Care & Independence secure a second award for business excellence...

Hot off the back of a highly successful Occupational Therapy Show, the Care & Independence team were back in Birmingham on Friday 29^th November attending the annual British Healthcare Trades Association Awards 2024 Ceremony.  Shortlisted for Product of the Year for the glove Convenience Max sling and Manufacturer of the Year, staff were on tenterhooks, having recently won the ‘Best Overall Business’ at the local Cherwell Valley Business Awards.

Care & Independence - Class 1 medical moving and handling device specialists - were elated when their name was broadcast as winners of the BHTA Manufacturer of the Year 2024 to a packed room of industry professionals.  As congratulations poured in from around the room and online, Managing Director Ian Jones expressed his delight at winning such a coveted industry award:

“Being crowned as Manufacturer of the Year within our industry is not just a rewarding result for the company, but also for all of our staff who each contribute to our successes on a daily basis.  Together we strive to set industry standards and forge better, more efficient ways of working for the benefit of the greater good.  We employ the best machinists, production operatives and support staff both behind the scenes and in the field; this award is a credit to their individual efforts and on-going commitment to improving lives.  I am absolutely thrilled to have accepted this award on their behalf.  This really is the cherry on the cake for Care & Independence this year.”

2024 has truly been a tremendous year for Care & Independence which has seen the company increase production levels by 14% as a result of new business gains in customers and markets.  Investment in manufacturing equipment and staffing alongside the introduction of a ‘lean programme’ has improved time management, effort and energy expended in daily working practices by working smarter - including procedural automation.  Habitual investment in R&D has brought over 33 new products to market within the past 18 months alone.  In January 2024, an Environmental Social & Government strategy was established together with a pledge to achieve a net zero plan target ahead of NHS England and NHS Scotland’s own schedule.  In July, the business was acquired by GBUK Group Ltd, which is already helping propel Care & Independence closer towards its goal of improving the lives of 1 million per year by 2031.

Celebrating 40 years of business in 2025, Care & Independence products are used by the less abled, the infirm, and the elderly, in hospitals, care homes, specialist schools and at home, to help with mobility and complex moving and handling situations.  Renowned in the healthcare industry for setting standards in quality and performance, Care & Independence were industry firsts to be awarded ISO9001, with many other accreditations following since.  Committed to sustainability and ethical business practice, the company is a member of Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange).  Repeatedly the preferred supplier of choice for healthcare professional and institutions, the company counts the NHS, Community Equipment Stores and Local Authority managed Social Care amongst its many customers.