Long-serving employees share in caring company’s success story (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Long-serving employees share in caring company’s success story

8:36am Wednesday 10th November 2010 in Business By Chris Holland

Caring for the people who make things which help to care for people has played a large part in the success of Stephen Owens and the company he founded as a sideline 26 years ago.

It’s clear when visiting the £3m HQ of Park House Healthcare in Birkenshaw that the boss genuinely regards his workers as an extended family.

He’s proud of the fact that a sizeable proportion of them have worked there for many years, including one of the original machinists who joined him working in a converted garage at his East Bierley home, where the business started.

A builder by trade, Stephen has stayed close to his roots as the business blossomed. Not for him a mansion and estate in North Yorkshire, which he could afford. Instead, Stephen prefers a relatively modest detached house (which he built) in his home village.

The only sign of opulence is a sleek black Bentley which stands gleaming in the company car park.

Park House Healthcare is now a leading producer and supplier of specialist pressure-relieving pads and mattresses, hospital beds and hoists and handling equipment to the NHS and care homes.

The business was started to fill a gap in Stephen’s working day. Apart from running his own housebuilding firm, Stephen also worked as a salesman for a tile firm. Working on the principle of ‘the early bird catches the worm’, he was often finished for the day by 11am.

Rather than take to the golf course, Stephen looked for another outlet for his talents and spotted a demand in the healthcare market for fleece pads to counter bedsores.

And so the business – named after his then home at Park House Farm – was born in 1984 in his converted garage.

“It was so cold in winter that the machinists had to wear leggings to keep warm,” Stephen recalled.

From day one he has believed in ‘mucking in’ with whatever jobs needed doing – ‘multi-tasking’ in today’s parlance – from tea boy and delivery driver to sales executive.

Park House Healthcare moved into its first proper offices at Birstall in 1989, from which it operated for 17 years. It expanded its markets in the UK and abroad and developed new products and services.

Relocating to its current purpose-built corporate headquarters and logistics centre in Birkenshaw, which was officially opened by the Duke of Kent in 2007, marked a key milestone in the company’s development.

Further expansion is on the agenda, including adding more service and distribution centres in strategic parts of the UK.

Stephen also plans to double the company’s exports to 20 per cent of turnover within three years. The company, which serves markets in the United States, Scandinavia and Europe, is in the process of recruiting an export manager to drive this forward.

Stephen is about to embark on a three-week visit to Australia which, along with Hong Kong and Singapore, he views as markets which are ripe for development.

He said: “These are English-speaking countries with a pro-British attitude which I believe offer good prospects for us. The Government wants private firms to create an export-led recovery, and we’re doing our bit.”

Apart from product innovation, for which the company has been recognised with several awards, Park House is also developing an audit service to help healthcare professionals ensure that they meet strict rules to minimise infection rates while also identifying cost savings.

The audit team is led by Stephen’s son Thomas, who joined the firm in 1998 as a delivery driver and has worked his way up to become business development director.

So far this year the team has audited 15,000 bed spaces, checking on the correct and efficient use of its equipment, including a recent audit at Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London.

Working in partnership with hospitals and other institutions has been a key part of Park House Healthcare’s success.

Park House is the only UK-based developer and producer of products in its field. Stephen says its success has been based on focusing on niche markets in acute healthcare and developing and supplying high-quality products.

He also emphasised the importance of a loyal and settled workforce. A high proportion of employees have been with the firm for many years, including several with 20 or more years’ service.