As the Hub Care Support network grows, we’re starting to see franchisees with some wonderfully diverse backgrounds add their unique character and skills to our team. Many come from a background in care, of course, understanding as they do just what a big difference they can make to the struggling care sector with their own Hub. However, we are seeing more and more different back stories start to emerge from new franchisees joining us.

For Mark Hirst, who opened his Hub Care Support franchise in Fareham in June 2023 with his wife Karen, this will be his first time running a care business, but far from his first time in business leadership and management. Mark moved from Canada to the UK in the 1990s and ran his own frozen food sales company, expanding from a two man team into a multi-unit operation with dozens of delivery trucks and distribution centres.

After selling the company on, he became a franchise owner with Shell for 7 years until the pandemic made business steadily less profitable, and he decided to go travelling with his wife for a while as he considered his next move. Mark was not sure where he wanted to go next in his career, but was determined to continue using his hard-earned skills and experience. It wasn’t until he and his wife were called home to help care for his elderly father-in-law that he began to look into the care sector. Like so many others, they found it extremely difficult to source the kind of care they felt their loved one deserved.

“We could immediately see two areas that care services in the UK were really failing in.” Mark told us. “The first is just how poorly paid carers are. The second is that there is never any continuity of carers for those who need it. Sometimes service users are getting a different carer every day, and care agencies just can’t hold onto staff. Both mean that people are just not getting the care they need for both their physical and mental health.”

The Hub Care Support franchise operates very differently from any other domiciliary care agency. Instead of a large bank of ever-changing staff and unpredicatable quality of care, we recruit self-employed Personal Assistants (PAs) who are carefully matched to service users. They are in control of who they work for and when, taking the lion’s share of the fees. This not only guarantees our service users can form the kind of meaningful and consistent relationship with their carers which leads to the highest quality of care, but also means Hub Care Support franchisees avoid the constant turnover of staff faced by mainstream care agencies.

“I actually made 3 serious enquiries to other care franchises, and spoke to some of their franchisees. To be honest, they scared the life out of me! It nearly persuaded to give up on care, which was a shame because I really wanted to do something to help, but I decided to look at just a few more. When I discovered Hub Care, I thought ‘Bingo! They’ve got it!’. They made us realise there really is a better way to do things, and I immediately loved the whole way it was setup.”

While Mark and Karen were only just a few weeks into running their new business when we spoke to them, they are already embracing the Hub Care ethos wholeheartedly. They have fully grasped that this opportunity is not just about running a successful business, but also brining back some much needed heart to the care industry. By putting people back at the centre of care, especially PAs and service users, they are already well on their way to bringing positive transformation to their local communities.

“Another thing I love about Hub and the way it works, is that the personal touch is so important. I really enjoy meeting potential PAs and making sure they are right for us, and this kind of business model is perfect for that. The candidates I have spoken to are not just in it for the extra money, but because they are truly caring people who genuinely believe this is the way to make a real difference.

“I especially love our ‘Hub Buddies’ programme, which pairs up PAs so that they always have someone to call and support them when they need help and advice. It’s all part of what made us realise there realise is a better way to do all this.”

Mark also has big plans for the future. His experience running a frozen food distribution network means he has the skills necessary to run larger scale businesses, and he is very much a champion for Hub Care’s system of empowering PAs to take charge of their working lives. When he is more established in the Fareham area, he hopes to expand into neighbouring territories and looks forward to drawing on his more experienced PAs to get involved, too.

Good luck Mark & Karen, and welcome on board!

If you’re interested in running a business which is both professionally and personally rewarding, and is designed to make a real difference in the live of your local community, Hub Care Support’s pioneering franchise model could be exactly what you’ve been looking for.