Craigard Care Group – a portfolio of three established care homes in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, and Moray – has been sold by Christie & Co on behalf of the joint administrators, Graham Smith and Tom MacLennan of FRP Advisory.

Founded in 1996, the three homes – Wakefield House Care Home in Buckie, Weston View Care Home in Keith, and Riverside Nursing Home in Aberdeen – comprise 111 private rooms with ensuite facilities across two purpose-built modern homes and a period villa with purpose-built extensions.

They provided a complete range of care services including the provision of specialist nursing, dementia, respite, and palliative care.

Following a confidential sales process with Martin Daw from Christie & Co, Weston View Care Home in Keith and Wakefield House Care Home in Cullen have been sold to Parklands Care, which operates 10 care homes across Moray and the Highlands.

Wakefield House Care Home in Cullen is among the three properties sold

And Riverside Care Home in Aberdeen has been sold to Renaissance Care, which operates a further 16 care homes across Scotland, four of which are in Aberdeen.

At Wakefield House, Parklands plans to widen the pathway and entrance to the home to improve access for people with reduced mobility, create a new sunroom extension to deliver a larger communal space, upgrade laundry facilities, create a new hairdressing salon, and improve staff changing facilities.

At Weston View, there are plans to introduce a new café, doubling as an event space; create a more-welcoming entrance area; expand the home’s four day rooms; and add balconies on the first floor to provide residents with outdoor space.

At Riverside, Renaissance Care has already undertaken a number of improvements, including upgrading the electrics to ensure safety, and initiating a redecoration programme to modernise the aesthetics of the home.

And it is working closely with architects to develop layout plans that will maximise the use of space and create additional day rooms and communal areas, adding additional shower rooms and increasing storage throughout.

Work will be carried out to enhance facilities at Weston View

Ron Taylor, managing director at Parklands, said: “Since March we have been working with the administrators to secure the long-term future of these homes and I am delighted they have now been incorporated into the Parklands group.”

Commenting on the current demand for high-quality care homes, Daw, senior director at Christie & Co, said: “Having worked for many years with the vendor prior to the administration process, it was evident that the group was one of the many that has, and will, succumb to the ongoing operational pressures that the social care sector is facing.

“Despite high occupancy, the challenges of recruiting staff meant the business was crippled under the weight of agency costs and, with utility and food costs also increasing, the business could not survive.

“Despite a poor immediate outlook for the homes, local operators with wider staffing resources and operational synergies felt they could stabilise the trading position.

“Working closely with FRP, we approached the situation differently from traditional administration disposals and agreed management contracts and exchanged contracts so that on the day of administration the new providers were able to attend the homes and begin operating immediately while awaiting re-registration with the Care Inspectorate.

“This gave comfort to staff that their jobs were secure and comfort to families and residents.”

The homes were sold for an undisclosed price.