Sam Davies started Age Care Bathrooms with his dad Paul after they’d both been contractors in the healthcare sector.
Having worked for companies that are now their competitors, Sam realised there was a gap in the market for a small business with hands-on experience. “We were fitters,” he says. “In the trades industry, it goes a long way if someone making the decisions has actually done it.”
This means they can move quickly. “When a client calls us, it’s often because they may have spent the past year or two without having a proper shower,” says Sam. In other cases – if someone’s has had a fall, for example – the need for an accessible bathroom can be immediate. “We try to keep our lead times really short,” he says. “Every single person you do a bathroom for, you change their life".
Sam switched to Barclays after finding the business account he had with another bank didn’t meet his company’s needs. “If we wanted to do something bank related,” he says, “we’d have to follow the useless FAQs on their site or nothing gets done. We couldn’t speak to anybody.”
Since switching, Sam is in regular contact with his Relationship Manager, who has helped made things much easier: “I can just phone Barclays and say I’ve got a problem.”
The business was looking to consolidate some general business debts. We were able to turn the existing loans into one commercial mortgage, halving the monthly repayments. We’re also helping with a business Barclaycard and a review of the company’s payment acceptance technology.
With our support, Sam is looking to diversify the business. The land the mortgage with us is secured against includes four acres in the Peak District, providing a great opportunity. “It’s on a cycling, walking and café trail and it’s near the site of a music festival,” he says. “We’re talking about raising money for a glamping venture. Using our experience of fitting bathrooms, we’d like to make hotel rooms in a field.”
Sam’s enthusiasm is summed up in his advice for ambitious entrepreneurs like himself: “Journey before destination,” he says. “It’s all about the journey – up or down, it doesn’t matter, I just turn up and grind. Well, why not? See what happens.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Every single person you do a bathroom for, you change their life.
-Sam Davies, Age Care Bathrooms, 2024