitment of people who did not have driving licenses. Insurance, gloves, a helmet and jacket were provided for staff travelling to home care visits.

In October, Alcedo Care Group opened a new office in Kendal, North England which is expected to create 80 jobs. It is the group's first branch on a traditional high street and its first office in Cumbria.

Can you tell us about Alcedo Care Group and what you do?

The Alcedo Care Group is a family owned and operated care provider offering services across the North West of England and North Wales. Alcedo provides a range of home care services to people of all ages.

We were established in 2017. We currently have 17 branches, employ around 1,200 people and deliver in excess of 1 million care hours per year. We are one of the highest-rated care groups in the UK and have received this award [Top 20 Large & Mid-size Home Care Groups 2022 homecare.co.uk award] for the last three years running.

Can you tell us about the path you took to get to where you are today?

We started out as part of a franchise network and operated as franchisees for the first two years before buying ourselves out of the network at the end of 2019.

Who inspires you the most and why?

My fellow director and wife and our fantastic family of care professionals. The reason they inspire me is we all share the same passion for what we are creating at Alcedo Care and for the difference we make on a daily basis by supporting and enriching the lives of over 1,000 people who we help stay independent and in their own home.

What is your biggest achievement in your career and in your personal life?

The biggest achievement of my career was being awarded the top-rated care award in 2020 after only three years of being established. A close second was reaching the milestone of employing 1,000 people.

My biggest personal achievement is being married for 30 years to my best friend and having four wonderful children.

What is the biggest opportunity for Alcedo Care currently?

Opening up different care service streams like supported living and day centres and further developing our nurse-led complex care services and our live-In care provision.

Do you see Alcedo Care as having an optimum size in terms of the number of settings?

30 branches, circa 2,500 care professionals and delivering in excess of 2 million care hours across a diverse range of care services.

What do you hope to introduce in the next five years and what are you most excited about implementing?

Day Centres, supported living, an apprentice academy and lots more passionate and driven care professionals to join the Alcedo family.

What do you think is the biggest threat facing Alcedo Care Group?

Ensuring we maintain our family values and the culture in the service where people know they are valued and the have personal development opportunities.

What is your level of staff turnover and how do you hope to attract staff?

It is currently around 10 per cent. We pay better than other services and we pour huge resources into our recruitment drive. We have an events vehicle which we commission specifically to aid recruitment. We have a dedicated head of recruitment, a social media marketing manager and events manager, all of which focus on recruitment.

What do you think the government should do to improve life for the home care sector?

Make our supplies zero rated for VAT purposes would make a huge difference.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

My own boss.

What is your favourite book and why?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The story of middle earth captured my imagination and started a life-long passion for reading.

What is the best present you have received?

A second chance of having another go after very nearly succumbing to an acute illness in 2018. I have included this as a present because it was a gift from my wife, without her fighting for me to get the best of care I wouldn’t be here today.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I love to spend time with my wife and kids, fishing when I can, cooking, watching rugby and occasionally gardening.

click here for more details or to contact Alcedo Care