Corinium Care spreads its wings in South Africa

LIVE-IN care agency Corinium Care has sent a senior manager from Gloucestershire to South Africa, as it spreads its recruitment net worldwide.

Director of Operations Amanda Butler will run seminars for ten days in Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London and Capetown.

The aim is to promote live-in care as a career, and to find potential recruits who wish to work in the UK for several months at a time.

The agency, based in George St, Nailsworth, is one of the leading live-in care companies in the UK with 12 staff and more than 700 registered carers on its books. Set up by Managing Director Camilla Miles in 1995, it provides 24-hour live-in care for frail and elderly people in their own home.

The company began to expand abroad in 2005. It now has offices in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Earlier this year it opened a new operation in New Zealand.

“Business has quadrupled in the last five years, and our operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and New Zealand are vitally important to us,” said Camilla.

“We recruit a lot of staff from the UK, but we still need to look further afield. The nature of the work suits many women who come from a caring background, and want a concentrated period of employment in Europe.

“For some people from South Africa and Zimbabwe we provide a safe haven from political upheaval and a source of foreign currency which gives them a degree of security when they go back home.”

Amanda Butler joined Corinium in 2000, after 10 years in the newspaper business. She met Camilla when they were neighbours in Bisley and started walking their dogs together.

“If Camilla had told me when she took me on that I’d be running seminars in South Africa, I wouldn’t have believed it. But the company has really taken off,” said Amanda.

This is her third trip to South Africa. “We’re always very well received. We advertise our seminars in advance, tell our audience what being a live-in carer is all about, and promote the benefits of Corinium Care,” she said.

“Those who apply to join us go through a rigorous interview procedure. And when they get to the UK, we provide an intensive five-day training course before they are considered for a placement with a client. Our training is considered the best in the industry.

“Each trip to South Africa brings its own challenges. My first visit was quite daunting, but now I love it.”
http://www.coriniumcare.com/