NEW owners have taken over the running of an Andover care home.

For 11 years Vishal Shah and Barry Sweetbaum, directors of Banyan Residential Care Ltd, have been at the helm of Arbory Residential Home, but the facility has now been bought by a family-run care home provider.

Coate Water Care has purchased the home, in London Road, with hopes to build on its good reputation.

Vishal and Barry said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed owning and operating Arbory Residential Home for the last 11 years and are extremely proud of what the home has become.

“The Arbory benefits from a hugely loyal and hard-working team at all levels and it is thanks to their dedication that the Arbory has earned its reputation for having such a positive impact on the lives of the residents living there.

“We are pleased to be handing the reins of this wonderful home to Coate Water Care who we know will help it go from strength to strength.”

The pair purchased the home in 2008 and since then have undertaken a series of upgrades and improvements.

New owner, Geraldine Smith, founder of Coate Water Care which operates care homes across the west of England, said: “We specialise in providing personalised care for people who are living with dementia. Arbory Residential Home, with its dementia specialism and convenient location, is a natural purchase for us and we look forward to building on the good reputation that Vishal, Barry and the dedicated staff team have built up.”

Charles Phillips, director at Christie & Co’s Winchester office who handled the sale, added: “Vishal and Barry are both very experienced within the care home sector having worked with a number of national operators in the past. Their experience and knowledge have been shown with how they developed and improved Arbory since their purchase in 2008. We were delighted to be instructed to sell the business for them and

“The home garnered a good level of interest from both national and local care home operators and investors.

“We believe that the business is a perfect fit for Coate Water Care and expands their presence into a new county.

“We wish Geraldine and her team every success.”