Member Article

Newcastle Carers Rings the Changes thanks to Experience Bank Group

Newcastle Carers has appointed a new leader following a rigorous recruitment process ensuring that the charity, which supports carers of all ages, has a CEO in touch with all elements of the organisation.

Following the departure of its previous CEO, the board of Newcastle Carers worked closely with interim CEO Austin McNamara, in deciding the future strategy of the charity and how the organisation would be structured. Through this time, chair of the board Mary Youngs, liaised with founder of the Experience Bank Group, Peter Neal, for his advice and input on creating a strong leadership team in a charity.

Board level recruitment specialist Peter then assisted the board with the all-important search for the perfect candidate. Luke Bramhall, the newly appointed CEO, was amongst the exceptionally strong candidates introduced to Newcastle Carers.

Mary, who has been on the board at Newcastle Carers for three years, explained how important to the charity it was to find the right person, who could build a relationship with all the stakeholder groups:

“Firstly, a huge thank you to Austin for the wonderful piece of foundation work he did in the run up to our appointment of Luke. We can now move forward putting this into practice and make the changes we need to ensure best service and sustainability for years to come.

“Secondly thank you to Peter for his seamless approach to finding the best candidates for such a critical role in our organisation. He not only helped with recruiting the right person, but also on the journey to working out what we needed from that person. He steeps himself in your charity, listens and gains good understanding before presenting a strong and sizable list of potential candidates. His advice has been second to none and the fact that the candidates understood the role and us by the time they came to interview, was invaluable.”

Newcastle Carers provide a range of practical services and support to adults, children and young people who care for someone in Newcastle. The experienced team ensure that carers of all ages are identified and have access to professional information and guidance to help them navigate the challenges of caring for someone.

Luke, who joins from the Assistant Director role at Children North East, brings with him experience in spearheading programmes, understands care, and is a values led individual who’s demonstrating quickly how he can connect stakeholders to progress our strategy. Luke worked closely with Peter on his application to what is his first CEO role. He said:

“After 10 years at Children North East, it was time to take my experience and make a difference in a new role, in a charity with similar values that supports and helps the community. Carers are the heartbeat of our society, so ensure they get the right support is critical.

“I am looking forward to bringing stability to the leadership team, developing the strategy, and delivering strengthened internal processes, whilst taking time to focus on the bigger picture. I’m also keen to throw myself into building the external presence across the city.

“The recruitment process with Peter was really good – he was very warm, encouraging, and knowledgeable. Then the immersive interview stages Mary and the board put me through gave me the chance to get to know the stakeholders and see if I was a fit. It allowed us all the space to ensure my skills were a good match, so I was delighted to get the role.”

Peter said:

“Working with Newcastle Carers was a pleasure. They had a very specific skills set needed, which had to be combined with the right personality – I enjoy a challenge and am delighted to have presented the perfect candidate. I’m confident Luke will do an amazing job.”

Experience Bank Group incorporates The Experience Bank philanthropic, social enterprise company along with a commercial venture providing two, symbiotic services - EB Board Level Recruitment and EB High Performing Boards.

With this combination of specialist expertise, the Experience Bank Group is uniquely positioned to help organisations ensure they have not only the right skills in the leadership team and boardroom but also optimum board performance with higher value creation. A proportion of the revenue from Experience Bank Group is gifted to The Experience Bank social enterprise to enable more start-ups, early-stage businesses, charities and social enterprises access to high quality, advisory and non-executive talent.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Toms .