• Swindon & Wiltshire Tech
• Tuesday May 13 2025

New app addresses care home staffing shortages

A new app launched with the help of a Wiltshire business owner aims to address staff shortages in care homes, and will begin its UK roll-out in Somerset this week.

AgoraStaff brings together care homes and care workers, cutting up the agencies that add to the cost of care.

The brainchild of Richard Williams-Pears, the former mayor of St Austell, who saw firsthand the rising costs and inefficiencies in social care.

He teamed up with his wife Jolene, AgoraStaff’s director of outstanding compliance, who has an extensive background in operating theatres, and Janet Shreeve, who brings hands-on care sector experience from running Wiltshire-based Shreeve Care Services.

The app was built by tech experts Ben Grave and Simon Wetherell — creators of the UK’s leading asbestos management system.

Richard said: “Providing care is expensive and it’s even more expensive if a care home, local authority, or other care provider has to pay an agency to find carers, particularly at the last minute. The carer gets minimum wage, or just above and the agency takes a hefty cut on average around 30% of the fee from the provider.

“We felt there had to be a better way, using modern technology, to speed up this process leaving more money available for carers and providers. So much money is lost on agencies sitting in the middle between providers and carers, our app is designed to cut through this inefficiency.

“We have therefore combined deep sector knowledge with smart tech.”

Janet said: ““Many carers throughout the UK are self-employed and rely upon agencies to find them suitable shifts. Our marketplace gives them the opportunity to not only register for free but have complete control over the shifts they apply for and undertake.

“We are committed to ensuring the carers within our marketplace are the best professionals for individual roles. We achieve this with a vetting process to ensure they are legally entitled to work in the UK (if relevant) and must register their relevant training.

“They will also have the option to undertake more training to enhance their roles – a concept not commonly found within traditional agencies.”

Care providers can sign up for the app for a monthly fee of £34.99 per location, plus five per cent from the agreed daily shift fee, and trained carers sign up free once they have completed the vetting process.

For more information visit https://www.agorastaff.com/

Pictured: Tracie Langley, chief operations officer, Simon Wetherell, chief product officer, Richard Williams-Pears, CEO, Ben Grave, chief marketing officer, Janet Shreeve, chief customer experience officer