New CEO looks to future while staying true to Paycare’s heritage

He joined Paycare, a not-for-profit Health Cash Plan provider which has the simple aim of making the UK happier and healthier.

Now with 10 years of insight, knowledge and management experience within the firm, Anthony has been officially approved by their regulators as the new CEO – and says breaking the news to his dad was the proudest moment of his life.

Because despite his position in the top job, he’s unconcerned with prestige or titles and instead has his sights firmly on how to continue the good work of the organisation, remaining at the forefront of the swiftly-changing health and wellbeing sector without ever forgetting the long history of Paycare, which started life as the Patient’s Aid Association in 1874.

“We’re 150 years old next year and while that is an absolutely special milestone to mark, I’m conscious of our heritage every single day and I always have the reason Paycare was set up in my mind when I’m looking to implement changes or make decisions,” he explains.

“Paycare was set up to support the factory workers of the Black Country, well before the NHS existed, when the cost of accessing healthcare could be extremely prohibitive – especially for ordinary working class families.

“So many years later and finances are still an issue in relation to health and wellbeing, whether we’re thinking about services which are no longer available on the NHS, or the stress caused by financial hardship, or paying for treatments during the cost of living crisis.

“While we’re looking to evolve our offering, we also need to ensure we’re continuing to remove those barriers to healthcare, and showing people why Health Cash Plans are arguably the most relevant they’ve ever been considering the immense challenges we’ve all faced.

“Paycare has, of course, not been immune to those challenges – and it’s been a honour to watch how the team have remained focused on our customers throughout that time. It takes a special person to work for Paycare – in fact, sometimes people tell me they’ve met one of the team and known they’re from Paycare before they’ve even introduced themselves.

“What’s most important is the team, so I want to ensure they’re all feeling motivated – no one wants that Sunday evening dread, instead I want them to see Paycare as an employer which will help them develop their careers. The talent within the team is immense – so much so that I already know the company will be in safe hands when they decide they’re bored of me.”

It’s likely his own work ethic has inspired his vision of harnessing his team’s skills and pushing them as far as they want to go. Proud of his working class roots, Anthony left education at 17 and went on to develop his career and managerial experience across a number of different sectors, helping as many others to succeed as he could on his way up the ladder.

“I genuinely love seeing people thrive and knowing I’ve been able to support them in any way, it’s the greatest feeling. For me, taking on the role of custodian of this amazing organisation isn’t about my own success – it’s about the business being successful, and each one of the team reaching their potential. That’s how I’ll know I’ve done a good job.”

With Anthony Burns stepping into the role of CEO at Paycare, a number of team members have taken on additional responsibilities to ensure the health and happiness of all customers remain well looked after.

Nicola Mumford moves from head of operations to director of operations.

Already an integral part of the Senior Management Team, Nicola will take on the oversight of a number of additional departments within Paycare, to include quality, compliance and marketing.

Nicola has a strong background in employee engagement, business strategy and change management – and has been part of Paycare since 2015 when she joined the corporate team. She became head of operations in 2019, perfectly preparing her for the Director role she now takes up.

Stephen Burton-Pye has taken on the new role of group services manager.

He will remain the day-to-day contact for all of the existing groups he works closely with, while also supporting the rest of the sales team to retain their valued customers and bring new customers on board. Stephen has been part of the corporate team since 2017, meaning he is well placed to step up to the helm.

Sally Bromley has already transitioned into the role of partnerships manager.

This means as well as her existing fantastic relationships with sponsors and community groups – which she’s been building since joining the organisation in 2019 as Partnerships Engagement Officer – Sally will now be the key contact for external corporate partners too.