A GIANT of the UK health sector says investing in his staff has been one of the main reasons for his success.

Mike Parsons, the founder and former chief executive of Barchester Healthcare, was a keynote speaker at the recent meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals where he shared some of the secrets of his phenomenal achievement of transforming just one small care home into billion pound brand leader with around 300 homes.

Wrexham Business Professionals is a group of professional firms of solicitors and accountants who collaborate on a non-competitive basis to promote the development of businesses, skills and employment opportunities for professional people.

Mr Parsons was guest of honour at their recent meeting at the town’s Ramada Plaza Hotel which took as its theme the “Business of Age” and attracted an 80-strong audience of members from across North Wales.

His business is viewed by many as one of the health sector’s true “success stories” and an example of how future healthcare should function.

He formed Barchester Healthcare in 1994 after a career in advertising that saw him rise to the position of Chief Operating Officer for Saatchi & Saatchi’s international business.

He also spent two years in the USA where he researched various new business ideas including long term care. He was particularly impressed with many of the Assisted Living facilities he saw in the US.

After returning to the UK in 1992, he set up Country Life Care Centres which merged with Eskgrove in 1994 to form Barchester Healthcare.

Earlier this year Barchester was listed in the Sunday Times Top 26 big companies to work for and one of Britain’s Top Employers 2013, and last year Mr Parsons was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Wales Care Awards.

In 2013 he retired as Chief Executive Officer but remains on the board of Grove, Barchester’s holding company.

Mr Parsons told Wrexham Business Professionals that investing in people and “building a great team” had been one of the main themes running through various stages of his highly successful career.

He said: “In the field of care continuity of people is so vital. People like to see familiar faces and want their nurses and carers to be the same day after day, which is particularly true if someone has dementia.

“Barchester has created an academy for the training of its staff which, I am proud to say, now numbers between 16,000 and 17,000 people.

“The academy is a fully accredited degree-awarding body and over the years thousands of staff have been through it.

“Staff turnover in care is particularly high but our experience with the academy has shown that if you give people a proper career pathway this drops by two-thirds.”

Mr Parsons also spoke of Barchester’s successful apprenticeship scheme and explained: “This started five years ago with just five people and last year had over 1,000 apprentices – which is more than Rolls Royce.

“Four of the original five apprentices are still with us. They have moved up and progressed and are now managers in positions of some authority.

“Our apprenticeship scheme has been all about building a great team. It’s about taking young people, giving them a job and giving them a purpose.”

The invitation to Mr Parsons to address Wrexham Business Professionals was made on the group’s behalf by Mario Kreft, the proprietor of the Wrexham-based Pendine Park care organisation who is also the Chair of Care Forum Wales and the founder of the Wales Care Awards.

In his speech Mr Parsons had warm praise for Mr Kreft and his wife Gill for the “superb set-up” they had created at Pendine Park.

He also agreed with remarks made by Mr Kreft in his own speech earlier that a “perfect storm” had been created by a combination of a growing ageing population, a continuing reduction in public spending and problems in recruiting and adequate number of care staff.

But despite this, said Mr Kreft, there were “very definite opportunities” created by this situation.

He said: “Investing in social care makes good economic sense as it underpins the NHS.

“We have to invest in social care in the community, invest in new technologies and invest in our workforces.

“If the perfect storm is not counterbalanced we will have a society where people won’t be able to get into hospitals and where they will not be able to remain the community.

“It is therefore also essential that we keep the cost of care down and try where possible to keep people healthy.”

Other speakers at the meeting, who also took as their theme the specialist advice professionals such as accountants and solicitors could provide to the elderly, were Richard Costain, Director of Newlyn Financial Management Ltd and Principal Partner of St James Wealth Management, and Medwyn Edwards, Director of Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management Ltd and also a Principal Partner of St James Wealth Management.

