LDC Top 50 2024
Hellen Bowey
Founder
Alcove
Growing up with a sister with a complex learning disability, Hellen Bowey was frustrated by the lack of technology in the social care sector. “The system was broken,” she says, citing inefficiencies and a real underutilisation of technology. To help solve the problem, she started Alcove, a Colchester-based care technology company.
Alcove provides smart care technology packages and services to local authorities and the NHS. This includes a 24/7 call centre, a responder service, a virtual care agency, and a data platform with integrated sensors and wearables that all help older and disabled adults to live independently. “Saving lives is in our DNA,” she adds.
Not many tech companies can say that they save and enhance so many people’s lives. It’s in our DNA.”
Q&A
When did the business start to take off?
2020 was a pivotal year. In the early years, we faced challenges with numerous pilot programs, as local authorities had the right intentions but lacked the mechanisms to scale care technology effectively. The challenges of Covid-19 highlighted the critical need for health and care technology across both the health and social care sectors, it accelerated the adoption of our solutions to keep people connected, and we successfully rolled out 5,000 video care phones in just six months. It was the largest and fastest deployment of digital care technology in the UK to that date.
What sets your business apart?
We want to smash the stigma associated with ageing. When I looked at the market, it was all navy blue logos and photos of older adults on the floor. When I’m 80, I’ll be living life to the full – not sitting at home waiting to use the pull cord, so at Alcove we actively promote a better way of living, enabling older adults to maximise their independence. We are evangelists of growing old disgracefully and we use aspirational imagery. We see ourselves more as a fashion brand than a utility.
What advice would you share with other entrepreneurs?
Don’t obsess about perfection. Every day I have to make hundreds of decisions. If I’m right 80% of the time, that’s good enough. That’s why I get so much done.
What are your growth plans?
The market now has masses of potential, and we are diversifying our offering. We set up a virtual care agency in 2023, which is delivering 30,000 virtual visits a year, and in the last three months we’ve set up a 24/7 emergency call centre, which is already on track to deliver 15,000 connections in its first six months of operation. The significant investment we made in tech and infrastructure looks to have been timed correctly and we are growing significantly year on year.
