A HEALTHCARE development company has undergone a £1.2m relocation and hopes to expand its portfolio of care homes and centres in the North-East.

After 15 years in Willington, County Durham, The Portland Group has moved into bigger offices on Belmont Business Park, in Durham.

Portland, which employs about 600 staff working in eight care homes and day centres across the region, wants to expand over the coming years.

Nikki Dickinson, group development manager, said: "The group is always looking to expand. We go by the needs of the social services, because that is where most of our referrals are from.

"We outgrew our head office in Willington and needed to move to larger premises in order to expand. The site in Belmont is in a more central position to be in contact with all our care homes.

"The new office also has a dedicated training suite for our training and development division."

Portland has sites in Northumberland, Newcastle, Washington and Willington.

Its most recent care home for the elderly and people with learning and mental health difficulties was opened in Shildon, County Durham, 18 months ago, creating 120 jobs.

The group operates across a number of divisions including residential and nursing care, respite, home care and day care, and outreach.