
Expanding Horizons acquires three South Wales care homes
Cwmbran-based Expanding Horizons secured the homes following its takeover of Enable Care Services (South Wales) Ltd.
The acquisition was funded by a £3.25 million investment from NatWest.
Ellis Jenkins, director at Expanding Horizons, said: "At Expanding Horizons, we care deeply about the quality of care our service users receive.
"We seek to not only support individuals but empower them to be the best versions of themselves.
"The fact that so many people in Wales are living with disabilities and severe mental illness underscores the critical need for tailored support which helps them gain or rebuild their independence.
"Residents of South Wales deserve the highest quality of care, and we are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Enable Care Services as we continue to grow and expand our network.
"NatWest has been exceptional throughout the process, demonstrating a deep understanding of our industry and our goals and we are incredibly grateful for their support."
The deal includes two care homes in Cwmbran and one in Argoed.
Expanding Horizons provides personalised support for people with learning disabilities and severe mental illnesses.
The company marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Part of the funding will go towards the acquisition, while the remainder will support refinancing and infrastructure improvements to ensure regulatory compliance.
The expansion is aimed at meeting the rising demand for residential and supported living services across South Wales.
According to Public Health Network Cymru, around 900,000 people in Wales live with a disability.
This represents 27 per cent of the population, compared to the UK average of 22 per cent.
Neil Williams, senior relationship manager at NatWest, said: "The work that Expanding Horizons does is absolutely invaluable to its service users and is the exact sort of community benefit that we look to support at NatWest.
"We look forward to continuing our partnership and are excited to witness Expanding Horizon's continued growth and evolution."
Expanding Horizons said the acquisition will improve its ability to deliver high-quality care across the region.
The company currently operates a portfolio of care homes and supported living services in South Wales.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times
2 hours ago
- Times
I'm grieving and I made a mistake, now my £8k inheritance is lost
My mother died recently, which was the last in a sequence of horrible events after the death of my son and my own cancer diagnosis. Mum left me a small inheritance of £8,370 which was sent to my NatWest account. I planned to transfer it to an account that my husband holds with Lloyds so that he could buy a new boiler for our house. We are both pensioners and the money from my mum's estate is a lifeline to us. I made the transfer through my NatWest banking app, but I wasn't thinking clearly when I sent it instead to my Lloyds credit card, which had expired years ago. I know there's no excuse for this error but my mum's death was a dreadful experience. I am also still unwell and undergoing a series of investigations, which I hope goes some way to explain why I wasn't thinking clearly when I sent this payment. I immediately realised that the money had gone to the wrong account and felt sick to my stomach. I was in tears and spoke to NatWest to see if it could retrieve the money from Lloyds. Dealing with various Lloyds call centres has also been an absolute nightmare. I have been promised return calls that never materialise. I have been on hold for hours at a time while the operators vary from being pleasant to rude and impatient. I admit I've become frustrated and tearful at times but I have always explained the background of my situation. I made the mistake 12 days ago and the funds have now disappeared into the ether. No one will tell me where the money is or when I will get it back. I just want the money returned to my NatWest account. The stress of this situation is having a serious affect on my already poor health. I am terrified I won't see this money again, which is sorely and address supplied I was so sorry to hear of the devastating series of events that had turned your life upside down and can totally understand why you were not thinking clearly when you made this payment. Usually when money is sent to an expired account, the payment is retrieved and returned to the source. But your case was slightly different because there was an outstanding debt linked to your old credit card account. You told me this amounted to £60 but you had long forgotten about it. The problem was that this debt had been outstanding for so long that Lloyds had passed the account's history to a debt collection agency. This made it harder for Lloyds to track down the account. Plus, as the account was no longer active it was difficult for it to match your details to the information it had in its system. Thankfully when I stepped in Lloyds found the payment, and a few days later the money was back in your NatWest account. You have now also repaid the £60 debt. I felt that Lloyds should have helped you sooner, instead of leaving you in the lurch and giving you conflicting information at