Claims that the success of an enterprise is boosted by nurturing home-grown talent have been validated with the recent promotion to senior roles of two key staff members, Kerry Libby and Sam Collier, and the creation of a new head office post for former employee Matt Butcher by care-provider the Regard Group.
The organisation has expanded significantly over the past three years, due to a combination of organic growth, new service openings, a merger with ACH and, just last month, the acquisition of Shropshire care group Adelphi Care Services. Regard supports people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and acquired brain injuries through specialist residential and supported living services.
Kerry Libby joined as a service manager in 2001, rose through the ranks to locality manager in 2007, and is now regional director for the South and South West area.
Kerry said: “I’ve always been well supported by Regard and given the right opportunities to develop in each role. People have recognised what I was capable of and have supported me so that I could make progress.
“Some of the people we support have very complicated needs. It’s so rewarding to know that we’re supporting them to live their lives to the full, and equally rewarding – now that I work at a more senior level – to support the staff teams working in the services to develop their own care skills and professional development.”
Sam Collier joined Regard nearly three years ago as a locality manager, was made regional director for Kent and East Sussex in May 2016, and is now responsible for the whole of London and the South East.
Sam said: “My employer has taken the time to invest in me, recognise my individual strengths and create opportunities for me to progress through the organisation.
“I find my job very rewarding and it’s great to work for a provider that strives to deliver the very best quality of service to the people we support. We work hard to ensure mechanisms are in place for those working at the frontline to ensure we deliver that quality.”
A third new appointment goes to former health and social care recruitment consultant Matt Butcher, who started his career in the care sector 22 years ago with three years as a support worker at a Regard service in Kent, and has now returned to work out of the organisation’s head office in Kingston upon Thames as their first corporate senior recruitment advisor.
Matt said: “My role is UK-wide – we now have 159 services across England and Wales – and at the moment I’m working with 16 homes with multiple vacancies, plus new acquisitions and new builds, which is a big responsibility, but I love what I’m doing and am passionate about recruiting the right candidates.
“What has amazed me is that during my induction I revisited some of the Regard services I knew from my early career to recognise some of the same people – individuals who have reached their optimum level of independence – still happily living there after 20 or more years.
“Progress in the care sector in the intervening decades has been phenomenal, but what is still obvious – and always was – is how Regard’s staff all buy into the same set of values, and how their passion for providing the best possible quality of life for the people they support is evident in everything they do.”
The Regard Group cares for more than 1,600 people, with a dedicated staff of over 2,400 people across the UK. For further information see www.Regard.co.uk
