2025: A Year of Progress—Looking Ahead to 2026.
With 2026 now underway, we’ve taken time to look back on 2025 and what it represented for AHLC.
It was a year of steady growth, widening regional reach, and real progress in how we support children’s residential care services, while continuing to strengthen the foundations that will carry us into the year ahead.
✨ Continued Business Growth, Regional Expansion & Start-Up Success.
Throughout 2025, AHLC experienced continued positive growth, expanding from supporting providers primarily in the East Midlands to also working across the West Midlands.
During the year, AHLC successfully supported children’s home providers from initial start-up through to full Ofsted registration.
We are also supporting four additional providers with confirmed Ofsted registration dates in the early part of 2026, which we are very much looking forward to progressing into successful registrations.
As we move into the new year, AHLC is preparing to expand its services into the South Yorkshire area, further strengthening our national reach.
🏆 Regulatory Success & Quality Improvements
In 2025, AHLC continued to deliver strong regulatory outcomes, including:
- Supporting homes to move from Inadequate to Good, restoring compliance, leadership confidence, and quality of care.
- Providing robust Responsible Individual (RI) services, ensuring strong governance and accountability.
- Supporting homes under Ofsted monitoring or enforcement to return to compliant, stable practice.
- Providing robust Regulations 44 visitors, auditing homes practises and providing advice and guidance to better the homes quality of care.
- Delivering Pre and post registration Children’s home residential compliance audits.
🖥️ Innovation: AHLC In-House Client Portal
In 2025, AHLC introduced its secure in-house client portal, strengthening Responsible Individual oversight and quality assurance.
The portal provides a direct, secure connection between AHLC, providers, Registered Managers, and Directors, enabling:
- Secure storage and oversight of each home’s key documentation
- Centralised RI oversight and governance monitoring.
- Direct communication and chat to support continuous quality improvement.
- Real-time access to Regulation 40 notifications, incidents, safeguarding matters, and positive outcomes.
- Remote oversight of homes anywhere in the country
This innovation sets AHLC apart from other Responsible Individual services, providing unparalleled visibility, accountability, and responsiveness.
👥 Workforce & Staffing Support for Providers
Throughout 2025, AHLC successfully supported providers with staffing their homes, recognising that a stable and skilled workforce is critical to safe and effective care:
This included supporting providers to:
- Recruit and appoint Registered Managers.
- Secure Deputy Managers.
- Appoint Senior Residential Support Workers and key senior staff.
Our involvement has helped providers build compliant leadership structures, maintain staffing ratios, and prepare homes for inspection readiness and operational stability.
Looking ahead to 2026, AHLC will be developing its own dedicated recruitment department, further strengthening our ability to support providers with:
- End-to-end recruitment.
- Safer recruitment compliance.
- Workforce planning and sustainability.
- Long-term staffing solutions within children’s residential care.
👥 Team Expansion & Strengthened Leadership
AHLC significantly strengthened its internal leadership and delivery capacity throughout 2025 with the addition of:
- Kay Challand – Lead Children’s Residential Responsible Individual.
- Marcel Reid – Children’s Residential Responsible Individual.
- Nigel Brown – Regulation 44 Officer & Training and Development Manager.
- Andrew Broady – Social Media Marketing Executive.
- Gaby Howell – Director and Sales & Marketing Director.
As we reflect on the year, AHLC would like to thank all members of staff for their continued commitment, professionalism, and dedication to upholding our values and maintaining the high standards we set for ourselves.
Expansion of Training & Workforce Development
In 2025, AHLC expanded its training and professional development offer, supporting:
- Residential childcare teams.
- Registered Managers and aspiring leaders.
- Providers seeking bespoke workforce development.
🏢 Strategic Business & Operations Support for Directors
AHLC continued to provide business operations and strategic support to directors and senior leaders through:
- Group development sessions.
- One-to-one coaching and mentoring.
- On-call support.
🏠 Start-Up Support & Property Suitability Assessments
Throughout 2025, AHLC supported numerous start-ups through Initial Property Suitability Assessments, reviewing:
- Crime and safeguarding data.
- Property layout and environmental suitability.
- Local authority consultation outcomes.
- Fire service and PCSO intelligence.
- Community and neighbourhood context.
🤝 Strong Relationships With Local Authority Commissioners
AHLC continued to strengthen relationships with local authority commissioners across the UK, receiving consistently positive feedback on the quality and impact of our work.
🌟 Looking Ahead to 2026
As we move into 2026, AHLC is focused on continued growth, innovation, and service development, including:
- Expanding regional and sector partnerships, including Level 3 and Level 4 providers.
- Continued development of training and workforce pathways.
- Further enhancement of our Live Compliance & Learning Management System (Launching soon).
- Launch of a dedicated AHLC Recruitment Department.
To all our clients, partners, and colleagues:
Thank you for your continued trust, collaboration, and commitment throughout 2025. As we move into 2026, we look forward to building on this work together and continuing to support high-quality, safe, and effective children’s residential care.
