About Us
Andrew Whelan founded Westcott Care based on his 20+ years’ working with, and advising, all manner of investors, lenders and operators, both as a corporate financier and as a prospective purchaser of care home businesses.
Having spent years, if not decades, building a successful care home business, for many owners the once-in-a-lifetime process of selling can be extremely daunting and stressful, particularly when dealing with sophisticated City financiers, lawyers, accountants, investors and lenders who appear more focused on ‘the numbers’ rather than the quality of care provided. Many people find the scrutiny required for purchasers to reach investment decisions intrusive. At the very least, it requires a significant amount of time and focus, which is a distraction from the day-to-day caring operations of the business.
From a buyer and lender perspective, the challenges relate to understanding the business fully whilst looking in, from the outside. In particular, accessing and assessing appropriate management information to understand the true costs of operating the business and its performance potential. This is made all the more difficult as there is often no backable leader to drive the business forward once the current owner has exited. In these cases the cost and risk of finding a new leader, developing a growth strategy and not undoing the hard work achieved by the seller sits squarely with the purchases and lenders. As such, it has a direct impact on the valuation they ascribe to the business and the price they can pay to purchase it.
Paradoxically, it can be the better performing businesses that attract the lowest valuation multiples as without a backable leader and strategy there is limited scope for new investors improve performance and a greater risk of them destroying the value that has already been created.
This is where Westcott can help.
Westcott’s unique experience and insight can provide management and leadership solutions, assist owners in properly preparing and positioning their business for sale, develop value enhancing growth strategies investors and lenders can buy in to, and provide prospective purchasers with the assurances they need to give them comfort in the sustainability of the performance they are purchasing.
Having spent years, if not decades, building a successful care home business, for many owners the once-in-a-lifetime process of selling can be extremely daunting and stressful, particularly when dealing with sophisticated City financiers, lawyers, accountants, investors and lenders who appear more focused on ‘the numbers’ rather than the quality of care provided. Many people find the scrutiny required for purchasers to reach investment decisions intrusive. At the very least, it requires a significant amount of time and focus, which is a distraction from the day-to-day caring operations of the business.
From a buyer and lender perspective, the challenges relate to understanding the business fully whilst looking in, from the outside. In particular, accessing and assessing appropriate management information to understand the true costs of operating the business and its performance potential. This is made all the more difficult as there is often no backable leader to drive the business forward once the current owner has exited. In these cases the cost and risk of finding a new leader, developing a growth strategy and not undoing the hard work achieved by the seller sits squarely with the purchases and lenders. As such, it has a direct impact on the valuation they ascribe to the business and the price they can pay to purchase it.
Paradoxically, it can be the better performing businesses that attract the lowest valuation multiples as without a backable leader and strategy there is limited scope for new investors improve performance and a greater risk of them destroying the value that has already been created.
This is where Westcott can help.
Westcott’s unique experience and insight can provide management and leadership solutions, assist owners in properly preparing and positioning their business for sale, develop value enhancing growth strategies investors and lenders can buy in to, and provide prospective purchasers with the assurances they need to give them comfort in the sustainability of the performance they are purchasing.
Andrew Whelan
Founder & Director
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A national and international leader and expert on both elderly care and the business of elderly care, a very hands-on chair of a high impact charity and a former senior executive of Morgan Stanley, Andrew has a keen understanding of what works in the sector and what does not for both its clients and owners. An expert in organisational redesign, Andrew has the judgement and network to attract and select the executives, non-executives and partners to deliver an organisation’s strategic priorities. Andrew understands what makes organisations work, and how culture, communication, design, policy, resources and objectives must all flow from strategy.
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Ex-Morgan Stanley EMEA leader on healthcare services, and a former UK Government advisor on the country’s elderly care system and its emerging commercial opportunities, Andrew Whelan has the knowledge, experience, understanding, network and expertise to support elderly care organisations in achieving their business objectives.