The Beeches Homecare Services - Malmesbury

Francis Barrett has worked in the organisation for 14 years, getting to know the nuts and bolts of the business whilst also engaging with Local Authorities, health professionals and other care companies who shape the market in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

Before coming to join the family business, Fran had worked in financial services for over 21 years in the City of London; for two British merchant banks and latterly for JP Morgan’s Private Wealth Management division.

He is committed to driving improvement in domiciliary care through an alliance between traditional care values and cutting-edge assistive technology. “The digital revolution can provide significant benefits to our service, vital information can be communicated between healthcare professionals, our clients and their families so much faster and in more detail, leading to timely interventions when care needs change or when health emergencies arise.” Technology also provides the opportunity to collect and analyse large amounts of data so that trends can be identified to help in the prevention of health deterioration.

Catherine Barrett is co-owner and Director of The Beeches Homecare Services with her husband Fran and sister-in-law Tess.

Catherine worked in the legal industry for prestigious London firms for over 10 years before having twin girls.

In January 2010 she, and her family, moved to Malmesbury in Wiltshire to join the family business.

Like many other people, her first real experience of the care industry came at a time when her mother, who suffered from cancer, was cared for, at home, by wonderful Macmillan nurses. They enabled her mother to be cared for with dignity and in the comfort of her own home, with a loving family surrounding her.

Amongst other things, Catherine is responsible for carer recruitment. “Employing empathetic, kind people is paramount in the recruitment of carers; to find someone who you would choose to look after your own loved ones is vital”.

Tess has 30 years of experience in the day-to-day operations of the business. Her focus is largely on ensuring that high care standards are maintained throughout the workforce and that a positive and collegiate workplace culture is fostered.

Alongside the managers she oversees the compliance side of care ensuring that the Beeches meets and exceeds all the requirements of the regulatory body the Care Quality Commission. This in part involves listening to people who use the service and ensuring that the company acts on feedback to drive improvement.

Tess has undertaken all the mandatory training that the carers do and enjoys the “hands-on” aspect of helping with care when needed.

Lydia started with The Beeches in 2013 as a part-time carer, juggling working life with raising a young family. She had previously worked in customer service roles including supermarket, bar, photo development and hot meal deliveries to people in their own homes.

During her time with The Beeches, she has progressed to senior carer in the Chippenham and Corsham team and then moved on to being a Super Senior covering duties for all 3 branches and learning the office role. Lydia then took up the care co-ordinator role in Cirencester and Tetbury which quickly progressed into being the assistant manager. In 2024 Lydia became a Registered Manager.

Lydia is passionate about care, ensuring that the people The Beeches supports have the right care to meet their needs, which makes them feel comfortable in their own homes.

She enjoys being able to get her tunic on and go out and work alongside the carers, covering visits when required.

When Lydia is not at work she enjoys spending time with her children, watching the football, rugby and darts. She enjoys the occasional karaoke session and is a self-professed coffee addict.

Living at The Beeches residential care home in 1987, ran by Pete’s parents in Malmesbury, he had great first-hand experience of what outstanding adult care was.

After leaving home and spending 25 years in Spain and Chile, Pete gained a Level 7 DELTA teaching qualification and a wealth of experience in teaching and teacher training.

He returned to the UK in 2017 and took up the position of Training Manager at The Beeches Homecare Services.

“It has been a steep but enjoyable learning curve, and I have gained a Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care and a Level 3 CAVA Assessor’s qualification.”

Caroline's career started in office work, both secretarial and accountancy until she had her family. Whilst her boys were young she worked evenings and nights in a nursing home and loved being a carer. When her boys started school she went back into office work again and continued until 2019, when she decided it was time for a career change. During this time Caroline helped to care for her Mum who sadly passed away from cancer and also was the main carer for her Aunt who had dementia until she went into a nursing home.

Caroline had always said she would like to go back into care work, so she applied and got offered a job with The Beeches Homecare Services as a carer, out and about in the community, meeting and helping some lovely Clients. The training and support received gave her confidence in her career change.

In a short time, Caroline was offered the role of senior carer taking on more responsibility. This progressed to a vacancy in the office for the Care Co-ordinator job looking after Cirencester and Tetbury teams.

Caroline says she feels very privileged to be part of the team and is lucky to work for an incredibly caring and professional company, where every single person, both Clients and staff, matter and are fully supported.