£150m boost for UK healthcare operators from Growth Lending
Growth Lending has announced an initial commitment of £150m to the UK healthcare sector, launching a new strategy to back social care, primary care, education and health-led community service providers with the capital needed to scale, consolidate and modernise.
The specialist lender – known for supporting high-growth B2B businesses – will deploy the capital through flexible debt facilities, with individual deal sizes starting from £2m. The strategy targets ambitious operators in sectors now facing critical demand but often overlooked by traditional lenders.
To spearhead the new fund, Growth Lending has appointed Dan Hewitt as director of Debt Finance, specialising in healthcare. He joins with more than 20 years’ banking experience, including a decade dedicated to health and social care finance.
Commenting on his appointment, Hewitt said: “The funding landscape for care operators has long been restrictive, hampering the sector’s natural entrepreneurial spirit. Our approach looks at future cash flows to determine borrowing capacity, rather than solely LTVs, which enables us to provide larger, more flexible funding. The sector faces many challenges, but finance shouldn’t be one of them.”
Growth Lending has already deployed more than £15m under the new fund. Arishta Ltd, a newly formed healthcare group focused on AI-led care home transformation, secured £10m to fuel its buy-and-build ambitions, beginning with the acquisition of two care homes in South London. Meanwhile, Preston-based YourCare, which operates homes for children with complex needs, received £5.5m to expand from five to nine homes across the North West, creating eight new beds and 25 new care roles.
The announcement comes at a time of intense pressure across the UK’s health and care system. Bed shortages, workforce gaps and a chronic lack of specialist placements are leaving community-based providers overstretched. While the government is investing £6bn a year into hospital infrastructure, the capital isn’t reaching frontline care businesses. Growth Lending’s commitment aims to change that.
Adam Brinn, managing director at Growth Lending, added: “We’re backing the operators that are building the future of care. These are well-run businesses solving real problems, which are often overlooked by mainstream lenders. This initial £150m commitment sets out to provide the capital that gives ambitious care businesses the headroom to grow, hire and deliver better outcomes. We’re proud to be supporting them.”
With further transactions already in the pipeline, Growth Lending expects to complete several more healthcare investments in the second half of 2025, building a dedicated portfolio focused on sustainable, community-first care.