DOZENS of jobs have been saved after a buyer was found for a North-East care home.

Solehawk has agreed a deal to buy Craigielea Nursing Home, in Low Fell, Gateshead, easing fears over the futures of its 79 workers.

The home's former operator, Gateshead Dispensary Nursing Home (Craigielea) Limited, was put into administration earlier this month after falling occupancy levels led to declining revenues.

The home looks after more than 50 residents.

Solehawk, which runs care homes in Newcastle, took over the site after help from corporate finance and recovery and insolvency teams at Newcastle-based RMT Accountants and Business Advisors.

Bosses at Solehawk say the deal has retained the full Craigielea workforce, adding them to the 150 people it already employs.

Dating back to 1832, Gateshead Dispensary Trust was set up to care for people in Gateshead before the creation of the NHS.

Richard Warren, Solehawk finance director, said: “We are extremely impressed with the passion of the Craigielea team, including the standard of care they provide, and are now working to ensure we further improve those services.”

Greg Bolton, RMT head of corporate finance, who led the team’s work in finding a new buyer, added: “This was a well-staffed, essentially sound business that experienced difficulties.

“We wanted to find the right buyer and Solehawk provided the right mix of expertise and commercial acumen.”