NHC Group – How a 20-Year Old Brand Successfully Reinvented and Rebranded Itself

If you’re in the healthcare business in the UK, working in either a hospital or a care home, you have definitely heard of NHC Group or Northern Healthcare, the company’s previous name.

For the past 20 years, they have been one of the UK’s preferred suppliers of care home furniture, medical equipment, and accessories. While tradition is always something to be proud of, especially in business, this doesn’t mean things are standing still for NHC Group.

Take a sneak peek behind the scenes to learn how NHC Group evolved from a small business in northeast England to a national supplier of healthcare equipment and a what lies ahead.

NHC Group – The First Years

NHC Group was founded in 2002 under the name of Northern Healthcare. Back then, it was a small company supplying equipment to care homes in northeast England. The need for dedicated care home or nursing home equipment helped them grow quickly. By 2004, they had already moved to larger premises.

But larger premises don’t necessarily mean a larger company. The very next year, Northern Healthcare secured their first national contract and thus quickly evolved into a national healthcare equipment company.

Navigating the Crisis

In 2007 and 2008, most of the world stood still and the financial crisis hit everyone. NHC Group, however, continued to grow its sales and maintain its customer base.

This was a strong signal to the company’s executives. It meant that the services and products they provided stood even the harshest of tests. In 2009, when the fog of the crisis began to lift, they expanded their operations further and hired more personnel.

The Second Growth Spurt

Northern Healthcare’s national coverage was further developed by the acquisition of a Midlands-based company in 2014. This move also gave them access to a broader supply chain, an essential factor in developing a strong national business.

However, the company quickly realised that there is more than one type of growth. In order to make their business sustainable for the long run, they needed more than larger premises and a larger national coverage.

Their study of buyer behaviour revealed that they also needed to diversify their product and service portfolio. This is how the decision to create a decontamination plant or deep cleansing expensive products (like airflow mattresses, for instance), came to be. This move helped their clients save thousands of Pounds every year by decontaminating equipment that would have otherwise been thrown away and replaced.

It also helped them become a one-stop-shop kind of business. So it’s no wonder that by 2018 they conquered a new market: Northern Ireland.

The Rebranding and What Comes Next

In 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Northern Healthcare outgrew its premises again. The company moved to a new location, where the 24,000 square feet of warehousing space improved their operational efficiency and capacity.

2021 is also the year when Northern Healthcare became NHC Group Limited. The new name has two major benefits: on the one hand, it helps to avoid confusion with other companies in different fields who operate under the same name or under a similar one. More importantly, the new name reflects the new reality of the company.

NHC Group is now a full-fledged national company, operating multiple business lines. Aside from the products they sell and the maintenance and repair services they offer, they have also recently launched an Asset Management Portal, designed to help care homes and hospitals manage their inventory better. The new portal helps NHC Group’s customer stay on top of maintenance schedule with minimal effort and ensure that all their inventory properly taken care of.

Of course, the extensive company rebranding also meant creating a new logo and a new website. You can check them out and learn more about NHC Group’s rebranding story here.

The NHC Group evolution doesn’t end here. The company aims to expand even further, while keeping the same customer care standards that have helped them grow exponentially over the past 20 years. Moreover, the company intends to continue its investment in market analysis and buyer needs. This will enable them to assist old and new customers with any product or service they may need, irrespective of how the market changes in the upcoming years.