Specialist US investment company Welltower is investing in the expansion of Northern Ireland’s largest privately owned care home operator, Healthcare Ireland.

The plans will see the expansion of Healthcare Ireland’s Northern Ireland portfolio to over 40, from 25 currently, with the creation of up to 950 jobs, as well as developing sites across the rest of the UK, Ireland and Scotland.

Gilbert Yates, founder of Healthcare Ireland, said: “We have set out the next stage of our plan to grow our portfolio of care homes across the UK and Ireland. Our partnership with Welltower is testament to the success of our operations since setting up the business and we are excited to be able to bring our high quality care to more regions in the coming months and years.

“Healthcare Ireland is hugely ambitious and we are already in the process of growing our portfolio of care homes across the UK and Ireland from our base here in Holywood. This is just the start of our plans for the future which will see us bring our best-in-class care home offering to the world.

“Our team of highly committed and talented staff are behind our success and we look forward to adding to the quality team in the very near future with the addition of at between 750 and 950 new roles.”

Jorge Manrique, VP Investments at Welltower, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with Healthcare Ireland in Northern Ireland, where their name is a byword for quality care. The team has built an excellent portfolio of assets and we are looking forward to supporting them as they rollout their growth plans in the coming months.”

The move follows a period of growth for the company which saw the purchase of a portfolio of seven homes from Priory Adult Care last year. Healthcare Ireland’s full portfolio of care homes is based in all corners of Northern Ireland.

The business was founded by Gilbert Yates in 2015 and has grown both organically and acquisitively since then.