TWO Suffolk building firms have each taken a stake in a newly-opened care home which will create 50 new jobs.

Magdalen House in Hadleigh, which has just begun receiving its first residents, has a total of 51 beds and will offer 24-hour care for the elderly, dementia care, respite care and day care.

Long Melford building firm Cameron Hamilton Homes constructed the care home and, along with Mildenhall-based Cocksedge Building Contractors, and the care home operators, has a shareholding in Magdalen House Ltd.

The project has been funded by a �2.25milllion loan facility from the Co-operative Bank.

Martin Humpleby, manager at the bank’s regional corporate banking centre in Cambridge, said: “The opportunity to fund a purpose-built state-of-the-art care home in a wonderful setting for a dedicated and experienced management team fitted in perfectly with the Co-operative Bank ethos of funding local well-managed social enterprises.

“The development went extremely smoothly and the home was built in a traditional way creating a lovely looking building in this beautiful town. We look forward to a long relationship with Magdalen House Ltd.”

Tim Grant, finance director at Cocksedge, said: “We’ve built care homes in the past but this is the first time we’ve been an owner of one. An opportunity came and we thought we’d like to invest in it.”

He added: “We now have plans to expand into owning five more care homes in East Anglia.”

Legal work in respect of the funding was done by Hewitsons in Cambridge.

Ann West, manager of Magdalen House, who previously worked at the 29-bedroom Haven in Colchester, said: “We will be welcoming a few residents every week so they can settle in comfortably and we’ll employ up to 50 staff as the home fills up.

“It is an absolutely lovely home with day care facilities, a hairdresser, a cinema room, treatment rooms and plenty of activities.”