Owner of Florence House care home in Peterborough expands with purchase of Market Deepings' The Laurels

A care home has been saved from possible closure after being bought by an enterprising Peterborough woman.

The Laurels Care Home in High Street, Market Deeping, has just been acquired by Yasamine Watts, who with her mother Touran Watts, also runs Florence House, in Park Road, Peterborough, and the Garden Lodge care home in Glinton.

Yasamine said: “The Laurels was run for 35 years by Desmond and Jacqui Shiels and they were looking at possibly closing after deciding to retire.”

The 20-bed care home has about 12 staff and is running at about 50 per cent capacity

Yasamine said: "They had run the home successfully and wanted to pass it on to another family-run provider like us.

She added: “The Laurels is small like Florence House and that’s why we love it and we will ensure it stays open.

"We feel small care homes can provide a homely environment and personalised care to residents.”

But Yasamine said rising costs were posing a challenge.

She said electricity and gas costs had risen by 400 per cent while food prices were up by 20 per cent.

She said: “By April I think we we will have to put up fees – there is no other way of doing it.”

The purchase of The Laurels comes just over a year after Yasamine and Touran bought Florence House, which had been earmarked for closure by its former owners, the Pilgrims’ Friend Society. Staff said the home needed a ‘miracle’ to save it from closure.