Authors

Andrew has 13 years of experience working in social housing and anti-social behaviour. Previously Andrew has developed and delivered training sessions on all aspects of anti-social behaviour and worked on the RESPECT agenda.

As Curo's Work Placement Support Worker I help our customers find opportunities for them to gain work experience and NVQ units through our Accredited Work Placement Programme. I’ve been with Curo since July 2016. Prior to working at Curo I worked with a charity, Missing People, in Swindon supporting vulnerable young people when they ran away from home or went missing. My passion has always been supporting and empowering people to make the most of their lives and I get the chance to do that every day here. It’s a challenging role at time but I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge!

Charlotte joined Curo in October 2016. Charlotte works in Curo's Temporary Accommodation Service in Weston Super-Mare where she supports customers to gain independent living skills. Charlotte is also the support worker for Curo's new Step Down service in North Somerset where she supports customers with mental health issues whilst they are waiting to return home after their hospital stay. Charlotte has a BA (Hons) in social work and her career to date has been largely in the homeless sector; working with street homelessness, in a council resettlement team and at large hostels in London.

Claire worked with Curo on a three month student placement. Her role was to research the history of the Foxhill MOD site and suggest how this history could be used within the future of Mulberry Park. The project took her to archives in Bath and London, and she spoke with a range of people who worked on the site. She was based with Curo's PR & Communications team while studying for a Masters in Heritage Management with Bath Spa University.

Clare joined the Young Persons Service (YPS) in 2012 and now works as the Learning and Development Coordinator at the Bath Foyer. Clare is responsible for working with residents in the YPS to identify their training needs and goals, and helping them to find and access opportunities for development. Clare is a key member of the team currently delivering the Working Well project. Clare has a BA (Hons) in Design and her career to date includes running successful retail businesses, developing and delivering local and national charity and community projects, and writing educational resources.

Curo tenants have a Scrutiny Panel, made up entirely of people living in Curo homes. The Panel's job is to independently scrutinise the services residents get from Curo.

Website: https://www.curo-group.co.uk/about-us/our-service-performance/scrutiny/

Dave has worked in social housing property maintenance all of his working life for a number of housing organisations and for private contractors. As Head of Curo Response he is responsible for the delivery of responsive repairs, minor works, void re-let works and gas and home safety inspections.

Donna has held a number of executive roles which have focused on leading major projects to improve services for customers through significant cultural change and transformation. As a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, she is able to combine her enthusiasm for developing people with a lifelong passion for housing. Donna has worked for a variety of organisations, including North Devon Homes, Festival Housing Group, MHA, and Midland Heart. She has also spent several years as a self-employed change management and organisational development consultant. Donna is currently a Governor at Bath College and Hayesfield Girls' School. In October 2017 Donna joined Valleys to Coast Housing as Chief Executive.

Donna joined Curo in August 2014 as Organisational Development (OD) Manager following 19 years in the utilities sector. Donna has spent time in operational management before moving into project and change management roles, latterly with a HR and OD focus. She has developed talent management schemes, introduced performance management processes and led on employee engagement initiatives. Now, as Head of Colleague Experience, Donna is the strategic lead for talent management, learning & development and equality & diversity for Curo. Donna has more recently taken on responsibility for health & safety and facilities management.

Ed has worked as a lecturer and youth worker for 11 years, specializing in youth engagement. As a Learning & Development Worker and Wellbeing Project Officer at Curo he is responsible for delivering our Working Well service to support clients to improve their wellbeing, confidence and skills.

Gerraint joined Curo in January 2014. He has nearly 30 years’ experience in property, estate and asset management, development and urban regeneration. Previously he was the Director of Development for Coastal Housing Group and Managing Director of Pennant Homes. Gerraint joined Coastal after spending the previous four years with Barratt Developments Plc where he worked throughout the UK in the Barratt and David Wilson Homes divisions. Prior to joining Barratt Developments, Gerraint worked for Vodafone for 10 years where he was a Global Property Strategy Manager. Gerraint leads the commercial house-building division at Curo who build homes for sale and rent across the South West. Curo is currently building Mulberry Park, a prestigious development of 700 new homes, a school and community centre near Combe Down in Bath. Gerraint is a committee member of Construction Excellence South West and a leadership fellow of St George’s House.

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Harriet is the Director of Health, Care and Support at Curo, where she leads innovative services including the Independent Living Service (ILS). In March 2013 ILS won the South West Better Health category at the National Housing Federation Community Impact Awards. The Independent Living Service went on to be the overall National Winner. Harriet has a track record of service transformation and innovation having cut her teeth with one of the first mentoring schemes in the country for young offenders in Hackney and Tower Hamlets. She co-wrote a housing strategy with people with learning difficulties living in South Gloucestershire in 2005. At the Big Issue Foundation she set up arts based education and engagement programmes for street homeless people. In recent months her team at Curo have launched the Rural Independent Living Scheme for people concerned about their memory loss to enable people to remain independent in their own homes. In her spare time Harriet is on the Board of St John’s Hospital in Bath and enjoys yoga, dog walking and river swimming in that order!

Matt Taylor started his career in a plumbing and heating apprenticeship before joining Curo as a fully-qualified Gas Safe and Oftec Oil registered engineer.

Paul joined Curo in 2017 from Acorn Group, an African property management company where he was VP Corporate Affairs.  Prior to that he spent five years as Group Director Customer Experience at Unite Students Group where he implemented a highly successful customer digital programme.  This was preceded by roles at the South West Regional Development Agency, Laing O’Rourke Group and Royal Mail.

Pearl has nine years of experience working in social housing. Pearl has worked in affordable housing development and currently in asset management where she is managing innovative projects designed to address fuel poverty.

Rosie joined Curo in 2016 as an Apprentice Repairs Planner working in our Customer Contact Team where she is studying towards a Level 3 NVQ in Business Administration.

Sarah leads a team of Account Managers, Advisors and New Customer Advisors who provide an effective income collection, debt recovery and income maximisation service, supporting customers who may be struggling with money, while maximising Curo’s rental income.

Sarah is a multi-disciplined social housing professional with a passion for customer care and expertise in Universal Credit. Sarah is a regular speaker at conferences and in 2015 gave evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on benefit delivery and its impact on Curo's customers. As Head of Head of Customer Account Management, Sarah is currently the strategic and operational lead for welfare reform, financial inclusion, income management and tenancy management at Curo.

Coming from a background in documentary film production and natural health care therapy and management, Sarah discovered a passion for social housing and especially supporting young people and homelessness prevention. Sarah now works together with partner agencies as the first port of call for young people who are at risk of becoming homeless and successfully uses mediation as a preventative tool.

Vic joined the business in 2011, initially focusing on integrating three housing associations into one, bringing together our culture, governance and strategy. From these foundations, Curo was formed in 2013 as a re-energised commercially savvy business with a strong social purpose. Today Curo has more than doubled its turnover and has a pipeline of over 2,000 new homes in development. It has established itself as an ambitious business with a regional and national reputation for innovation. Under Vic’s leadership, Curo has become an Investors In People ‘Gold' employer, has been ranked 44th best company to work for in the UK by the Sunday Times and has won many awards for our services and our new homes and regeneration activities. Vic is Chair of Homes for the South West - a collaboration between housing associations working together to increase affordable housing supply in our region. Together these organisations can deliver 16,000 new homes between 2019 and 2024. Vic is also a Governor of Bath College, one of our local partners, and is active on the Bath Chamber of Commerce where he sits on the economic development sub-committee.