HOME Instead Senior Care in Ipswich is delighted to announce the appointment of Claire Bates as care team co-ordinator.

Claire, 31, lives in Ipswich and has an NVQ Level 3 in business administration. Her role is to co-ordinate the scheduling of services delivered by the 45 strong team of Home Instead Caregivers to their clients across Ipswich, Felixstowe and Woodbridge.

Having worked in the care sector all her life Claire brings a wealth of experience to the role. Starting out as a carer, Claire became a senior caregiver in a nursing home before moving into more administrative and customer service based roles. She moves to Home Instead from her most recent role as the manager of a laser eye surgery clinic where she was responsible for the day to day running of the business.

However, Claire’s caring nature goes back long before she started work. Whilst at school she looked after an elderly next-door-neighbour, popping into help with cleaning, taking the dog for a walk and other day-to-day activities.

Claire said: “I’m passionate about care and always have been. I have a lot of respect for our older generation and thoroughly enjoy their company as I have done all my life.”

Chris Lye, who owns Home Instead Senior Care Ipswich with wife Susanna, said he is delighted to have Claire on board.

He said: “She is a very welcome addition to our team and shares our passion to support elderly people who wish to remain living in their own homes. Claire has an excellent understanding of quality driven care services and is genuinely dedicated to looking after the well-being of our clients.

Claire has undergone a full training programme with Home Instead and is impressed by the company’s ethos of providing high quality care and, in particular that they allow enough time on visits to build good relationships with clients

ENSORS chartered accountants is celebrating two landmark events - the 20th anniversary of having a full-time presence in Saxmundham and the retirement of Alan Hawes, partner at Saxmundham office.

Alan Hawes initially joined Ensors in 1967 as a trainee having worked for two weeks at the firm in his Easter holiday to see if he liked the work. He qualified in 1972, became partner in 1981 and started the Saxmundham office in 1988 at Blyth House on Rendham Road.

The next few years saw the expansion of Ensors in Saxmundham. Initially it started as a one-day-a-week office but rapidly grew and became a full-time operation in April 1991. During this time Alan was elected as the firm’s first managing partner and was instrumental in taking the firm into the computer age with the purchase of the first computer system.

Carl Page, who joined Ensors in Saxmundham in 1994 and is now partner in charge of Saxmundham office, said: “It seemed quite fitting that these two events coincided. Alan has had such an influential role in the development of the Saxmundham office that it seems only right his retirement should be marked with our 20th anniversary.

“I look forward to leading the office over the next 20 years and hope to emulate and build upon Alan’s successes.”

BARCLAYS Business has appointed Matt Dabbs and Teresa Baffa as International and Trade channel managers for Eastern Region.

Matt and Teresa will be supporting Barclays Business managers across Eastern region to meet the International and Trade needs of their customers.

Matt joined Barclays two and a half years ago straight from university where he gained a first class honours degree in business management. Teresa joined Barclays 30 years ago after leaving school, and has gained extensive experience of international trade and foreign exchange in previous roles.

A NEW chief executive has been appointed to lead one of the region’s largest charities.

Tim Page joins the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) having most recently worked for charities in London and Birmingham. He arrives with a wealth of knowledge and experience of leading successful teams and has ambitions to make the charity a beacon for others to emulate.

“One of my aims is to develop close relationships with those organisations with whom we work in partnership: the hospitals, training providers and other emergency services,” he said.

“I also want to ensure that the air ambulance helicopters can provide highly skilled and capable medical teams to any location in Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, in sufficient time, to save lives.

“Above all, I want to establish the East Anglian Air Ambulance as the most professional, competent, effective and valued helicopter-borne emergency medical service in the country, providing the best possible value for money service to those who support us and who, one day, may need our help.”

Tim was previously the director of Emmaus UK, a national charity based in Cambridge, supporting the development and operation of projects across England, Scotland and Wales. In a position he held for eight years, he guided the development of a number of Emmaus communities across the country which offer homeless people a home, work and the opportunity to rebuild their lives in a supportive environment.

Before working with charities, Tim had a long and successful military career. He was commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1974 and commanded both the 1st Battalion The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment and Old College at The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He also held a variety of staff appointments including chief of land/air operations in Bosnia Herzegovina and director of army marketing at the MOD. He left the Army in 2002.

Tim will be based at Cambridge Airport alongside the crew of the EAAA’s Anglia Two aircraft.

GRAY Dawes has appointed Suzanne Cockburn as its chief executive.

Suzanne, who will be based at the company’s head office in Colchester, Essex, brings to Gray Dawes tremendous travel industry experience. Prior to joining Gray Dawes, Suzanne was director of account management and implementation at Egencia (Expedia Corporate Travel) where she took responsibility for account management, new business development and supplier relations and was instrumental in the development of the company’s strategic plan.

Gray Dawes’ chairman, Peter Inchcape said: “I am delighted to welcome Suzanne to Gray Dawes. With her extensive experience I am confident that Suzanne will build on the company’s success to date and take the business from strength to strength.”

MULTI Fab Ltd, a specialist supplier of aluminium windows, doors and curtain walling to the construction industry, has recently undergone a period of reorganisation and employed several new staff to be able to offer clients a more technical service, and a quicker turnaround on its product range.

Peter Dalby has been appointed as production manager having been with Multi Fab for the past 10 years as a senior estimator. Under his responsibility several new employees have been added to the team. This includes David Tanner as production supervisor responsible for all sheet metal and powder coating work completed at Multi Fab’s new �2.5million factory in Attleborough, Norfolk.

Steve Littlejohn has also rejoined Multi Fab as production supervisor in charge of aluminium windows, doors and curtain walling fabrication at the companies large production plant in Mildenhall, Suffolk.

Adam Blowers has also rejoined the team as an estimator having left and returned with significant experience in complex window systems. Adam will be providing up-front technical solutions to the company’s client base. Other skilled production staffs are being employed at both facilities over the coming months as business grows.

SUDBURY-BASED independent opticians, Drage and Tozer is celebrating exam success amongst employees.

This time, the congratulations go to Rebecca Webb who has completed an Ophthalmic Dispensing Assistants’ course through Anglia Ruskin University.

The course was a one year distance learning course and Rebecca, who has been with Drage and Tozer Opticians for three years, achieved an A grade pass. The course covered anatomy of the eye, common visual problems, spectacle dispensing, merchandising and stock control.

Joint partner in the practice, Sandra Tozer said: “We are very proud of Rebecca and delighted with her achievement. We know how challenging and demanding distance learning can be and just how tough this course is. It’s fantastic that Rebecca achieved the highest possible grade.”