Social Care Top 30 2024
Nadra Ahmed CBE
EXECUTIVE CO-CHAIR, NATIONAL CARE ASSOCIATION
Nadra has been Chairman of NCA since 2001. She has been involved in the field of social care for over 40 years and until 2005 was the Registered Manager of two private care homes for older people, having developed and run services since 1981 which included a homecare service. Nadra has served on numerous government taskforces and continues to do so. Through Covid she became recognised as the respected voice of social care. Nadra has served as the Vice Chairman of Skills for Care for 11 years having been appointed at its inception: she was also a trustee of Parkinson’s UK and continues to support various charities as a trustee/patron or president, despite her tight schedule; these include the veterans charity RBLI and a small disabilities charity Spadeworks.
James Allen
CEO, NATIONAL CARE GROUP
Under James’ visionary leadership, National Care Group (NCG) has bolstered its reputation as a significant force within the adult social care sector this year. As well as winning a leading award, the successful execution of the 2023/24 growth strategy resulted in the launch of five new supported living schemes for young adults with complex needs, alongside the expansion and refurbishment of other NCG services across various regions in England and Wales. James’ experience and expertise have been instrumental in building a culture of wellbeing at NCG, benefiting its 2,800 dedicated colleagues across more than 250 settings. The organisation has also gained recent media attention for the launch of its new CSR strategy and recycling initiatives, working towards unlocking a brighter future for everyone involved with NCG.
Dan Archer
CEO, VISTING ANGELS
My work in Health and Social Care was founded in a personal experience of poor-quality care for a family member. I truly believe that there is a different way and that by focusing on the needs of a carer superior quality home care is possible. I am working to redefine the role of carers in society and ensure that every family has access to a choice that our family was denied. Visiting Angels is already one of the world’s largest home care providers with franchised operations in 5 countries and 800 franchised offices. Since launching in the UK we have become one of the UK’s fastest growing home care franchises with over 50 offices already and growing at a rate of roughly 1 office per month
Gillian Ashcroft
CEO, EXCEPTIONAL CARE AND THINK TANK ACADEMY
Gill Ashcroft is a dynamic entrepreneur and social care visionary, transforming lives with 10 self-funded businesses across the UK and Dubai. Born in Liverpool, she rose from a working-class background to multi-millionaire status, driven by her passion for social care. Founder of Exceptional Care and Think Tank Academy, Gill is also a philanthropist, supporting over 20 charities. She hosts “The Real Show” on Liverpool Live Radio, keynotes national conferences, and chairs a Care Consortium for policy change. Gill’s impact is profound, with a legacy of resilience, leadership, and unwavering commitment to making a difference.
Angela Boxall
CEO, MAJESTICARE
Angela is well known for bringing smiles to the Social Care Sector but is universally respected as being one of the most forward-thinking and innovative leaders in the sector at the moment. Angela has developed and grown through the ranks in Social Care now being the CEO of Majesticare, a leading luxury care home group well known for its people, its environment, and its use of technology. This year Angela was appointed Chair of Care England, where she continues to make a positive impact on the Social Care Sector. Over the last few years, Angela has worked tirelessly to change the perception of Social Care, specially to encourage the younger generations to choose it as a career. Starting off the conversation with the Care Society, Angela is now a committee member of Championing Social Care, Host of the fantastic Care Sectors Got Talent and Chair of the Care Sector Fundraising Ball which raises much needed funds for the Care Workers Charity and the Alzheimer’s Society. Angela also became an ambassador of Access Social Care, which provides free legal advice to those with social care needs to ensure that they receive the care the need and deserve.
Dr Pete Calveley
CEO, BARCHESTER HEALTHCARE
Dr Pete Calveley is CEO of Barchester Healthcare, and a pioneer in the care industry with extensive knowledge and understanding of the care sector. A prominent figure in the health and social care sector for over 25 years, Pete has used his expertise and passion in this field to successfully lead Barchester Healthcare since 2014, with an unwavering commitment to a ‘Quality First’ approach. Pete’s background has always been in the health industry. He is a doctor of medicine from Leeds University and worked as a GP for 20 years. He is currently on the board at Care England.
