Starting a care business
Start your care business with the right registration foundations.
We help aspiring providers get the essentials right before regulated care is delivered: Service Model, Evidence, Governance, Staffing and Registration Readiness — explained in plain English, one step at a time.
1. Decide Your Service Type and Model
A domiciliary care agency, residential care home, nursing home and supported living service are not the same registration project. Your choice of model shapes the Regulated Activities, Staffing, Policies, Premises, Risk Controls and Evidence CQC will expect.
We help you describe the model clearly, decide what you will and will not provide, and avoid contradictions between your business plan, Statement of Purpose and policies.
2. Company Set-Up Basics
We talk through the practical basics: Limited Company set-up, SIC Codes, Insurance Evidence, Business Planning and Accountable Leadership.
This is general guidance, not legal, tax or financial advice. Providers should take advice from qualified accountants, solicitors, insurers and other professional advisers where needed.
3. What CQC Expects Before Trading
Carrying on a regulated activity without CQC registration is unlawful. We help you prepare properly before you trade, so your evidence shows the service will be Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led from day one.
That includes Leadership, Recruitment, Training, Safeguarding, Medicines, Care Planning, Governance, Complaints, Incidents, Data Protection and Quality Monitoring.
4. Build Policies, Governance and Staffing First
Policies must describe your real service, not a generic care business. Your Staffing Plan, Training Plan, Supervision approach and Governance Schedule should all connect to the people you intend to support.
We check whether the documents tell one coherent story and whether managers can explain how the systems will work in practice.
5. Prepare the Nominated Individual and Registered Manager
The Nominated Individual and Registered Manager need to demonstrate Fitness, Knowledge, Governance Oversight and understanding of Risk. We support preparation through evidence review and interview practice.
We focus on plain-English explanations, not rehearsed answers that fall apart under follow-up questions.
6. Realistic Timelines and Common Delays
Most delays come from the same causes: inconsistent documents, unclear Regulated Activities, weak Governance plans, incomplete Policies, missing Recruitment Evidence and interview gaps.
We help you spot those issues early, prioritise them and build a practical route to submission.
Starting points
Start with one service, or take the whole package.
Every engagement is delivered by a former CQC Registered Manager who has taken a service to a Good rating, and is scoped in writing before work starts. Once your service type and model are decided, these are the next steps most new providers take, singly or together in the CQC Registration Launch Package.
£75 per session
Hourly CQC Support
One-to-one help with a specific registration or compliance question, by phone or video: reviewing an application section, updating a Statement of Purpose, preparing a registration amendment, checking supporting documents or planning corrective actions. You leave the session with the answer and the next step written down.
£150
Registered Manager Interview Session
A focused two-hour session for a Nominated Individual or Registered Manager: the themes CQC explores, practice questions with constructive feedback, and a personalised Interview Preparation Sheet to keep. Plain-English answers you can defend under follow-up questions, not a script.
£250
Business Plan Preparation
A professionally structured plan aligned with your proposed service: Executive Summary and Service Model, Market Overview, Operational Plan and Staffing Structure, Financial Assumptions and Risk Analysis, Governance Arrangements and growth. Written to agree with your application and Statement of Purpose, so the documents tell one story.
Scoped and priced individually
CQC Application Review
An independent read of your draft Provider and Registered Manager applications and evidence before you submit: consistency, clarity and accuracy, service readiness and governance arrangements, gaps and contradictions between documents, and the areas likely to need further explanation. You receive a prioritised Action List of what to correct, clarify or complete.
Scoped and priced individually
Statement of Purpose
Preparation or review so it accurately reflects your Provider, registered Location and Regulated Activities, aims and client groups, Service Delivery Model and Management Structure, geographical area and contact arrangements, and stands up beside your policies and business plan.
£1,799 · one fixed price
CQC Registration Launch Package
Everything above brought together with the Provider and Registered Manager applications, a supporting-document readiness check, a business-plan consistency review, interview preparation for both roles and a care-provider starter website, so every part of the submission tells the same story. Staged payments available.
Independent consultancy: not endorsed by, affiliated with, or acting on behalf of the Care Quality Commission. Support never guarantees CQC registration, a processing time, an interview result or a rating; the decision rests entirely with CQC, and your application must reflect your service truthfully. Any VAT or other tax that Haverton Care Limited is legally required to charge will be identified at checkout or on the relevant invoice.
How we structure evidence
The Five Key Questions stay visible.
We use Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led as the recurring structure so actions and evidence do not drift away from what matters in adult social care.
What's included
- Start-Up Consultation around your Service Model and Regulated Activities, including what you will and will not provide.
- Document and Evidence Readiness Review before submission.
- Policy, Governance and Staffing gap check, so the documents tell one coherent story.
- Nominated Individual and Registered Manager preparation through evidence review and interview practice.
- A plain-English Action Plan with Priorities, Owners and realistic timelines.
- Company Set-Up considerations: limited company, SIC codes, insurance evidence, business planning and accountable leadership (general guidance, not legal, tax or financial advice).
Ready to talk?
Share your service type, where you are in the process and what needs attention first. We will scope the support before work starts.
Engagements are scoped and priced individually. Haverton Care Hub supports and strengthens services, but never guarantees CQC registration, inspection outcomes, ratings or compliance. Haverton Care Hub is an independent consultancy. We are not endorsed by, affiliated with, or acting on behalf of the Care Quality Commission.