a time of extreme distress. It explained that because of the different teams involved in locating and returning the money, the information you were given depended on which team you were talking to. Those teams were not linked up, which is also why you didn't get the return calls you were promised. Lloyds said: 'We're here to help customers during difficult moments and we're sincerely sorry the support we gave our customer was not at the level she rightly expected. We've returned her money and made a payment in recognition that our service wasn't good enough on this occasion.' It gave you £250 compensation and has told you about several charities that may be able to give you some extra support. You said: 'It's clear that this was resolved as a result of your intervention so I can't thank you enough.' • Read more money advice and tips on investing from our experts I work for a small business that sells memorabilia and over the past five years we have used a company called Bionic to manage our gas and electricity deals. When our contract is coming up for renewal, Bionic sends us quotes from suppliers and arranges the switch on our behalf. We had an email from Bionic last September telling us that our contract with British Gas was ending in May. We decided we would shop around and get our own quotes to see if we could get a better deal. I contacted Bionic online in September to say that we no longer needed its services. The agent said we should wait until the company had sent the next quote before opting out. When we got the quotes later that month, I got back in touch using its webchat service to confirm that we didn't want to go ahead with the renewal. I made it clear that we no longer wanted Bionic to act on our behalf and, based on this conversation, I assumed that our contract with the company had been terminated. A few months later I contacted British Gas to check when our energy deal ended, but was told that Bionic had already signed us up for another three-year deal with the company. We were not sent any information about this new deal and had given Bionic sufficient notice to terminate our contract, so we can't understand how this happened. I complained to Bionic but it said it had no record of the second webchat conversation in September where I had confirmed that we wanted to opt out. We have gone back and forth with Bionic to try and get it to cancel this contract that we never agreed to, but to no Lancashire • Compare exchange rates with our currency converter Bionic told me that it had sent you an email to confirm the new contract, but this was news to you and you said you never got the email. I was surprised that Bionic had signed you up to a three-year contract without you agreeing to it, but it explained that its digital renewal service is designed so that, unless a customer gets in touch to opt out, it assumes that they are happy with the quote and automatically signs them up. One Bionic email contained a quote and gave you three days to opt out. Once that deadline was reached, you were then locked into a contract and couldn't cancel. Three days seems like a very small window of time to opt out, which I imagine could catch out some people if they missed an email, yet Bionic said that suppliers can hold prices only for a short time. I also thought it was odd that Bionic finalised your contract eight months before your contract expired. It told me that it buys in bulk up to 12 months in advance and that, because of this, its customers get discounts on deals and are shielded from the price movements in the energy market. But regardless of this, you said you had made it clear that you wanted to cancel before the contract was finalised, so why didn't Bionic act on that? It showed me a transcript of the conversation on September 17 where you said you would like to cancel, but were urged to wait until the latest quotes had come through before confirming that you wanted to opt out. You said there was a subsequent webchat on September 26 where you had confirmed that you wished to cancel, but Bionic claimed it had no record of it. It also said that it has never lost a webchat and told me that it has 'complete and accurate records of all interactions'. • Online antique buyer lost my 91-year-old mum's treasures I could not work out why your version of events was different to Bionic's, but after I stepped in, it agreed to cancel your contract. Bionic said: 'Customers can choose to opt out of our digital renewal service at any time prior to finalisation of a replacement contract. As a gesture of goodwill and a demonstration of our commitment to ensuring customer satisfaction, we are prepared to arrange the cancellation of the replacement contract.' You have now arranged a contract directly with a supplier and said: 'This is the outcome that we wanted, but it is still very frustrating that we had to go through this ordeal in the first place. I believe this would not be resolved without your input, so thank you.' • £868,409 — the amount Your Money Matters has saved readers so far this year If you have a money problem you would like Katherine Denham to investigate email yourmoneymatters@ Please include a phone number


Wales Online
3 hours ago
- Wales Online
ATOL protection - what to do if your travel company goes bust