Lucy Campbell
CEO, RIGHT AT HOME
Lucy Campbell, CEO of award-winning Right at Home UK has experience of both franchising and senior level business management. Her innovative business growth through strategic vision and transformative leadership has earned her the trust and respect from her peers in the wider health and social care sector. Adept at fostering high-performance teams she believes that quality is at the heart of everything. She is a strong advocate for innovation, with industry expertise and forward-thinking insights leading with compassion through complex, unprecedented changes. Lucy is passionate about driving organisational success and making a positive impact in the care sector.
Sarah Clarke-Kuehn
COO, SANCTUARY
As Chief Operating Officer – Commercial, Sarah Clarke-Kuehn oversees a portfolio of operations on behalf of Sanctuary, including Sanctuary Care, Supported Living and Students. Sarah joined Sanctuary in 2011 and has undertaken several positions driving real impactful change. She has played an integral role in leading on the creation and embedding of Sanctuary Care’s Enriching Lives framework across its care homes. The innovative approach to person-centred care focuses on ‘six senses’ that drive fulfilment and happiness for residents and loved ones. Sarah is a qualified management accountant and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Care Forum (NCF).
Samantha Crawley
CEO, BRACEBRIDGE CARE GROUP, NON-EXEC DIRECTOR, THE OUTSTANDING SOCIETY
Samantha is a positive, proactive, and dynamic professional. She has a highly successful background spanning over 25 years in sales, marketing, operational delivery and business development within the care home sector. Samantha is a business & leadership coach and derives real satisfaction from supporting, coaching and developing talent in the care sector. Having held senior positions in the sector’s larger providers, such as Barchester Healthcare, and Excelcare, Samantha’s experience has enabled her to continue to hone her talent as well as continue to learn from the amazing people in the sector. Samantha is a non-exec Director of The Outstanding Society and is a master practitioner in NLP. Samantha was awarded the Chief Nurse Social Care Award in December 2022 for people who go above and beyond their roles; achieving this award was an amazing experience for Samantha, who is truly dedicated to the social care sector. In addition to this, Samantha was awarded the Social Care Leadership award in 2023 and Businesswoman of the Year award in the Leading Women in Care Awards in 2024.
Amrit Dhaliwal
CEO, WALFINCH
Amrit Dhaliwal brings together his commitment to care with a focus on delivering enhanced quality of service for clients across the UK. His care sector skills and experience as both a leader in care and as an award-winning businessman as CEO of Walfinch, support a growing network of franchised Walfinch home-based care offices across the UK. Walfinch’s aim is to become the UK’s leading quality care provider, and Amrit and his experienced team work closely with all Walfinch franchisees to enable them to provide the highest standard of care services available for clients across the nation.
Karolina Gerlich
CEO, THE CARE WORKERS’ CHARITY
Karolina Gerlich, as CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, is a relentless advocate for the rights and well-being of care workers. With over 12 years of firsthand experience as a care worker and more than 8 years dedicated to advocacy in the field, Karolina tirelessly works for the recognition of care workers as skilled professionals and ensures they receive the support they deserve. Her steadfast commitment embodies a dedication to improving the lives of those who care for others. Serving on multiple advisory boards and holding a position on the Leadership Board for the Impact Centre, Karolina continues to lead the charge for positive change within the care sector, leaving a lasting impact on the lives of countless individuals.
David Glover
JOINT CEO, CAREMARK LTD
David Glover, Joint CEO of Caremark Limited, combines his law and franchising expertise to deliver results. As one of the top franchise solicitors in the UK, David transitioned into franchising with Subway, developing the brand across the South-East, and achieving the highest sales of a restaurant in Europe. Now, with Caremark, David is dedicated to improving the lives of thousands via providing exceptional homecare across the UK. His innovative approach, coupled with a desire for continual improvement, has resulted in Caremark reaching record results in the company’s 19-year history. David’s vision and strategic foresight, mark him as a truly exceptional leader.
