Back in 2011, friends and former colleagues Andrew Peace and Mark McKenning launched their first Caremark franchise in Barnsley.

Since then, the pair have built a thriving business, delivering more than 3,900 hours of care and support per week to vulnerable people in their local community. Following their success in Barnsley, they opened two new offices in Rotherham and Sheffield.

Passion makes the difference between operating a franchise and growing a business. Director Mark McKenning believes that while being part of a franchise network means you are always supported, "it’s you, the franchisee, who needs to grow your business”.

“As with life, you get back what you put in,” he commented. “You need a strong work ethic, resilience, passion and drive. Businesses are built on the strength of reputation. Doing the right things well time and time again is challenging, however this is what separates organisations. Good service delivery is key.”

Investing in their staff has also been key to Andrew and Mark's business growth. They are conscious that maintaining a happy and well trained workforce is essential to strengthening staff retention whilst attracting new team members. Fulfilled staff talk to family and friends about their work and recruitment opportunities. Word-of-mouth is a highly powerful form of referral, especially in a community-based service.

Caremark would simply not exist without its care workers, and valuing them is one of the franchise network's aims and objectives. The business partners offer both ongoing training and a health and wellbeing programme to their staff, encouraging them in learning new skills and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For Mark McKenning, “it is important our work force is happy and healthy and we believe that we need to take care of ourselves to take care of our clients. By doing this we can continue to deliver a service of excellence.”

Andrew and Mark are keen to be recognised as the employer of choice in their area as well as the care provider of choice. Offering rewarding employment and providing compassionate and personalised care to their local community has so far proved to be a recipe for success.