Like many young men, Konrad Czajka had a dream of earning a living as a musician; and for a while he did so.

At the age of 15, he formed Velvet Blue. In its various incarnations over the next ten years, Mr Czajka played electric accordion and bass guitar.

He says: “We played the Talk Of Yorkshire in Bradford. We backed the singer David Whitfield and were on the same bill as Helen Shapiro. We were the resident band at Bernard Manning’s club in Manchester.

“We passed an Opportunity Knocks audition when Hughie Green was the compere. The week before we were due to go on television, the band split up. I was 25,” he says.

By the time he was 40 his life had changed radically. He had married, had two sons and the Czajka Care Group had nursing homes in Bingley.

His decision to specialise in this field was directly influenced by his experience of nursing and residential care during the seven years he worked for Leeds City Council.

Konrad Czajka believed he could do a lot better.

“With a lot of the larger providers the focus was on the staff. I used to see noticeboards full of announcements of staff outings. Residents came second.

“When we set up we made sure the focus changed. The philosophy of the group is that the residents’ rights are paramount. They go to bed and get up when they want and eat when they want.

“We police very strongly to make sure that regimentation does not happen. That’s something we developed at the outset. We are very proud of that.

“In the early days you’d find four to six people in one room. There was a lack of quality, a lot of cowboys. That was before the Care Community Act of 2000 and the Care Quality Commission.

“As national minimum standards came in, private homes – we call it the independent sector – became much better organised. Standards have improved fantastically in the 26 years we have been in the profession,” he added.

The experiences of his parents in the Nazi-occupied part of Poland may also have played a part in Mr Czajka’s drive to be successful and materially secure. His mother, Stefania, was taken for forced labour in Germany, his father was taken for the German Army but escaped and fought for the resistance. They were reunited after the war in London. His father, Jerzy, is 87 and lives in Nab Wood. Stefania died, aged 80, in 2006.

Because people are living longer, nursing and residential care is a growth sector.

Mr Czajka says: “We are expanding home care in Leeds and Bradford. We are awaiting a decision in Wakefield. We are also looking at Kirklees and Calderdale. By 2012, if everything goes through, we may need a further 150 to 250 staff. We are looking for opportunities to increase our nursing and residential accommodation, but the quality of stock is very poor. Three out of our five homes were built from scratch.”

The Czajka Care Group looks after about 500 people throughout West Yorkshire. The cost of residential care varies from £407 to £515 a week. For nursing care the cost varies from £535 to about £750. The cost of weekly residential and nursing care for the young disabled is £1,040.

“At the cheapest that works out at £2.42 an hour for 168 hours of care a week,” he said, flourishing a calculator.

The family-run business helps Bradford University’s School of Health Studies to train nurses.

The group also has a contract with Airedale Primary Care Trust to help with intermediate care before and after hospital treatment. Ten beds at the Czajka Currergate Nursing Home in Steeton are used for rehabilitation.

FACTFILE: Konrad Czajka was born in London in 1949 to expatriate Polish parents Jerzy and Stefania. Family came to Yorkshire when Konrad was two-and-a-half.

Educated at St Walburger’s RC School, Shipley, St Bede’s Grammar and Sheffield Polytechnic, where he got degrees in applied chemistry and, later, institutional management.

He was a professional musician with the band Velvet Blue until he was 25.

He worked for Leeds City Council in remedial day care, hygiene and nutrition, from 1979 to 1986.

Married Janina, known as Jasia, in 1977. The couple have two sons, Dominic and Daniel.

Set up Staveley Oaks Nursing Home, Nab Wood, in 1983, and Birk Lees Nursing Home in 1986, now known as Staveley Birk Lees.

The Czajka Care Group consists of five establishments specialising in nursing and retirement care.

The company also looks after people in their own homes. By 2012 Mr Czajka estimates that this care sector will create up to 250 more jobs.

He is also chairman of the Registered Nursing Home Association of Yorkshire. He has other companies too.

Mr Czajka has other homes in Switzerland and Tenerife. For recreation and fitness, he jogs, swims and plays tennis in the first division of the Bradford League.