Avnish Goyal CBE
CHAIR AND FOUNDER, HALLMARK CARE HOMES
Avnish Goyal CBE is the Chair of industry-leading care provider, Hallmark Luxury Care Homes, as well as Santhem Residences. He is the Chair of the Hallmark Foundation, which was founded in 2020 to help support a nation that can age well every step of the way. He also helped set up and is the Chair of Championing Social Care, an initiative to shine a light on the value of social care. This has included raising around £1.2m for great causes through the Care Sector Fundraising Ball along with his wife, Anita Goyal MBE, who also pioneered the first ever Care Careers Conference for students in 2023. They are both also Ambassadors for the Alzheimer’s Society and together they run The Goyal Foundation. Avnish was the Chair of Care England for nine years and the founding Trustee, now Patron of The Care Workers’ Charity. In 2022, Avnish was awarded a CBE in her late Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Prof Martin Green OBE
CEO, CARE ENGLAND
Martin Green has had an extensive career in NGO development, both in the UK and internationally, and is the Chief Executive of Care England, the largest representative body for independent social care services in the UK. A Trustee of the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH), Vice President of The Care Workers Charity, Champion of The National Aids Trust and Commissioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. In 2013 he was appointed Visiting Professor of Social Care at Buckinghamshire New University. In 2012, in his role as Department of Health and Social Care Independent Sector Dementia Champion, he led the development of the Dementia Care and Support Compact for The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia. In 2008 he was named care personality
of the year and was awarded an OBE for Services to Social Care in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In 2019 he was presented with the Health Investor Outstanding Contribution Award.
Paul Growney
CEO, CARING CONNECTIONS
Paul Growney is the CEO of Northwest care charity Caring Connections; he has been involved with the charity now for over a decade and been in the role as CEO for 7 years growing the charity into a multimillion-pound organisation now supporting over 550 people everyday. Alongside this he has recently completed a 6 year term as NED in an outstanding NHS trust being a key champion for social care. He on the first cohort of graduates to complete the National Skills Academy for Social Cares management scheme. He is committed to social value and enhancing the offer of traditional social care services. He has founded numerous large scale social value initiatives to complement the care provision across the Northwest.
Shaleeza Hasham
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR, CHD LIVING FOUNDER & CEO OF ADOPT A GRANDPARENT
Shaleeza Hasham is the Commercial Director of CHD Living and the Founder and CEO of Adopt a Grandparent. With over 15 years of leadership, she has been instrumental in driving innovation and excellence in the social care sector. Shaleeza’s dedication extends beyond her role at CHD Living; her passion for combating loneliness among older adults through Adopt a Grandparent has garnered global recognition. An award-winning leader, she is also an ambassador for Championing Social Care and a Director at Spectrum Care Ltd, a buying consortium that offers information, support and networking opportunities for those working in the care industry. Shaleeza’s commitment to enhancing lives through compassionate care and innovative approaches continues to shape the future of social care.
Jo Henney
CEO, NUGENT
Jo is the CEO of Nugent, an inspiring, dedicated, and high performing executive leader, with experience within the private and charitable sectors in leading successful organisations. Received the Trusted Executive of the Year Award in 2023, CEO Award at the Downtown in Business Awards in 2024, and Community Leader Award at the Merseyside Woman of the Year Awards 2024.
Other roles:
● Chair of Trustees – Emmaus Merseyside
● Member of Board of Trustees – Emmaus UK
● Chair of Governor’s – Wirral Metropolitan College
● Member of Professional Liverpool Charity Advisory Board
Jo is a foster carer having supported seven children to date.
