Celebrating 10 years with BGF

“The care village concept is quite simple, really. I wanted to create bigger care homes in the heart of the community with coffee shops, cinemas, bistros, you name it. Older people still aspire to be part of the communities they live in” said Graeme Lee, Springfield Healthcare’s Chief Executive.

“I found a site in Seacroft in East Leeds. Within 100 metres, it had a GP surgery, a pub and a library. The village green was right there as well, alongside the bus terminus, village hall and more. I bought that in 2009 with my own money.

It had been derelict for 25 years. It had two listed buildings on it, so developing it wasn’t easy. I spent two years trying to get planning permission. When I finally got it, the world was in financial meltdown. No banks were lending.

My daughter said one of her friends’ dads had a new job with money to invest.

My daughter, who was nine at the time, said one of her friends’ dads had a new job with money to invest, and I should go and talk to him. This turned out to be true. We happened to meet each other on a train coming back from Harrogate. He said he worked for BGF and wanted to invest in good quality small and mid-sized businesses with potential.

This was on a Thursday. He came over on Sunday to talk me through what BGF was, and that was the start of the journey. BGF invested in June 2012.” 

Read more from Graeme’s interview with BGF here.

Graeme Lee, Group CEO and Founder of Springfield Healthcare