A long-standing Fife-based provider of home care services has been sold to an English care group for an undisclosed sum.
More than 170 staff at St Andrews based Elite Care (Scotland) will transfer to new owners Prestige Nursing Ltd under Tupe regulations.
The firm regularly provides thousands of hours of care a week to senior citizens and to some of the most vulnerable people living in Tayside and Fife, and operates a network of offices through the area.
The new Surrey-base proprietors yesterday said its new acquisition would continue to operate as normal following the takeover, and the company name would be preserved.
Prestige said there would be no redundancies as a result of the deal, which it said had come as Elite Care’s owners move into retirement.
Elite Care (Scotland) was set up more than 20 years ago, with co-founder Joan Reid serving as managing director until January last year, when she moved to take on the role of chairperson.
She is listed at Companies House as one of two company directors, alongside John Randall.
Prestige Nursing is a major provider of care services in its own right, with more than 40 outlets nationwide and a directly employed workforce of around 100 staff.
It also operates a nursing bank service which has more than 3,000 nurses and care workers registered with it to provide home care and healthcare services.
Jonathan Bruce, managing director of Prestige Nursing, said Elite Care (Scotland) presented an excellent opportunity for his business to expand its presence in the Scottish healthcare market.
“We are delighted to have reached agreement with the shareholders of Elite Care (Scotland) Ltd for the sale of their business, and are very much looking forward to working with their clients and staff alike,” Mr Bruce said yesterday.
“Prestige, like Elite, prides itself on the quality of its care, which is why the fit between the two businesses was so good.
“The acquisition also allows us to increase our share of the Scottish care market while reinforcing our strategy of acquiring well-diversified, high quality mid-market care providers.”
Prestige provides services ranging from occasional relief care to 24-hour home nursing.
It recently expanded into providing specialist support for brain-injured patients.
Jason Logan, who has been with Elite Care for several years and will head up the operation under Prestige’s ownership, said it was an exciting moment for the business.
He said staff had been and would be invited to introductory sessions with the new parent company within the next few weeks.
He also took the opportunity to pay tribute to the retiring duo.
He said: “It is absolutely business as usual.
“The staff were notified over the last two days once we had notification that everything had gone through.”