(Published 15 October 2021)
Our Chairman and Founder Derek Luckhurst has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Leaders in Care Awards. The National Conference Centre in Birmingham hosted the awards.
The awards ceremony celebrates the achievements of care providers nationwide. It comes as Agincare celebrates the 35th anniversary of Derek opening his first care home in Weymouth. Since then, Agincare has grown to be one of the largest independent care providers nationwide. As a result it now delivers high quality care from over 50 locations and employs 3,500 people.
Leaders in care awards 2021
Derek received the last award of the night. It was a complete surprise. Our Chief Executive Raina Summerson and other colleagues accompanied Derek, including his son Adam, our Group Sales and Marketing Director. Guest host Neil Eastwood, an international speaker and author, presented the award to Derek alongside Home Care Professional Editor Lee Peart and Home Care Insight Editor Sarah Clarke. (From left: Raina Summerson, Derek Luckhurst, Adam Luckhurst and Sarah Clarke).
Paying tribute to Derek, care awards co-host Sarah Clarke said:
It’s a great honour to be able to present our first Lifetime Achievement Award to Derek Luckhurst.
Derek has dedicated 35 years of his life to the care sector and has grown Agincare to become one of the largest independent care providers in the UK. He is therefore a truly deserving recipient of this prestigious award.
The event took place on the first night of The Care Show, the UK’s largest completely care focused event. As a result leading sector figures were in attendance as Derek stepped on stage to accept the award.
On receiving the lifetime achievement tribute at the care awards, Derek said:
I was really very surprised and honoured to receive a lifetime achievement award.
I am grateful to the Leaders in Care Awards for recognising me in this way and wouldn’t have achieved this if it wasn’t for our Chief Executive Raina Summerson.
However, the implication that 35 years represents the totality of my working lifetime underestimates the amount of enthusiasm and energy I still have to grow Agincare further; and continue to make a positive difference to the sector and those we care for.
Tribute to lifetime achievement care award winner Derek
Home Care Insight and Care Home Professional magazines organise the awards, to honour the sector’s finest examples of best practice, dedication and innovation. Derek’s son and Agincare Sales and Marketing Director Adam Luckhurst (pictured below with Derek) said:
The story of Agincare was presented to the room. I live and breathe Agincare. But it’s only when you stop and listen do you fully appreciate the scale of what this man has achieved.
It’s beyond extraordinary. A little boy from Littlemoor in Weymouth has done what so many people can only dream of. I couldn’t be prouder.
Derek Luckhurst, Agincare Chief Executive Raina Summerson and Sales and Marketing Director Adam Luckhurst pictured above at the awards event (Picture credit Greg Faulkner)
In 1986 Derek Luckhurst started his first care home – Agincourt – in Weymouth, Dorset. The Luckhurst family lived on site, and Derek got to know care inside-out by delivering it on a day-to-day basis. His vision was to create a new style of care home, that offered high-quality personalised care and facilities at an affordable price.
Derek decided to build on Agincourt’s good local reputation. As a result he created Agincare to deliver home care, and manage a growing number of care and nursing homes.
Agincare was one of the very first care providers in the country to be awarded a local authority block contract in 1994. It now has over 70 public sector contracts nationwide.
Agincare has continued to expand over the years, working with local authorities and introducing innovative new services. These include live-in care, home care, extra care and support for younger adults. Agincare now operates a growing network of over 20 care homes nationwide. Agincare is still family-run, moreover it has its head office based on Portland in Dorset. It is proud to be one of the few companies nationwide that offers a comprehensive range of high quality care services that tailors care to people as their needs change.
Find more information about Derek Luckhurst and Agincare