Husband-and-wife team bring award-winning Blossom Home Care to Essex and Hertfordshire, covering Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford, Epping, Ongar and surrounding areas
A new premium home care provider has launched in Harlow, offering families a reliable, compassionate alternative to traditional home care, with longer visits and a focus on building trusted relationships. Blossom Home Care Harlow & Epping supports clients across Harlow, Epping, Ongar and surrounding areas, delivering consistent, personalised care that puts people first.
Part of the award-winning Blossom Home Care network – recognised as one of the fastest-growing premium care brands in the UK and home to the UK’s best care team – the Harlow and Epping branch is the latest to join the brand’s expanding presence nationwide.
The business has been launched by Olivia and Patrick Houlihan, a local husband-and-wife team passionate about raising standards in the social care sector. With two young children, and parents who are still active but beginning to think about what support might be needed in the future, Olivia and Patrick are personally and professionally invested in creating the kind of care service they would trust for their own family.
With over a decade of experience as a midwife in East London, Olivia has held senior roles in quality, safety, and improvement at NHS England, helping hospitals across London to improve safety and drive better patient outcomes and experiences. She’s now channelling that expertise, and passion for doing things properly, into the home care sector.
Confirms Olivia: “In midwifery, you go on a journey with someone – you’re a professional friend and advocate, making sure they get the experience they want. That philosophy translates so well to home care, but it’s too often missing. We want to deliver care the way it should be done: on time, with care and compassion, and rooted in the heart of the local community.”
Patrick, a former private client tax advisor, brings a business mindset and deep understanding of client service. Having seen how much being able to stay in their own home safely and with dignity meant to their grandparents, both Olivia and Patrick are keen to ensure others are able to experience this too.
“There’s such a huge need for home care that’s done properly,” said Patrick. “It’s not just about ticking boxes, but about building relationships that make a difference in people’s lives. Blossom Home Care stood out to us for its high standards, accountability and commitment to doing things right. For example, all visits are longer by design, meaning carers have the time to deliver truly personalised care and work with each individual client to maintain their independence. This just felt like the perfect fit for us.”
Estate Planning Benefits of Home Care
Patrick also highlighted the estate planning benefits of staying at home when care is needed; an important but often overlooked consideration: “As well as the obvious emotional and practical benefits of staying in your own home, home care can help preserve the value of your estate. If local authority assistance is required, the value of your home is usually excluded from means testing if you’re receiving care at home, but it’s typically included if you move into a care home, which may result in the property needing to be sold to cover fees. “Staying at home can help maintain the ‘residence nil rate band’ for inheritance tax, allowing married couples to leave a home worth up to £1 million to children or grandchildren without paying inheritance tax. If the property is sold during your lifetime to fund care, you may still be able to claim this relief, but with extra complexity and conditions.”
Team Growth and Recruitment Plans
They have already appointed a Deputy Registered Manager, Victoria Ebsworth, who brings extensive experience in the care sector. Recruitment for additional carers is now underway, with plans to create approximately 100 new care roles over the next 18-months. Every team member, regardless of role, completes Blossom’s in-house carer training as part of their induction.
In line with their belief that great care starts with community, the couple is already forging strong local partnerships. They’re working with Rainbow Services Harlow to join the Harlow Dementia friendly community and the Allsorts Dementia Group, and are in contact with The Anne Robson Trust at Princess Alexandra Hospital for future collaboration around end-of-life care. In June, they’re hosting a ‘Brew for the Crew!’ fundraiser for the crew at Essex & Herts Air Ambulance.
“We want to build a business that means something in the community,” said Patrick. “After years in tax, I’m excited to be part of something with real, tangible impact. To deliver a compassionate and consistently high standard of care that we would have been pleased to see our own Grandparents receive.”
Concludes Olivia: “Getting to build something from scratch, with high standards and proper processes, is an incredible privilege. We want to be known for care that puts individuals back in control of their own lives and which, through thoughtful engagement with local services, supports reablement and autonomy.”
Blossom Home Care Harlow & Epping provides premium, privately funded care services, including personal care, companionship, medication support, and specialist dementia and end-of-life care.
For more information or to arrange a consultation, please contact Blossom Home Care Harlow & Epping on 01279 598012 or https://www.blossomhomecare.co.uk/offices/harlow-epping/.