Franchisee Case Studies: Richard Burgess

Stepping Into Business Ownership

As a former senior director in the corporate world, Richard Burgess has taken on huge responsibilities in his time, but he’d never owned and run his own business. So, when he was handed the keys to his Right at Home office in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, in 2022, he was understandably nervous about representing the Right at Home brand in his community.

“Right at Home made it very clear that as a start-up, the key to building our brand was lots of engagement with grassroots community services. I was used to professional networking, but I’d never had to go out and engage with the local community and speak on behalf of my own business before,” he says.

Richard says his anxiety about engaging with the local community was swiftly put to rest during his first visit to a dementia café, when he realised how welcoming the care sector is and that the days of competing for a share in the market were behind him.

Since then, his business has flourished. He has acquired more areas and is now the Managing Director of both Right at Home Calderdale and Right at Home East Lancashire & Ribble Valley, the latter of which has been awarded a CQC ‘Outstanding’ rating — the highest possible rating from the regulator.

Professional Background

Rochdale-born Richard started his career in hospitality in the late eighties, working his way up to become Group Manager for four hotels in Eastbourne.

“I went there on a bit of a whim and ended up staying for 13 years,” he recalls.

At the peak of his hotel career, Richard was working split shifts over a minimum of six days per week and was constantly on call. So, when his first daughter was born, he realised it was finally time for a change.

“Hospitality and family life didn’t mix. We needed to move back up north for family support.”

Richard relocated to Halifax in 2002, where he became Head of Customer Service for a commercial property business. Once again, he climbed the ladder and landed the role of Chief Operating Officer 13 years later.

“I was responsible for a team of about 600 people. We managed, oversaw, and leased commercial office buildings to a number of sectors,” he says.

The property business later built a sister company, for which Richard became Chief Executive Officer, but by this time he had grown tired of the corporate world and felt he had spent too many years in the corporate world, writing reports and sitting in meetings. It was time for a change.

Discovering Right at Home — The Stars Align

When Richard left the property business, he found himself at a crossroads for the first time in his working life. “I didn’t know where to go from there,” he says. “I didn’t want to work for anyone else and I’m not a specialist in any particular area, so I didn’t have the skills to be a consultant.”

Richard started looking into franchising and explored several potential routes, but the memory of a brief encounter with Right at Home two years prior kept coming back, and it became clear to him the path he should follow.

“I used Right at Home for my dad, who lived in Nantwich, a few years ago. He’s got Alzheimer’s and is in a care home now, but we used them for about six months before he transitioned and was really impressed by them,” he explains.

“I’d never needed to find care for someone before, but from the initial Google search to picking up the phone with Ben [Selby, Franchise Owner] and his team, the whole process was really easy. The Carers were fantastic with my dad, and it was a really nice experience,” Richard continues.

“So, when I saw the opportunity to franchise with Right at Home it was kind of a no brainer. I looked at a consultancy franchise, but it wasn’t for me — I wanted to make a bigger difference than saving companies money. I looked at McDonalds for a while too, but Right at Home kept coming back to me. It really resonated.”

Community Outreach

After completing his research, Richard met with Right at Home Chairman, Ken Deary, and CEO, Lucy Campbell, in early 2022, to present his business plan.

“I remember doing a presentation for Ken and Lucy and I split it into three parts — Community, Clients, and Carers — and I said that the area that filled me with the most trepidation was engaging with the community.”

Richard wasn’t nervous about meeting new people — an experienced company director, he was used to networking and building professional relationships. But representing his own business for the first time felt daunting.

Richard opened his Calderdale franchise later that year and immediately threw himself into volunteering work; surprising himself with how quickly his fears about community marketing diminished.

“I started volunteering for Memory Lane, which runs a dementia café every couple of weeks in Halifax, and it blew me away,” he recalls.

“I realised that everybody working in social care is in it for the right reasons — to make people’s lives better. It’s not like networking in the corporate world, where all community work is PR-driven. I’m yet to meet a bad person in this sector.”

After building a local presence from the ground up, Richard is now an active and respected member of the community with his offices providing fantastic events for Clients and non-Clients alike.

“We maintain an active community calendar year-round, including regular lunch clubs, Golden Cinema screenings, and gentle chair yoga sessions for local seniors. A recent highlight was co-hosting the Big Green Picnic in East Lancashire in partnership with a local care home, which was a fantastic success for community engagement.”