Kevin Humphrys
CEO, OAKLAND CARE GROUP
Kevin Humphrys, CEO of Oakland Care Group, has over 15 years of senior eadership experience in social care. A passionate advocate for person-centred care, Kevin has transformed elderly care services across the UK. Since joining Oakland Care Group in 2022, he has driven innovation, prioritised staff well- being, and enhanced resident care. Kevin actively contributes to the sector as a Director for West Sussex Partners in Care. Recognised for his exceptional leadership, Kevin was a top 10 finalist in the Social Care Top 30 Leadership Awards 2023 and a Fellow of both the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Leadership.
Martin Jones MBE
CEO, HOME INSTEAD UK
Martin’s role with Home Instead and his non-executive and Trustee roles (Chair of the Homecare Association; Chair of The Care Workers’ Charity; member of the Age UK Board; Chair of Home Instead Charities) place him in a unique position to understand the issues facing the social care sector and to campaign for change. He has a particular interest in the integration of health and social care and the role our homes will play as the hospitals of the future. Martin is also an advocate of the need to professionalise care work. Martin was awarded an MBE for services to older people.
Rob Martin
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CARE SERVICES, ANCHOR
As the Managing Director of Care Services at Anchor since 2020 under Rob’s leadership, Anchor’s care home portfolio has increased from 114 to 120 homes. This year, following intensive training he has returned to where his career began, in a care home, working shift patterns alongside care colleagues. He has done this whilst also successfully introducing digital care planning across the portfolio. Rob regularly engages with government bodies to help shape the future of social care, undertakes a non-paid role as a Board Member for The National Care Forum, and is passionate about the professional recognition of the social care workforce.
Tayvanie Nagendran
MANAGING DIRECTOR, ROCHEMONT CARE
Tayvanie is the Co-Chair of Care Providers’ Voice- a free network connecting Northeast London providers promoting collaboration across the wider system to collate resources, ensure representation and support care recruitment. CPV started in 2020 amidst COVID, seeking to create a support system for providers in London. Since 2020, Co-Chair Mike Armstrong and Tayvanie have been joined by Directors John Timbs and Pooja Barot and supported by a wider team. CPV is funded by Local Authorities, Training Hubs and HEE. Achievements include; engaging with 250+ providers across NEL, the launch of the website in July 2022 as the central social care hub for NEL, recruiting 290+ people into vacancies in BHR, provide free e-learning for the workforce with 18,000+ courses being completed, deliver social care leadership courses and to support peer-to-peer support through borough WhatsApp groups and joint Local Authority forums.
Joe O’Connor
CEO, FOUR SEASONS HEALTH CARE & BRIGHTERKIND
Joe has extensive experience in health and social care with a focus on strategy and transformation. He took over as CEO of Four Seasons Health Care and brighterkind in March 2022 and has led the care quality, operational and financial transformation of the Group, as well as deliberately creating a smaller, more focused Group by completing a number of successful home sales.
Ian Pritchard
CEO, ALTERNATIVE FUTURES GROUP
With more than 30 years’ experience in health and social care, Ian Pritchard is recognised as a forward-thinking innovator, strategist and commercial leader. Since being appointed Chief Executive of Northwest health and social care charity Alternative Futures Group (AFG) in 2019, Ian has worked tirelessly with his executive team to deliver a turnaround strategy that has improved workforce engagement, enhanced service quality, and taken the charity back into consistent, sustained surplus. As a result, the charity has been able to invest £7.9m in workforce pay, £3.5m in service development and quality improvements, and £2.3m in assistive technology for the people it supports.
Professor Vic Rayner OBE
CEO, NATIONAL CARE FORUM
Professor Vic Rayner OBE is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Care Forum, joining the organisation in 2016. As CEO she chairs the government national workforce advisory group. In addition, she chairs the National Social Care Advisory Group on social care and technology and has been at the forefront of promoting digital transformation across care. She sits on a range of government and national specialist groups with a focus on the social care workforce, digital transformation, new models of care and regulation. She has recently stepped down from chairing the working group of the APPG on adult social care. Vic is a regular national and international speaker and has extensive knowledge and expertise across a wide range of care, support, housing and social policy agendas. Prior to joining the NCF, she was the CEO of Sitra, a leading national membership body championing excellence in housing, health, care and support.
