LDC Top 50 2026
Richard Dooner
CEO
Antser Group
Richard Dooner left school at 16 and took the long way into business, working various jobs whilst studying business management at night, before finally moving into sales and project delivery. He then spent 13 years at Capita, running major transformation programmes, before leaving in 2018 to launch Antser Group. “Everyone thought I was crazy to leave for a start-up. But I wanted a different challenge.”
Today, his Birmingham-based company employs around 90 people, delivering expert witness assessments, private diagnostic services, immersive VR training and therapeutic support. “We’re helping individuals in vulnerable situations. I like doing the hard stuff, working in the gaps no-one else has touched.”
We’re helping individuals in vulnerable situations. I like doing the hard stuff, working in the gaps no-one else has touched.”
Q&A
Why did you leave Capita to start Antser?
My final project at Capita was turning around the DWP’s Personal Independence Payment contract. Working around welfare and benefits, I realised the social care sector had been overlooked. Then I was introduced to Jim and Ayyab Cockburn, the entrepreneurs behind one of the UK’s largest private fostering agencies. We got chatting and Jim said, “I’ll back you to build a business”. We completed four acquisitions and quickly grew to work with every local authority in the UK. After selling the majority of the business in 2023, I felt I was only halfway through the journey, so I did an MBO with investment from YFM Equity Partners and started again with Antser 2.0.
How is VR changing social care?
Our immersive VR technology has been a real game changer. We use it with teachers, social workers and police officers, who can sometimes become numb because they deal with these situations every day. We can put you in the eyes of a three-year-old living in a crack den, a child being groomed or a 14-year-old who ends up being stabbed. It’s all about empathy and behaviour change. In focus groups with 14 to 18-year-olds, eight in ten participants said they were deterred from carrying a knife after watching the films.
How do you build culture?
Twice a year I hold town halls where I talk through everything that is happening in the business. I want everyone to understand the business at a micro level so they can put their head on the pillow at night knowing we’re a strong, sound business. It sounds simple but I also make a point of thanking our people. A personal email from me, along with dinner on us to recognise their hard work, often means more than any grand gesture.
