Cumbrian care homes group calls in administrators

Four Seasons Health Care, which has several homes in Cumbria, has gone into administration raising fears for thousands of elderly residents.

Administrators at Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) have been appointed to carry out the process following an aborted sale attempt.

The firm insists that operations will be unaffected by the move.

The Pennine Lodge and Blackwell Vale care homes in Carlisle, Riverside Court in Maryport and Harbour View in Whitehaven are all run by Four Seasons.

• What does this mean for residents?

The company said the news would not trigger any unplanned closures and there is sufficient funding to ensure all of the homes will continue to operate as normal during the sale process.

In a video statement on the Four Season website, Dr Claire Royston, group medical director of Four Seasons, attempted to reassure residents and their families.

The collapse is the biggest care homes failure since Southern Cross went bust in 2011.

Late last year, US hedge fund H2 Capital Partners, which controls Four Seasons, ordered a sale of the crisis-hit company, which is struggling under a £525 million debt mountain.

The bulk of the debt is held by H2, which is run by Spencer Haber.

Only weeks ago, Four Seasons insisted that it had “sufficient operating liquidity” to be able to complete the sale process.