A founder of a social care company based in Potters Bar has been awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II as part of her birthday honours.

CareTech’s Farouq Sheikh has been awarded an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his work in specialist social care in the business sector.

In 1993, Farouq, now a trustee, founded CareTech with his brother Haroon and the company has grown from a single small care home into a large supplier of specialist care services in the UK.

The Group now operates more than 550 residential facilities and specialist schools, employs more than 10,000 staff and supports over 5,500 service users.

Farouq said:“I am proud and humbled to receive this award. I accept it with deep appreciation on behalf of my brother, Haroon, and I as well as all of the CareTech family who have supported us on our journey.

“Together, we have jointly created one of the leading UK care home providers, CareTech. The success of CareTech continues to gain momentum, as does the good work of the CareTech Foundation. As a family, we will continue to play our part in helping local and global communities.”

In 2017, the CareTech Charitable Foundation was also launched to provide grant to support and champion the social care sector, care workers and those living in care.

In its first three years, the CareTech Foundation has already supported some 275,000 beneficiaries, including Potters Bar Radio, having already committed £1.5 million in grants.

Haroon Sheikh, CEO of CareTech and chair of the CareTech Foundation, said, “My brother and I have always striven to provide the best possible support to some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. We had a simple vision of providing a level of care to our service users that we would want for our own family.

“To have grown the company as we have, enabling us to support so many individuals directly through the company and, more recently through the work of the CareTech Foundation, is enormously gratifying. I cannot tell you how proud I am of my brother for the rightful recognition of his part in our journey together.”

Farouq is also a trustee of the grant-making COSARAF Foundation as well as a board member of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Mosaic youth mentoring initiative at The Prince’s Trust, and a founder Enterprise Fellow of The Prince’s Trust.