National Office Support

Knowing that he wanted to make a positive difference to the lives of others, Richard was naturally drawn towards the care sector. Looking back, he’s delighted he chose Right at Home to support him on his journey to building a successful homecare business.

“It never crossed my mind to set up independently, and knowing what I know now, I still wouldn’t do it,” he says. “I didn’t know anything about the care sector, so the support provided by the Compliance, Marketing and Training and Development teams at National Office has been essential.”

Richard adds: “The main areas of support we receive are in Business Development and Compliance. National Office is proactive in keeping us ahead of regulatory changes and driving business growth, but they are equally exceptional when reactive support is needed — particularly during CQC inspections or complex operational challenges.”

Like Richard, many of our Franchise Owners don’t have experience in the care or healthcare sector before starting, making support in the compliance aspect of the business invaluable. Richard comments:

“Our CQC inspections across both Calderdale and East Lancashire really stand out. The Compliance team was with us every step of the way, helping us shape our evidence, refine our responses, and present our services in the absolute best light. That side-by-side support was instrumental in securing a 'Good' rating on Calderdale’s very first inspection, and achieving an 'Outstanding' rating in East Lancashire.”

Success Through Quality Care

Richard says his greatest achievements since launching his business have been delivering quality care to vulnerable people at a time when they’ve really needed it.

“When we first started providing care, we had three end-of-life Clients whose family asked us to react quickly to get them out of hospital and put the right support in place,” Richard recalls.

“Seeing the feedback from those families about how we’ve helped their loved ones feel comfortable and treated them with dignity and respect has made me feel very proud of our team.”

Although Richard didn’t have a care background before Right at Home, it turned out many of the skills he had acquired came in very useful as a business owner, with support from National Office and the network to fill in any gaps.

“Whatever I have done in life, whether in hospitality or property, it’s always been about employing the right people to do the right thing in the right place, and that’s what care is all about. So, I had the transferable skills to come into the sector, although I’ve learned a hell of a lot since,” Richard says.

Expanding Into New Territories

After launching as Right at Home Calderdale in August 2022, Richard acquired the East Lancashire and Ribble Valley territories in March 2024 after initial discussions in September 2023. The formal transition process took approximately three months.

“East Lancashire appealed to me as a mature, established business in a neighbouring territory, offering fantastic synergy with our existing operation. Looking back, it was relatively early in my Right at Home journey, but Calderdale was performing well and the opportunity in East Lancashire was right on our doorstep. While I initially had some reservations, the deeper I got into the due diligence and the more I met the team, the more confident I felt. Balancing the acquisition while keeping Calderdale on its growth trajectory was certainly a challenge, but it was absolutely the right move.”

After acquiring the territory, Richard concentrated on a smooth transition before further building the Right at Home brand in the area.

He says: “My primary focus for the first six months was ensuring a smooth, reassuring transition for the existing team. The operation required some modernisation — from upgrading the IT infrastructure and office environment to introducing a new operational management system. Once those core foundations were stable, we implemented a targeted community engagement strategy to build on the existing brand presence in the local area.”

He classes the expansion as a huge success allowing him to scale with impact, create stronger career pathways for key staff, and build a far more resilient business structure.

“National Office provided brilliant support throughout the due diligence and legal acquisition phases. They thoroughly audited every aspect of the operation to ensure I fully understood the challenge, possessed a clear strategy, and was truly ready for multi-territory ownership. Securing an overall 'Outstanding' rating from the CQC in East Lancashire is the ultimate validation of our success. It demonstrates that modernising the business operations and empowering the team directly translated into exceptional, high-quality care for our Clients.”

Richard's Future Ambitions

Going forward, Richard has even higher hopes for his business.

“This year, the focus is on embedding long-term stability, strengthening operational foundations across both territories, and further expanding our community footprint. A major priority is talent development: two key team members are currently undertaking their Level 5 qualifications to step into Registered Manager roles over the next 12 months, building robust leadership for the future,” he explains.

“The long-term goal is to build two fully self-sustaining, high-performing businesses in Calderdale and East Lancashire — each delivering 1,000+ hours of care per week with an optimal mix of 80% private and 20% funded clients. As I look toward stepping back slightly from daily operations over the next few years, my objective is to create a business structure and leadership team that thrives independently.”