Healthcare firm set for 49% growth this year

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A healthcare products manufacturer which supplies the NHS has revealed it is on course to see its turnover grow by almost 50% this year.

Direct Healthcare Group (DHG), based on Caerphilly’s Western Industrial Estate, specialises in equipment for patients with limited mobility – including mattresses, seating and bathroom safety items.

It supplies hospitals, acute care environments, residential care homes and private homes.

During the pandemic, it supplied more than 3,000 beds to the NHS.

The company has said it is on course this year to grow turnover by 49% to £89.4 million – up from last year’s £59.8m.

It took five months’ worth of orders in two weeks as lockdowns were imposed last spring.

The performance follows four acquisitions by DHG over the past 12 months, including Sweden-based GATE Rehab Development and Handicare Patient Handling Europe, Finland-headquartered Carital Group Oy and UK-based Lynch Healthcare Group.

The group, which employs more than 500 people, is also preparing to make further acquisitions over the next year.

It now holds 15% market share in Europe for its sector across pressure ulcer prevention and patient handling. Exports soared to an annualised £27.6million in the year to December.

Graham Ewart, CEO at DHG, said: “Covid-19 presented unprecedented challenges for both our business and the healthcare sector as a whole. Overall, we saw an increase in demand from March to May as the pandemic took hold, followed by a softening in the summer, and then another surge this winter.

“Speed of provision has now become crucial and we’ve seen the demand for specialist products drop in favour of standardised equipment which can be provided urgently.

“We typically experience a yearly surge in our Service and Rental line each year due to the NHS capacity pressures which occur every winter, but this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and is currently the fastest growing part of the business in the UK.”

Founded in 2009, DHG has a direct presence in five European countries and distributes products to a further 35 across Asia, North America and Australasia.

Mr Ewart added: “We have entered 2021 in a very strong position and on target to become the number one in Europe in enabling patient mobility and independence.”