Two years before securing an investment from the Business Growth Fund, Graeme Lee and Springfield Healthcare Group received a number of offers from other private equity firms – but for him it didn’t fit.

‘I could never get what added value they could bring to us. That made me learn about private equity and be very careful about going down that route,’ Lee says.

‘However, with the BGF, I was attracted to it as it seemed log more user-friendly, was a minority stake, and the added value was clear to see.’

Springfield Healthcare Group received £4.4 million as part of its backing, with £2.5 million going towards expanding its geographical reach and increasing the number of hours of care it could provide.

The remaining £1.9 million was to be used alongside existing funds to develop a purpose-built facility in Leeds to offer care options such as day care, residential, dementia and nursing.

Lee says that the BGF got ‘passionate’ about what it was doing, away from the ‘aggressive’ acquisitions-driven environment that Lee could see himself getting involved in with conventional private equity.

More from our exclusive Business Growth Fund roundtable:

• Taking on capital for acquisitions
• Marketing and new hires for companies after backing
• Capital expenditure for businesses post-investment
• Building out new products

Making it a minority investment was important for Lee as, like most entrepreneurs, he wanted to make sure he didn’t loose control of the business and see strategies shift away from what had been planned.

Company profiles from our exclusive roundtable:

• Cennox
• GCI Com
• Broadbandchoices.co.uk

Springfield recently completed the acquisition of domiciliary care business Positive Life Choices using capital provided by the BGF.

Newly-acquired Positive Life Choices, which is located in Newcastle upon Tyne, will bring 2,000 hours of care to Springfield Homecare and give it a new presence in the North East. Furthermore, it brings the turnover of the overall Springfield Healthcare Group to £13 million per year.

Lee adds, ‘This marks the start of an exciting period of growth into the North East for Springfield Homecare, alongside its existing progress within Yorkshire and Humberside.

‘BGF’s funding is enabling us to source similar excellent opportunities across Yorkshire and the North East where we can invest quickly, professionally and in alignment with existing management teams.’

This feature is part of a larger package looking at the Business Growth Fund’s active portfolio. See links above for more content.