Kathy Roberts
CEO, ASSOCIATION OF MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS
Kathy has sustained a career of outstanding achievements in health and social care, with 40+ years of experience in the NHS, Local Authority, and third-sector leadership roles. Championing the need for whole-person and innovative system approaches to the design and delivery of services, she advocated meaningful coproduction and ensured people who need support remain central to all her work. Recognised as a mental health social care leader, Kathy sat on DHSC’s Covid-19 Social Care Taskforce for which she co-chaired the Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group and was Chair of the Care Provider Alliance through the pandemic, driving positive change in policy and practice.
Sarah Sabater
FOUNDER & CEO, CAREYOURWAY
As CEO of award-winning CareYourWay, Sarah’s leadership has positioned this family-run brand among the Top 20 Home Care Groups in the UK, as recognised by Homecare.co.uk. With multiple prestigious awards and the successful franchising of her family’s care model in 2021, Sarah has been a formidable advocate for systemic change and a pivotal voice in challenging the status quo and elevating standards for carers and clients. Her dedication to addressing CQC challenges has earned her a place among the Top Business Executives of 2024 on the Home Care Insights Power List. Through her visionary leadership, she, alongside her family of executives, has transformed CareYourWay, impacting thousands nationwide.
Peter Seldon
CEO, CONSULTUS CARE AND NURSING LTD
Peter Seldon, nephew of Consultus’ late founder, Mrs Anne Stevens,
has been the CEO of Consultus since 1998 having had a successful 20 year entrepreneurial career in the IT sector.
With over 60 years’ experience, Consultus delivers to families choosing to stay in their own homes a choice of care and nursing services, tailored to suit their precise needs. Peter says “Consultus is now the largest independent and family owned and run care and nursing provider in the UK, serving families across the country. For many, this option makes the most economic sense overall as well as providing the best health and wellbeing outcomes according to independent research”.
Anna Severwright
CO-CONVENOR, SOCIAL CARE FUTURE
Anna is a qualified doctor, no longer working in clinical practice she now combines her lived experience of disability and drawing on social care with her professional expertise, to positively change social care. She is a convenor of the Social Care Future movement which is all about disabled and older people being able to live the lives they want to live.
She has had various other roles including being a special advisor to a House of Lords adult social care committee, a commissioner on the Archbishop’s Reimaging Care Commission and previously was co-chair of the Coalition for Collaborative Care. In 2024 she received an OBE in the King’s birthday honours.
James Tugendhat
CEO, HC-ONE
James is CEO of HC-One, which has the largest care and nursing workforce outside the NHS working across 300 homes. James worked across a range of sectors, before settling in the health and care sector. His early career was in consulting, and then consumer goods and services. His leadership roles have been at Bupa running both provision and commissioning businesses, and as CEO of US-based Health Dialog. Prior to HC-One, he led the international division of Boston based Bright Horizons. James was also a Non-Executive Director of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and is Chair of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice and a Trustee of the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation.
Steve Veevers
CEO, HFT
Steve Veevers is the Chief Executive Officer of Hft, the Learning Disability Allies, starting with them in 2023. He has an expansive history, starting back in the mid 90’s as a care and support worker and has a varied career in not for profit and local government social care organisations. He has a flair for creating magic out of mayhem and the trait of being able to shepherd most things to where they need to get to in his professional and personal life, apart from his actual small flock of rare breed sheep. His career has been notable for his work on transformation and modernisation of learning disability delivery, with a particular flair of deep rooted involvement and elevation of the people supported in leading that transformation and mindset change of the professional workforce. With two family members with a learning disability that draw upon care and support, getting the care system right is a mission for Steve, that cannot be failed.