The Care Labs Named Finalist for Innovation Award

Boutique Care Homes’ free education platform, The Care Labs, has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Innovation in Care Homes Technology category at the Leaders in Care Awards 2026, run by Care Home Professional magazine.

The Care Labs (www.thecarelabs.co.uk) launched earlier this year, inspired by Barclays Digital Wings. It gives families and carers free access to guidance across six areas: Dementia Care, Family Support, Funding and Finances, Health and Wellbeing, Life at Boutique, and Preparing for Care. There is no registration wall and no sales follow-up attached to any of it.

The idea began with Carl Roberts, Boutique Care Homes’ Director of Sales and Marketing, watching his own father navigate the care system while his grandmother lived with dementia. He developed the concept through his MBA research at Wrexham University, shaping the platform around the questions families actually ask rather than what a care provider wants to say about itself.

“Seeing The Care Labs recognised by an industry awards body, as a platform in its own right rather than an add-on to our homes, means a great deal,” Roberts said. “It was built for people like my dad, unpaid carers trying to work out what to do next with very little support. If this shortlisting helps more of them find it, that matters more than the result on the night.”

Since launch, The Care Labs has attracted around 2,000 visitors, with Dementia Care the most-visited pillar. It has added The Care Fee Forum, a recorded webinar addressing care costs, state support and property and funding questions, and its first eLearning module, “Caring for Elderly Parents at Home.” A further 40 resources are planned across 2026, covering subjects including end-of-life care, the Montessori approach to dementia care, Namaste Care and safeguarding in care homes.

The platform’s content also matches what students learn on the way to becoming qualified care workers. Content has been aligned with the Health and Social care curriculum at EKC Colleges to use The Care Labs during their studies. One student, Isabel, reviewed the platform as part of an academic review and found it stood apart, adding that the content reflected “passionate people behind the articles who are so knowledgeable and really want to make a difference in health and social care.”

For Ameet Kotecha, Boutique Care Homes’ Founder and Managing Director, that partnership points beyond the platform’s current audience. “Every student who works through The Care Labs alongside their coursework is a future care professional entering the sector better prepared,” he said. “That matters as much to us as the families we’re reaching today.”

The shortlisting adds to a run of recognition for Boutique Care Homes, named National Care Awards Care Home Group (Small) of the Year in 2023 and 2025, and a carehome.co.uk Top 20 Small Care Home Group for three consecutive years, 2024, 2025 and 2026, across its five homes: The Burlington in Shepperton, Brampton Manor in Newmarket, Chartwell House in Broadstairs, Martello Manor in Hythe, and Keymer Hall in Burgess Hill.

Whatever happens on 6 October, The Care Labs will keep publishing new guidance every month, for anyone searching for it, whether or not they ever become a resident. Not just care. Life, thriving.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on 6 October 2026 at the Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club.