News

New £15m north Wales care home will be ‘world class’ and create 200 jobs

09 Sep 2026 5 minute read

New dementia care home to be built on the Pendine Park site, Summerhill. Pictured: Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft and Estates Manager Gary Syme. Image: Mandy Jones

Nation Cymru staff

More than 200 new jobs are set to be created by a new £15 million care home planned for Wrexham as demand for dementia care continues to grow.

The award-winning Pendine Park care organisation has unveiled plans for the 77-bed facility which will provide “world class” care at its 12-acre site on the outskirts of the city.

The two-storey home will be designed around small, family-sized units for eight to 10 residents and will feature the latest technology, including artificial intelligence, radar movement monitors and systems designed to reduce the spread of viruses.

The project is a “next generation” version of Pendine’s Bryn Seiont Newydd home in Caernarfon, which was named the UK’s best new care home at the prestigious Pinders Healthcare Design Awards in 2016.

Construction is due to start in 2027 and it’s hoped it will be ready for the first residents to arrive around 15 months later.

Since it was founded by social care pioneer Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, Pendine Park has grown into the largest provider of residential and nursing care services in North Wales with nine existing homes and a particular expertise in dementia care

The new care home take Pendine’s total workforce to over 1,000 staff and increase the overall number of beds to more than 500.
It will be called Pen-y-Don after the hotel in Rhyl run by Mr Kreft’s beloved grandparents, Fred and Rene Warburton.

In later life Mrs Warburton suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease and it was the fact that they were unable to find anywhere suitable for her that inspired the Krefts to open their first care home, Gwern Alyn, in 1985.

Mr Kreft said: “We’re finalising our plans and seeking a developer to build the home to our specification and it will create 200 new jobs which is so important at a time when a lot of people are looking for fulfilled work that makes a real difference and the care sector offers that.

“Care is a long term investment in people and facilities and provides vitally needed long term support for people and their families who need care whilst at the same time underpinning the NHS.

“This is a particularly meaningful milestone for us because we are in the midst of our 40th anniversary celebrations and we have named the new home in honour of my beloved grandmother..

“Pen-y-Don was my grandparents’ hotel in Rhyl and we became involved in the care sector because we were looking after grandparents including my grandmother who had dementia when she was in her 90s.

“It’s rather lovely to back to the future in the sense because Pen-y-Don means crest of the wave and it is that after 40 years because we want to provide Wrexham with a premiership facility, fit for the future.

“Thirty five years ago we opened our first purpose-built care home, Cae Bryn, and we were very proud of it and since then we have always strived to raise the bar in terms of quality and standards.

“We’re very confident that Pen-y-Don will be absolutely cutting edge. It will have all the very latest technology, including artificial intelligence and movement monitors using radar technology, everything you can imagine in the 21st century that will assist the care of people with dementia and mental health issues.

“At Pen-y-Don we will have digital care plans using artificial intelligence which will enable our carers to speak to the technology.

“One of the biggest challenges currently is proving what we have done in the written word. In the future we will be able to prove what we have done in the spoken word instead of having to record things in writing.

“That will be a massive benefit to the people we are caring for because it will enable our staff to spend more time doing the most important thing of all, devoting more time to providing kind, compassionate care with dignity and respect for our residents.

“One of the key elements of this design is small group living but with the advantage of a larger care setting and in particular that the home can be run as two separate floors, in small family units but with the ability to enable residents freedom, choice and the dignity of large areas of private space.

“As well has having small lounges throughout, Pen-y-Don will also have facilities for the creative arts including a dedicated music room as well as a community hub where concerts and other activities can take place. We’ll also have a physiotherapy clinic and a relaxation room with mood music.

“The arts in all its forms is the golden thread that runs through everything that we do with a whole host of enrichment activities including art classes, music sessions and a range of therapies.

“Our in-house training academy will also be playing a key role as we provide staff with first class professional development to ensure the care is of the highest quality.

“We want Pen-y-Don to be the flagship, not just for Wrexham but for the whole region.

“Our ambition after four decades serving our local communities in Wrexham and Caernarfon where we provide care that is recognised as the premiership leader in the whole of Wales.”

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