Accounts, payroll, fee planning and Business Pulse for care homes, home care agencies, supported living providers and nurseries across Greater Manchester.
2,065
care businesses in Greater Manchester in 2026, up 12.5% since 2021, counting residential care, home care and nurseries.
775 of them, 38%, turn over between £500,000 and £10 million. That is the highest share in that turnover band of any sector in Greater Manchester.
Source: ONS UK Business Counts 2026.
| Borough | Nursing homes | Residential care, learning disability and mental health | Residential care, older and disabled people | Home care and other care without accommodation | Child day-care |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | 10 | 10 | 95 | 55 | 80 |
| Bury | 10 | 10 | 35 | 50 | 55 |
| Manchester | 30 | 30 | 110 | 70 | 160 |
| Oldham | 5 | 10 | 65 | 35 | 90 |
| Rochdale | 10 | 15 | 45 | 35 | 70 |
| Salford | 15 | 15 | 70 | 55 | 95 |
| Stockport | 20 | 10 | 65 | 60 | 90 |
| Tameside | 15 | 0 | 50 | 40 | 85 |
| Trafford | 10 | 10 | 55 | 35 | 100 |
| Wigan | 20 | 5 | 75 | 50 | 95 |
Workplaces in March 2026. Source: ONS UK Business Counts, local units by industry, via Nomis. ONS rounds each figure to the nearest 5.
| Council | Under 2s | 2-year-olds | 3 and 4-year-olds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | £11.99 | £8.81 | £6.17 |
| Bury | £11.71 | £8.63 | £6.01 |
| Manchester | £12.66 | £9.29 | £6.50 |
| Oldham | £12.11 | £8.91 | £6.25 |
| Rochdale | £12.01 | £8.84 | £6.18 |
| Salford | £12.19 | £8.98 | £6.28 |
| Stockport | £11.18 | £8.26 | £6.01 |
| Tameside | £11.97 | £8.82 | £6.26 |
| Trafford | £11.44 | £8.45 | £6.01 |
| Wigan | £11.76 | £8.66 | £6.18 |
The hourly rates DfE funds each council at. Each council sets the rate it pays nurseries and passes on at least 97%. The 3 and 4-year-old rate is shown without the termly funding adjustment. Source: DfE, Early years funding rates and step-by-step calculations 2026 to 2027.
GMCA puts the adult social care workforce in Greater Manchester at about 75,000, with 3,300 vacancies, in its Labour Market Insights Pack for autumn 2025.
Across England, Skills for Care's 2026 report puts the vacancy rate at 8.7% in home care and 3.8% in residential care. Payroll, agency cost and the National Living Wage rise to £13.21 in April 2027 are the figures we track most closely for providers here.
Accounts by home, fee rates by funding route, payroll and capital allowances on the building.
Payroll with travel time recorded, council contract costing and VAT.
Sleep-in and waking night payroll, and costing for each council contract.
The cost of each funded hour against your council's rate, and itemised parent invoices.
Residential care, home care and nurseries combined, as counted for the Greater Manchester combined authority area in ONS UK Business Counts 2026.
No. Each council sets the rates it pays for the care it arranges and the early years funding rate it passes to nurseries. Bury Council's 2026/27 rates are on our Bury page. We work from your costs to the rate each service needs.
Yes. We work by phone, video and shared files, with your books in Xero.
Buzz Legal and Business Debt Recovery are run by Buzz Legal Ltd (company 17078192). Court work is handled by AD Solicitors, authorised and regulated by the SRA (no. 8011228).
Explains what a new starter must receive on day one, where employment status goes wrong and which restrictive covenants hold up.
Read more on Buzz LegalRecovers unpaid business invoices at a fixed fee and adds the statutory interest and compensation to the claim.
Read more on Business Debt RecoveryWorks out the statutory interest and fixed compensation on a late business invoice at the rate for the date it fell due.
Open the toolWe look at your last accounts, your payroll hours and the rates your council pays.