The firm secured a cleaning contract with Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in June 2014 worth £90m over seven years. Sick pay cost £1.2m in its first eight months, compared with £280,000 for the NHS in the previous financial year. UNISON blamed the rise on staff stress, which it claimed had been caused by mistakes on pay. The firm admitted in November 2014 that its homecare business was less profitable than expected, and that it was struggling to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of care workers.