History
At Helping Hands we understand that entrusting a stranger with the personal care of a loved one is not easy. Our customers need to have trust and confidence that the company they engage will do their absolute best for the individual being cared for; we put that trust in the hands of our Carers, and that’s why we do our absolute best for our Carers, ensuring they are supported 100%.
That’s what Mary Lee believed when she started Helping Hands in 1989; and even though we now have more than 900 directly employed staff, our philosophy hasn’t changed and we remain a family run business 20 years later.
Still a family business
With a background in teaching children with learning difficulties and having worked in several Social Services departments around the country, Mary noticed that there was a need for care provision in peoples’ own homes.
Helping Hands was formed in May 1989 by Mary. Before long Mary’s sons were helping with the business. Ben, now the Chief Operating Officer, helped with wages when he came home from school and Tim, now the CEO, helped with calls and cleaning customers’ houses when home from University during the holidays.
Business blooms
In 1995 we opened our first office over a hairdresser’s salon in Alcester High Street in Warwickshire and Tim Lee joined the business full-time after completing his degree and gaining 6 years experience working in a commercial capacity elsewhere. In 2000 we moved into bigger premises at 8 Church Street, moving in to number 9 and then 10 Church Street as the business grew.
The value of experience
As we grew and Helping Hands developed, Mary’s belief that success would depend on the quality of her Carers, and the support they were offered, was justified. The 4 Cs, our set of guiding principles evolved and served to differentiate us from ever increasing competition. The need for a dedicated training division became obvious as the standards we demanded were not being satisfied by third party companies; Training Matters was set-up as a sister company to Helping Hands Homecare to allow us to control our own training, ensuring that our Carers and staff received the very best guidance and preparation.
Over the last 20 years many competitors have come and gone, whilst Helping Hands has gone from strength to strength and remains one of the premier Live-in Care specialists in the country. In 2007, after 18 years, Mary left the business in the very capable hands of Tim Lee, Ben Lee and the Senior Management Team and the company continues to flourish.
