Fourteen years of frontline and senior leadership in children's residential care.

My experience

Practical, hands-on experience — not theory.

I am the Owner and Lead Consultant of Keystone Residential Consultancy, with over fourteen years' experience in children's residential care. My background spans registered manager and dual registered manager roles, responsible individual responsibilities, and senior leadership overseeing services within a large children's residential care organisation.

I have achieved multiple Outstanding Ofsted judgements as a registered manager, alongside Good judgements, and hold a Level 7 Senior Leader qualification achieved with Distinction. That experience is practical rather than academic: it comes from running homes, leading teams, managing safeguarding concerns at three in the morning, and answering to inspectors and providers alike.

I understand the challenges facing children's residential care providers — the recruitment pressures, the complexity of the children you look after, the weight of regulation, and the reality of leading a team through inspection and change. My practice is research-informed, and grounded in what genuinely improves outcomes for children.

Keystone exists to offer something different from the traditional audit: supportive, constructive and genuinely independent oversight. The purpose of a visit is not to find fault, but to leave a home stronger than it was found — with clear evidence, honest judgement and recommendations that make sense in practice.

• Registered Manager and dual Registered Manager of children's homes
• Responsible Individual for children's residential services
• Senior leadership within a large children's residential care organisation
• Multiple Outstanding Ofsted judgements, with evidence of sustained quality
• Level 7 Senior Leader qualification, achieved with Distinction
• Quality assurance, safeguarding and compliance leadership across multiple homes