Murray People: Introducing Guest Blogger: Brian Murray

By Brian Murray

I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Brian Murray and I am one of 2 Directors of CarePro Consultancy Ltd. I joined the company, set up by my mother, Bernadette, in June of this year.

Basically, we are both from Care backgrounds, my mother is a Nurse with over 40 years (she won't mind me telling that) experience in nursing, the last 20 years of that being a General Manager of more than 10 Care Homes (all at the same time, she didn't go through one home every 2 years). Myself, well I started working full time as a Carer in 1991, I quickly became a Senior Carer before totting off to work as an Auxillairy Nurse in my local Hospital, during my 5 years in the wards I kept my links with the Care Homes by working part-time in the newly opened Korsakoff unit. After taking a year out to explore other areas (I worked for a year as Digital Satellite Installer) I returned to a newly opened Care Home to take post as a Services Manager. Seven years later and I had worked my way through my Level 4 Management and level 4 Health and Social Care as well as becoming a Moving and Handling Instructor. I applied for a job as Manager in a Residential Home and was delighted to get the post, I worked here for a year until the home was sold and I made my first attempt at working for my mother, circumstances did not dictate in my favour and I found myself unemployed for 2 months before a previous employer made contact and invited me to go and work for them in another Home they owned. I was a little unsure about this but gave it a go anyway and although it was enjoyable (at times) I knew I had reached a stage where I wanted to achieve more so I hooked up again with mum and since June we have been beavering away helping various Care Homes achieve higher grades, improve their paperwork, staffing, training etc.

My current project is 168 miles from home so for the first time in 13 years my wife gets the house to herself for a week at a time.

It's a rewarding feeling, working for yourself but it comes with a great deal of uncertainty, I guess I need to brush up on my marketing skills but hey, it's new, it's exciting and I wouldn't have it any other way.