CareTech buys Care UK fostering unit
Amid an increase in the number of children being taken into care since the Baby P tragedy, CareTech, which runs residential homes for the disabled, today spent £2.8 million buying Care UK's fostering business.
It includes 74 placements across London, the South-East and Shropshire, where the company matches children with families, and helps the families to prepare for their charges, on behalf of local councils.
In the wake of last year's inquiry into the death of baby Peter, care providers say social workers are putting far more children into foster care.
CareTech chairman Farouq Sheikh said: "The acquisition of Care UK's fostering operations continues our strategy of market consolidation."
Shares in CareTech shot up 5% to 343.4p. Care UK was bought by private-equity group Bridgepoint Capital for £281 million in March.
