LARGE GROUP/58 HOMES
Gordon Sanders
Chief Executive Officer, Runwood Homes
Gordon Sanders founded Runwood Homes in the late 1980s and returned as chief executive in May 2023. He also chairs Sanders Senior Living.
BIOGRAPHY
Gordon Sanders is the founder, owner and chief executive of Runwood Homes, a care home group headquartered in Hadleigh, Essex. A property developer by background, he founded the group in 1987 according to its website; Companies House records him as a director of Runwood Homes Limited from 29 January 1988. A 2019 Caring Times article described him as owner and chief executive of the group for the previous 32 years.
In July 2022 Jeremy Richardson, formerly chief executive of Four Seasons Health Care, took over as Runwood's chief executive, and Sanders became chairman. Richardson left in May 2023 after less than a year, as part of a wider set of management changes that followed a strategic review. Sanders took the chief executive role back, and said he and Richardson had seen the group's immediate priorities slightly differently. The group's directors page now lists Sanders as Chief Executive Officer, with Dr Gavin O'Hare-Connolly as Managing Director.
In 2019 Sanders and his family launched Sanders Senior Living, a premium private-pay care home company. Its first home, the 69-bed Graysford Hall in Leicester, opened in October 2019, and a second, Claridge Place in Solihull, followed. Sanders is listed as the company's chairman.
About Runwood Homes. Runwood Homes is a family-owned care home group headquartered in Hadleigh, Essex. In January 2023 it provided about 5,000 beds and was the UK's sixth largest for-profit care home group (The Guardian, 17 January 2023). See its rank and history
CAREER
Newest first, each role linked to its source
MAY 2023 – NOW
Chief Executive Officer · Runwood Homes NOW
2022 – MAY 2023
Chairman · Runwood Homes
2019 – NOW
Chairman · Sanders Senior Living NOW
1987 – 2022
Founder, owner and chief executive · Runwood Homes
ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS AND APPEARANCES
4 items, opened and checked
May 2025
Care home leaders worth almost £1bn make Sunday Times Rich ListPROFILECare Home Professional
Reports Sanders and family at 284th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2025 and notes his property development background.
May 2023
Jeremy Richardson stands down as chief executive of Runwood HomesPROFILECaring Times
Reports that Sanders resumes the chief executive role, with his comment on the change.
May 2023
Jeremy Richardson steps down as chief executive of Runwood HomesPROFILEHealthInvestor UK
Same announcement, noting Sanders previously held the chief executive role before Richardson arrived.
Nov 2019
Sanders family launches premium care home brandPROFILECaring Times
Covers the launch of Sanders Senior Living by Sanders and his family.
