Oh Heck: why it’s time to give me a call
When you’re planning cover for your maternity leave and you’re in charge of a technical team working on high-profile projects, it takes a special interim to step into the role. You want to leave things in safe hands.
When you’re struggling to recruit to a permanent role, but the workload isn’t going away, you need an interim to deliver whilst you rethink the role profile and advertising to attract candidates.
When you secure significant funding from government and need time to recruit the team, you need an interim to make early progress and set up the project management architecture so that the permanent staff can be quickly deployed without losing momentum.
All three of these scenarios are real, all three of the individuals facing these “Oh Heck!” moments took me on, and all three have very positive stories to tell about me and what I offered.
Why me as an interim
I have 36 years of experience gained working across all three sectors, from large national industries to small employee-owned companies, and from borough councils to unitary authorities and regional government as well as for charities at both executive and non-executive level. Combined with my insight and empathy, this experience means I can easily slot into interim leadership roles.
Lots of people refer to my passion, both for people and places, importantly for the people in the team I’m leading. They say I show great leadership skills and an ability to motivate and mentor individuals. They mention my sense of humour, my professionalism, my ability to stay calm in a crisis
If you’re considering taking on an interim, it’s my personal qualities that give me the edge, as well as my knowledge, skills and experience.
Testimonials
“Karen’s insights, experience and ideas coupled with her professionalism and understanding of process and governance, enables Karen to have an significant impact on our plans and judgements. Without Karen’s skills and leadership, we would not have made the progress we have made for Barrow.”
“Karen combines professionalism with a deep sense of purpose. She clearly cares about the people and places she serves and works tirelessly to secure positive outcomes. She provides clear, timely and well judged management information to boards, supporting effective decision making. Her strong grasp of governance, procedure and risk is always balanced with a focus on delivering meaningful impact. Karen is collegiate, partnership focused and values driven. Her breadth of experience, coupled with her commitment and passion to make a difference, enables her to operate with confidence and credibility in complex senior environments.”
“Karen provided strong, supportive leadership to the team, maintaining morale and focus during a challenging period. Her technical expertise was particularly evident in the development and delivery of complex adaptive reuse schemes, where her judgement and attention to detail consistently ensured high-quality outcomes.”
“On meeting Karen, I was immediately reassured that the workstream was in safe hands. Karen is quietly confident, self-assured and conducts herself with professionalism and good humour even in challenging circumstances.
Karen commands the respect of those around her. She navigated the complexities, secured significant funding through the Transformation fund for town centre regeneration and most recently was impressive in rising to the challenge posed by the board to accelerate housing delivery to meet unprecedented demand due to economic growth in BAE Systems and the wider economy.”
“Karen’s leadership, strategic insight, and ability to bring structure to challenging programmes made a tangible difference to the organisation and to the pace of delivery.
Karen was instrumental in shaping the Spatial Framework for Barrow, ensuring it was grounded in evidence, ambition, and a clear understanding of the place and its needs. ”
“Karen is an exceptional person to work with, and I genuinely enjoyed our time together on the regeneration projects in Barrow. She has a wonderful way of creating a positive, collaborative environment that makes complex work feel manageable. Her support was a breath of fresh air for the team; she is the definition of an ‘intelligent client’—someone who gets the work and makes the process feel effortless for everyone involved. I’m grateful for everything she did for us and couldn’t recommend her more highly.”
“Karen took the lead on the cultural and heritage work stream which included supporting and advising over 30 organisations on project development, management and delivery. In particular, this included providing specialist advice and insights on securing significant levels of grant funding from local and national sources. Karen was also a key advisor to the Leader, cabinet members and senior management as part of the decision making process. Karen comes with my highest recommendation for leadership and delivery roles across the economic development and regeneration fields.”
