Charlotte joined us in May 2020 to oversee the teams that support our clients and carers. She then studied and graduated to become our Registered Manager. This puts Charlotte at the heart of everything we do to make the wheels turn smoothly for clients, carers and office staff. We asked Charlotte to tell us something about her background before joining the Christies Care Family:
“My background is mainly legal: initially I trained as a Legal Secretary and a Legal Executive. My move to the Police force for 15 years helped me develop and evolve; I worked within Organised Crime, Intelligence, and as an Investigator working on murders before progressing through to Management. I managed teams all over Suffolk investigating online child abuse. I have a strong background in Safeguarding, specifically around children and vulnerable adults. I received a Chief Constable’s Commendation Award and was recognised by the Chief Constable for my Leadership Skills. I have a CIPD Chartered Member degree.
I had heard so many good things about Christies and their reputation in the live-in care sector and I was drawn to the family run business and their values. My key focus for Christies has been around service improvement and change management. My passion is people: I love working with our staff to influence and lead them to ensure that we give the best service possible to our clients and carers. As Registered Manager, my mission is to ensure Christies Care provides the highest quality of care possible and to ensure we are outstanding at everything we do. I am excited about my future within Christies Care and continuing our success and guiding the company values by always putting our clients at the heart of our business decisions.
Charlotte is clear about her personal mission and goals working as part of the management team:
“I have an established background in change management. Coming to Christies has given me the opportunity to assess our organisational structure and implement change. Having the right structure in place is key to the growth and success of Christies Care Ltd, it also ensures that our goals and responsibilities are clearly defined. I am excited about leading the way in relation to our organisational restructure. I have a strong policing and management background and have acquired a vast skillset along the way; I cannot wait to implement and impart these skills within the organisation.
I am passionate about safeguarding; these skills, along with my background in operational policing will help to enhance my role as Registered Manager.”
Freddy Gathorne-Hardy, Christies Care MD adds his thoughts on Charlotte’s appointment:
“Charlotte and I work very well together. We both know what is important. We both know our priorities: 1. Our clients, 2. Our carers and 3. The office team and our business, in that order. We both agree on how we should reach our objectives, that our aims are to have well-managed teams and that decisions should be delegated to the person closest to the action.
Our skills complement each other too. Her police background gives her great skills, especially in safeguarding and investigating. It has also shown her the value of a strong organisational structure, with clear accountability and efficient processes.
She has taken a lot of the best parts of how the police operate and is incorporating these into Christies Care’s operations.”
