Telecare activity continues as Doro acquires another TEC service
Doro, a telecare provider, has announced a new relationship with Trent and Dove Housing, a provider of housing to clients in Staffordshire, North West Leicestershire and Derbyshire.
Through its FirstCall 24/7 service, Trent and Dove has been providing technology enabled care services (TECS) to older people for nearly 20 years.
As part of the arrangement and to further strengthen its TECS presence in the UK, Doro has acquired the assets of FirstCall and will be continuing to support the housing business as it develops and delivers its Older Persons’ Strategy.
Doro will pay in cash GBP 1.00 on a cash and debt free basis for the assets of the service from Trent and Dove Housing.
Revenue for the FirstCall 24/7 service for the financial year 2019/20 was GBP 0.5million (approximately SEK 5.7 million). The acquisition was consolidated into Doro Group from 1st February 2021 and is expected to have a negligible effect on earnings per share for 2021, including transaction costs.
Carl-Johan Zetterberg Boudrie, President and CEO of Doro Group, commented: “We are delighted to have been selected to work with Trent and Dove Housing to continue to provide services to clients in Staffordshire, North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire.
“We appreciate that many providers are reviewing their services given the increasing investment required due to the digital switch but also due to the added complexities of service delivery during the pandemic. We are delighted to welcome FirstCall customers and staff into the Doro family and look forward to exploring new ways of making a real difference to people in the local communities.”
FirstCall 24/7 employs 15 full-time equivalent staff and monitors around 1600 telecare connections, incorporating a wide range of devices as well as providing visiting services, including emergency mobile response.
Ursula Bennion, Chief Executive Officer at Trent and Dove Housing, said: “Our First Call operation has been providing an outstanding service to our customers for nearly twenty years. However, over the last two years our Board have been aware of the need to modernise whilst remaining affordable to local people.
“Trent & Dove decided to look for a capable, experienced and trustworthy partner to ensure the First Call service remained sustainable into the future. We were delighted that Doro became our preferred partner and following detailed due diligence Doro have become new owners of the service. There will be a seamless handover and customers may see a change in name but I know Doro will deliver a great service to all.”
This latest acquisition follows another acquisition made by Doro in October, which saw the expanding telecare provider acquire the assets of the Careline services from Connexus Housing Group.
It once again highlights the bustling TEC market, with a range of acquisitions and partnerships taking place within the last 12 months.
In July 2020, telecare supplier Chiptech partnered with security technology firm SECOM to launch SECOM Carehub – a technology-enabled monitoring service to help vulnerable elderly people maintain independence.
A few months after, a Hampshire-based property management company, Millstream Management Services (MMS), entered the telecare space with a new venture – Careline Support Ltd.
Earlier in February 2021, Nottingham on Call partnered with Chiptech to provide ‘first-class’ digital telecare.
