Robert Kilgour, a Scottish hotelier, founded Four Seasons Health Care in 1989, transforming an old hotel into Britain's first care home. By 1999, he owned 43 homes nationwide. His company's sale to private equity firm Alchemy Partners in 1999 marked a pivotal shift.

Alchemy's leveraged buyout (LBO) technique, transferring debt onto the acquired company, became the blueprint for private equity's entry into elderly care. This model, relying on steady council payments and elderly homeowners' equity as 'human ATMs', fueled a boom in care home investments.