ATOL protection - what to do if your travel company goes bust There are various measures in place to protect consumers Things can go wrong (Image: Liam McBurney/PA ) Berkshire-based travel company Great Little Escapes collapsed earlier this week, leaving thousands of holidaymakers in limbo. When a travel company goes bust, suddenly people who were looking forward to their escape abroad are left facing a confusing and stressful situation. When booking a holiday, the last thing on your mind is the possibility that your airline, hotel, or cruise company could collapse. Unfortunately, it happens - and when it does, the result can be both stressful and expensive. This is where end supplier failure comes into play. What happens when a travel company goes bust - end supplier failure Chris Payne, compliance expert at Total Travel Protection, explained: 'End supplier failure refers to the insolvency or financial collapse of a travel service provider - such as an airline, hotel, ferry operator, car hire company, or cruise line - that was supposed to deliver a part of your travel plans. If they cease trading, you may be left without the service you paid for." What to do if your travel firm goes bust The first thing you should do is check if you booked a package holiday - known as ATOL Protected. If you booked a package holiday through a UK travel company and received an ATOL certificate, you're in luck. The ATOL scheme, run by the Civil Aviation Authority, protects you if the travel company or one of its suppliers goes bust. Did it happen before travel? You should get a refund. Already abroad? ATOL will arrange for you to return home. ATOL only applies to air travel packages sold in the UK. Article continues below Did you pay by credit card? Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, if you paid £100–£30,000 using a UK credit card, the card provider is jointly liable for the failure of the supplier - even if you booked through an intermediary. You can claim a full refund from your card issuer if the service isn't provided due to insolvency. Look for ABTA protection. If you booked land- or sea-based travel (e.g., coach tours, cruises, rail), and the company is an ABTA member, you may be entitled to refunds or alternative arrangements under their protection scheme. ABTA does not cover flight-only bookings. Contact the insolvency practitioner. In cases where ATOL, ABTA, or the Consumer Credit Act doesn't apply, you can contact the administrator or liquidator handling the collapsed supplier's insolvency. They may be organising limited refunds or arrangements. Article continues below What if you're already abroad? Chris said: 'If your end supplier fails while you're away, you should reach out to ATOL or ABTA if applicable. Contact the UK consulate or embassy if you're stranded with no support.' More help and advice can be found at:

South Wales Argus
5 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Expanding Horizons acquires three South Wales care homes
Cwmbran-based Expanding Horizons secured the homes following its takeover of Enable Care Services (South Wales) Ltd. The acquisition was funded by a £3.25 million investment from NatWest. Ellis Jenkins, director at Expanding Horizons, said: "At Expanding Horizons, we care deeply about the quality of care our service users receive. "We seek to not only support individuals but empower them to be the best versions of themselves. "The fact that so many people in Wales are living with disabilities and severe mental illness underscores the critical need for tailored support which helps them gain or rebuild their independence. "Residents of South Wales deserve the highest quality of care, and we are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Enable Care Services as we continue to grow and expand our network. "NatWest has been exceptional throughout the process, demonstrating a deep understanding of our industry and our goals and we are incredibly grateful for their support." The deal includes two care homes in Cwmbran and one in Argoed. Expanding Horizons provides personalised support for people with learning disabilities and severe mental illnesses. The company marks its 20th anniversary this year. Part of the funding will go towards the acquisition, while the remainder will support refinancing and infrastructure improvements to ensure regulatory compliance. The expansion is aimed at meeting the rising demand for residential and supported living services across South Wales. According to Public Health Network Cymru, around 900,000 people in Wales live with a disability. This represents 27 per cent of the population, compared to the UK average of 22 per cent. Neil Williams, senior relationship manager at NatWest, said: "The work that Expanding Horizons does is absolutely invaluable to its service users and is the exact sort of community benefit that we look to support at NatWest. "We look forward to continuing our partnership and are excited to witness Expanding Horizon's continued growth and evolution." Expanding Horizons said the acquisition will improve its ability to deliver high-quality care across the region. The company currently operates a portfolio of care homes and supported living services in South Wales.