Peterborough-based home care provider Hales Group has announced it is considering an IPO on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange this summer.

Founded in 1999, Hales provides care for people in their homes, including in retirement communities or assisted living accommodation, across the East and North of England, the Midlands and Yorkshire. 

It employs around 1,700 staff who provide a range of services including home care, dementia care, specialist care for specific conditions, companionship, end-of-life care and live-in care, primarily under long-term contracts with local authorities and the NHS. Each year, its home care staff make more than 2.8 million home visits.

Hales Group stated that an AIM IPO “would accelerate [its] growth strategy to broaden the scope of care that it offers, expand the geographical area it covers, and continue to build economies of scale including by investment in technology and pursuit of suitable acquisitions in the home care sector to grow the business.”

Current shareholders, including majority shareholder Nigel Wray, will not reduce their holdings in the company in any flotation.

Jeffrey Fowler, founder and executive chairman of Hales Group, said: “After many years of delivering growth as a private company, an AIM IPO would be a significant milestone for the business, enabling us to accelerate our growth ambitions.

“Given the UK’s ageing population, the preferences of the vast majority of adults to receive care in their own homes, and the rising costs of residential care, we have a clear opportunity to consolidate in an attractive and growing, yet highly fragmented home care sector.

“A successful IPO would provide access to funding to deliver on this opportunity, build on our strong platform as a scale provider, and grow our market share to cement our position as a key provider in the UK home care market.

“We have a highly experienced and committed management team in place to deliver the group’s strategy and drive the business forward. We are also extremely thankful to our hard-working employees, who consistently strive to deliver the best-quality service to all of the people in their care and uphold Hales’s values.”