FEATURE
Looking back on 11 years of rapid business success , Jessica Gwaringa breaks into a beaming smile as she remembers how it all began ... over a family meal .
As she sat at the dinner table alongside her husband and young son , Jess began to discuss the possibility of launching her own care agency as a way of achieving a better work-life balance .
By the time the plates had been cleared , Jess ’ s mind was made up . Nine-year-old Keith had conjured up the perfect name , Moonrise , and husband John was busy registering it . The company had lift-off .
“ We talked about needing a good name and Keith initially said ‘ Moonshine ’. It wasn ’ t quite right but he said , ‘ Let me think ’, before changing it to Moonrise , and we loved it ,” recalls Jess .
“ We wanted to be different to what was already on the market , and we decided our USP should be providing care staff around the clock , so that ’ s how it became Moonrise 24hr Recruitment .
“ I like a challenge , and I said to John , ‘ Let ’ s do it ’. He was still registering the name while I was washing up . It all happened that evening .”
The Moonrise launchpad was the family home in Thorntree , Middlesbrough , with Jess operating as managing director and John as finance director .
No office , just a couple of chairs , and a desk in a lockable sitting room to comply with Care Quality Commission requirements .
Today , Moonrise 24hr Recruitment is a multi-awardwinning operation , employing 13 people at its Stockton headquarters , and nearly 400 care workers stretching from Sheffield to Berwick .
The company won the Business of the Year title at the Tees Businesswomen Awards in 2024 , when Jess was also a finalist for Tees Businesswoman of the Year .
The latest in a string of honours came at the recent VelociTees Awards , again run by Tees Business , when Moonrise was named as the winner of the Turnover – Large Business category , recognising remarkable growth from £ 8m to £ 18m in one year . That said , Jess doesn ’ t like talking about money . “ It ’ s the people that really matter , and the impact we can make on their lives ,” she insists .
Changing lives is an aspiration Jess had from growing up in Zimbabwe , where both her father and mother worked in the healthcare sector .
“ I always had a caring heart , and wanted to help people ,” she says . “ I just knew I wanted to make a difference to people ’ s lives .”
The second of six children , Jess enjoyed a happy childhood in which her parents placed a strong emphasis on education and independence .
Having gone to a school in Zimbabwe , she moved to the UK in 2001 , settling in Edinburgh , where she was close to family members . By then , she ’ d decided on her career path and started training to be a nurse .
She ’ d met John back in Zimbabwe , and they married in 2004 , by which time he ’ d found work in finance in Middlesbrough .
Jess moved to the North-East to be with him and switched her focus to mental health , embarking on studies at Teesside University .
After graduating , she joined the staff at Middleton St George Hospital as a registered mental health nurse .
That ’ s where her achievements began to be recognised , with Nurse of the Month titles followed by Employee of the Year .
Her next step was to specialise in elderly care , so she took a job in a Darlington care home but , having excelled in a management role , along came that fateful discussion around the dinner table .
On July 30 2014 , Moonrise was officially launched with the agreement to supply staff for 25 care homes in Darlington and the surrounding area .
The objective was to provide staff for care homes and to work with local authorities , supporting domiciliary care .
By the end of August , the business had moved into an office sourced through Middlesbrough Council , but larger offices in the same building were soon needed .
With business continuing to boom , the first member of staff was recruited , along with an intern from Teesside University .
“ Don ’ t ask me what magic we have done since then , but growth has been incredible , and we never advertised – it was all word of mouth , based on the quality of service we provide ,” Jess points out , proudly .
When the pandemic took its grip in 2020 , the council needed to close the office , so the business moved to nearby premises offering greater flexibility for staff .
Jess and John started looking for somewhere better where they knew the team could flourish and grow .
The building that has become the firm ’ s headquarters , on Stockton ’ s Preston Farm Industrial Estate , was purchased in 2022 .
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