Trio of Midlands firms provide bespoke advice to health care company on private equity buyout

WestBridge has invested £9.6m to support the MBO of Nottingham based Bespoke Health & Social Care from its Founder Paul Sais who was advised on the deal by the Midlands offices of KPMG, Browne Jacobson and Claritas. Bespoke is a leading provider of complex care in the community.

Paul Sais has retained a significant share of the business and will take a seat on the board. The deal sees the appointment of Craig Rushton as chairman. He will work closely with the incumbent six-strong management team, led by managing director David Hatton, to take the business forward.

Established in 2011, Bespoke is a specialist nurse led service provider, with over 50 employees and 620 trained carers who enable and empower individuals with complex health and social care needs to be supported within their own homes and communities. Bespoke works in partnership with its clients, their families, circles of support and multi-agency teams, to support children and adults with physical disability, mental health conditions, learning disability and autism. The company is committed to driving the Transforming Care agenda, which aims to provide care in homes, not hospitals.

Headquartered in Nottingham and with a strong reputation for the quality of its provision, the company currently manages contracts from 58 of the UK’s Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

The WestBridge team comprised Tim Whittard, Edward Minton, Rebecca Sinclair and Valerie Kendall.

Whittard said:

“Bespoke is a successful business with a reputation for high quality care, a strong track record of growth and significant recurring income from its NHS contracts. The market in which it operates is highly fragmented so there is considerable potential to develop the business through a focussed acquisition strategy. Alongside M&A, there is an increasing market demand for Continuing Healthcare funded activity, and the company’s recent introduction of a Learning Disability and Autism (LDA) service, which sees them returning people with challenging behaviours from hospitals to their own homes under the Transforming Care agenda, presents a further opportunity for growth.”

“This is exactly the type of business in which we like to invest. We are very much looking forward to working with Paul, Craig and the rest of the Bespoke team. Aside from the commercial appeal, the chemistry feels right, which is very important.”

Ed Minton added:

“Bespoke is a well-run and focussed business with the highest standard of care at its core. The attractive market niche, experienced team and development potential that is available from offering care in new service areas, coupled with select M&A activity, makes this a very exciting investment proposition for us.”

Paul Sais, Bespoke founder, said:

"We are delighted to conclude this deal, which will enable Bespoke to continue pursuing growth while maintaining the highest standards of care.

“The WestBridge team impressed us with their pragmatic approach and we look forward to working with them over the next phase of our journey.”

Browne Jacobson provided legal advice to Bespoke and Paul Sais, whilst KPMG were corporate finance advisers and Claritas Tax provided tax advice.

Browne Jacobson’s team was led by Gareth Davies and Gavin Cummings supported by Joel Nixon, Clare Hanna and Matthew Dorman, the KPMG team was led by Taj Lalli supported by Bilal Mehboob and Khush Purewal and the Claritas team was led by Iain Wright with Ses Memhi, Adam Keates and Elliott Morrell.

WestBridge were advised by Cooper Parry Corporate Finance and Capital Law.

Management were advised by Geldards.

Shawbrook’s Midlands based Financial Sponsors team provided the debt package.