Nye Brown is heading up one of the biggest brands in the care home sector. Since his appointment as chief executive in January, Brown has been mapping out Hallmark’s five-year plan. Now he says: “Hallmark is ready for growth”.

Brown is a familiar face at the company. He joined Hallmark in 2014, beginning as hospitality services manager, then working in various health and safety roles, before taking on key regional and group leadership positions. A testament not only to his commitment to the company, but also Hallmark’s commitment to nurturing home-grown talent.

He said: “I’m glad to have risen through the ranks this way. I started out at Greenhill Manor in South Wales, which is a 120-bed care home. That’s really where I cut my teeth and learned what working in a care home was like. Although my role was largely hospitality, I worked with a very good general manager who taught me everything there was to know about it.

“I’d be duty manager on the weekends, and I’d cover shifts. I always try and bring that experience back to the boardroom when we’re making decisions. I think that underpinning knowledge really does help – and I’m proud to say it’s not unique around here because a lot of my colleagues have had similar journeys. Team retention is a big focus for us at Hallmark with a lot of investment going into our team’s leadership development.”

Brown adds that this is one of the key elements underpinning his strategy for growth.

On achievements the company should be proud of, Brown said: “We’ve won two Princess Royal Awards – the first for our internal management and leadership development programmes.

“Then subsequently we won another Princess Royal Award for our talent management processes, which is basically how we take people through that journey on a career pathway from an entry-level role right through to various promotions.

“I think that really validates the effort and the work that we do to grow and develop our team – because it really is a career.”

Hallmark’s growth strategy will continue to see new homes built: “We’re known in the care sector for building industry-leading, award-winning care homes. It’s something we’ve done for many years. Finding land, designing, building and operating the care home. This is absolutely a core part of our plan across the next five years.

“But acquisition of existing quality care homes in our geographies are fundamental to our strategy. This two-pronged approach is a change for us. We’re looking for homes where we can add the winning Hallmark value to them – we’ve got the solid foundations in place with happy teams, systems and processes to exceed our regulatory requirements and an outstanding trading funnel. We’re really looking forward to increasing the access of our care for more people to benefit from.”

A build-first strategy has been common in a sector where some believe that opportunities to buy top-quality assets are scarce. Brand considerations mean buying lower-quality assets are not always ideal for Hallmark, regardless of functionality. However, there are exceptions.

Brown explained: “Hallmark is known for quality, so we absolutely want to maintain that. But a key question is “how do we add value?”. Ideal properties would be purpose-built, 100% wetroom, high quality in terms of spatial standards – there are also operators who have done heavy-duty refurbs, so I think there absolutely are high-quality opportunities out there.”

He added: “Customers – and I think it can be more useful to call them customers than residents – know when something is luxury. It’s more than just interior design. Luxury is more of a lifestyle where the team support people to live their best lives while providing that day-to-day high-quality care that is expected from us. It’s providing all the ingredients for residents and their families to thrive within a Hallmark Luxury Care Home versus any other care home.”

Of course the sector has not been without its challenges, chief among which is the employer National Insurance contributions rise. Brown predicts this will lead to more consolidation in the market, as well as some operators exiting. He added: “That’s where quality operators like Hallmark can step in because we have a strong track record, infrastructure within our central and regional teams, and the ability to acquire those homes.”

Although Hallmark protects itself from the worst impacts of this, Brown expressed some frustration that the tax punishes a company which “has always been a Real Living Wage employer”. He also added that there isn’t much interoperability between NHS and care homes, which leads to one essential service being treated differently from another.

In a time like this, he expresses the importance of voices in the sector speaking together. This includes National Insurance, but also the Casey Review. He said: “When the call for evidence for the Casey Review comes, we’d like to be involved in that. Anything that focuses on social care and looks at how to improve things can only be a good thing in my view. Social care and specifically care homes get a bad reputation which harms people’s perception of them and puts them off considering care when we know life in in a Hallmark home has so many considerable health and lifestyle benefits.”

Despite the Care Quality Commission experiencing its own challenges Hallmark undertakes regular internal quality and compliance audits across all its homes. Brown said: “This is how we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Our homes will have 14 independent audits a year, some multiple times – it’s no mean feat but critical to our delivery of high-quality care for all residents.

“To readers I’d say to contact us if you have any homes to sell or lease that we might be interested in. We’re a trusted partner with the ability to keep our homes full, nurture and retain talent and, of course, keep our customers happy. Go online and let us know if you have any homes you’d like to lease or sell at: hallmarkcarehomes.co.uk/new-developments”