Senior Management Team
The European Care Group's Board of Directors has a combined industry experience of over 90 years. The Board is supported by a highly skilled senior management team, all with substantial experience in health and social care, both in the public and private sectors
Ted Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Ted Smith joins the Group having been CEO of Craegmoor, a specialist care group acquired by The Priory Group. Ted joined Craegmoor in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer before becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2005. He led the successful turnaround of the Group including driving the development of strategic and operating plans. Ted began his career as a pharmacist for Boots and was a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for 30 years which included having spent three years on its Council. Prior to that, Ted was Stores Director both for WH Smith, where he rose to MD of the Central Region, and Iceland Foods plc. Ted was also a Board Member and Honorary Treasurer of the English Community Care Association and a member of the influential Adults with Learning Disabilities Services (ALDS) forum.
David Manson
Group Financial Director
David is a Cambridge University graduate and qualified Chartered Accountant. David's prior posts have included Finance Director of United Kenning Rental Group and Group Finance Controller of Wagon plc. David joined Craegmoor in 2006 and was instrumental in improving the performance of the finance function, working on the refinancing of the business in 2007 and supporting the Sale of Craegmoor to Advent International in 2008. David was appointed Chief Finance Officer of Craegmoor in 2009 and led the strategic review of the business, supported by BCG, before joining European Care Group in 2011.
David Perry
Vice Chairman
David is a Cambridge University graduate and qualified Chartered Accountant. David's prior posts have included Finance Director of United Kenning Rental Group and Group Finance Controller of Wagon plc. David joined Craegmoor in 2006 and was instrumental in improving the performance of the finance function, working on the refinancing of the business in 2007 and supporting the Sale of Craegmoor to Advent International in 2008. David was appointed Chief Finance Officer of Craegmoor in 2009 and led the strategic review of the business, supported by BCG, before joining European Care Group in 2011.
Carol Carney
Managing Director, European Lifestyles
Carol has a Social Work Diploma and a Management Certificate specific to the field of Learning Disability. Carol has over 33 years' experience within Liverpool Social Services and the Independent Sector, 17 of which were as a Senior Manager. Carol has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is responsible for European Care Group's specialist adult and children's services.
Paul Bates
HR Director
Paul is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has held senior HR positions in both public and private companies in the transport, logistics and hospitality sectors. He has extensive experience in unionised environments and has conducted negotiations at regional and national levels. He is an experienced advocate at Employment Tribunals. Prior to joining the European Care Group he was a Senior Personnel Consultant with a well-respected consultancy firm providing advice and support to small and medium sized businesses.
Diane Jones
Director of Education and Children's Residential Services
As Head of Education services, Di's responsibility is to manage the education provisions within the North West, South West and South East. Di is currently Principal of Walton Progressive School and Resource Centre and is based in Liverpool. The Education Service provides education and lifelong learning including self directed behaviour programmes. Di has 20 years experience and has also worked in a residential education setting for children and young adults with special education needs and mainstream education. Di is a qualified teacher with an Advanced Diploma and Masters degree in Special Needs Education and has completed her NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship).
Roger Poynton
Property Director
Roger is a member of both the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Chartered Institute of Builders (MCIOB). He has 13 years' experience at senior level within the Health Care Sector. Roger was previously the Head of Estates at Four Seasons Health Care where he was responsible for the overall management of the estate throughout England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey and Isle of Man with direct management responsibility of the Estates Team to maintain a property portfolio of over 500 care facilities.
Melanie Ramsey
Commercial Director
Mel is a Registered Nurse with over 18 years' experience in the Healthcare sector and has worked in a variety of Senior Management positions across social care for both Older People and Specialist Support for the past 9 years. Mel was part of the Group Executive at Craegmoor as Managing Director for the North Division with responsibility for 80 services supporting people with a Learning Disability, Autism Spectrum Condition, Mental Health and Acquired Brain Injury across England and Scotland.
Prior to her recent appointment as Commercial Director for European Care Group focusing on the group's strategy and business development, Mel held the position of Commercial Director for Craegmoor (Part of the Priory Group) leading on all strategic growth plans across the specialist business.
Karen Campbell
Director of Learning Disability Services
Karen has twenty years of experience working in social care. She has a Management qualification and is also working towards a Degree in Business Studies. She has extensive experience of providing inclusive self-directed support and she believes that she and her teams across the country have developed a strong reputation for the delivery of person centred services.
Mark Campbell
Director of Quality
Mark has over 25 years' experience in health and social care services across the private, public and charitable sectors. He has extensive working knowledge of older people's, children's and learning disability services. He is passionate about person-centred approaches to service delivery, customer engagement and quality. His previous experience includes; leading the communication strategy for a significant public sector service re-structure, providing the local authority lead for supported employment services and managing the training function for a health and social care provider. Mark has a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Chester in 2010. He holds additional qualifications in Advanced Management in Care and a range of training-related disciplines.
Shane Gidman
IT Director
Shane has extensive IT experience across a variety of sectors. During Shane's time as IT Director at a leading independent provider, he was responsible for developing a sector leading, efficient, IT infrastructure and team. He was also key in devising a structured approach to implementing systems, and the introduction of a successful IT Training programme. After Studying in Michigan USA Shane went on to work on ergonomic control systems projects for Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler in the USA and Canada. Shane is a MSP Certified Programme Manager, Microsoft Professional, Information Security Specialist, Ethical Hacker and is Cisco accredited.
Sabrina Jackson
Marketing Director
Sabrina has over 17 years marketing experience across a wide variety of industry sectors ranging from utilities and property through to a non-departmental government body and health and social care. Her health and social care experience includes over two years spent at a major independent provider, where she was responsible for the marketing strategy which included an extremely successful company-wide re-brand. Both MBA and CIM qualified, Sabrina is experienced in marketing strategy, branding, market intelligence, internal and external communications, online and social marketing, public relations, business planning, media crisis management and market development.