Both associates of the Later Life Advisers organisation, they presented the audience with various scenarios for people about to go into care and gave answers to the questions these posed about the most effective ways of making financial provision for this.

Simon Griffiths, a member of the Wrexham Business Professionals, thanked all the speakers for their contributions.

He said: “The theme of the event was highly topical at a time of squeezed budgets and soaring need in terms of social care.

“While there are obviously many challenges to be face, we must also remember that social care is a force for economic good and a major employer that can offer excellent career prospects to those who want to progress.”

A group of teenagers from Rhyl have spent the summer learning vital skills which could turn them into the UK’s future entrepreneurs.

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The 10 pupils of Blessed Edward Jones High School laid down plans to set up their own bustling production line making uniquely designed t-shirts and novelty mugs.

The dynamic workforce volunteered to spend part of their summer school-break learning about cutting-edge 21^st century business practices via the week-long course backed by Llwyddo’n Lleol, a project funded by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government to help young people across Denbighshire develop their career paths.

In what has been one of the hottest summers in years, the heat really was on for the budding entrepreneurs. But they quickly rose to the challenge of thinking up an innovative new business idea, designing original artwork and logos to promote the product and formulating a master plan for getting their idea off the drawing board and out into the real world.

The wannabe tycoons came up with a proposal for developing a subliminal printing business, producing state-of-the-art custom-designed t-shirts, and mugs.

Denbighshire Council’s Llwyddo’n Lleol Project Officer, Jenni Edwards, said: “I am really impressed with these young people. They took time out of their school holidays to do this, seeing that it would be a way to arm themselves with the skills needed to kick-start their future careers.

“The goal was for them to reach a stage by the end of the week where they had learned all the basic business skills and done the essential groundwork needed to apply for a bursary to help them put their plan into practice and launch a starter business when they return to school.”

The two teams achieved their goal and are now hopeful of officially launching a fully operating commercial business.

Anthony Brown one of the tutors who led the skills workshop, at the Oaktree Centre, Ffordd Las, Rhyl said: “We were funded by Llwyddo’n Lleol to guide and advise the students and to teach them the skills needed to set up a modern day business and develop it so that it can survive in today’s competitive marketplace. Once they learned the skills, it was the students who put them into practice doing the research, designs and marketing studies needed to turn their ideas into reality.”

The team chose subliminal printing because it uses the most modern techniques, enabling designs to go into the very fabric of the subject matter they are printed on, rather than sit on the surface, vulnerable to scratches or chips.

They have yet to finalise a name for the business though Keeley Howard and Joshua Price, both aged 14, relished the task of thinking up possibilities.

“I thought of Sunny Printers,” said Keeley. “Because Rhyl’s nickname is Sunny Rhyl and it also conveys the fun nature of our products.”

Joshua opted for Wondrous Designs, with a multi-coloured logo to match.

Jack Parry-Jones, aged 13, said he was happy to give up part of his holidays to join the course, as one day he hopes to run his own business.

He said: “I’m not sure what I want to produce yet, but this course has helped me learn more about the type of skills I’ll need to achieve my ambition when I eventually leave school.”

Jayne Smith of Blessed Edwards Jones added: “Llwyddo’n Lleol has been invaluable in enabling this course to happen, recognising the need to equip young people with the resources to survive in the modern workplace.

“It’s so important to make younger generations aware as early as possible of the opportunities which are out there for them.

"The business ideas they develop here can be put into practice when they go back to school, and used as a launch pad for a commercial school printing business. What’s more as these pupils leave school, they can hand over the reins to younger pupils coming through, so they will also benefit from hands-on business experience. As for the leavers, they can include their roles in running the school business on their CVs to prospective employers.”

The business workshop is just one of a number of Denbighshire projects supported by Llwyddo’n Lleol whose objectives are to build people’s entrepreneurial skills to boost their employment potential, to foster increased confidence among younger generations in the various opportunities local communities can offer them and to nurture a can do attitude.