Claire has been a key player in the Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprise movement since the 1980’s and is the national Crown Representative for the VCSE Sector with the remit of supporting the sector to access government contracts.

Claire nationally and internationally is known for her work in the sector and for ten years chaired Social Enterprise UK.  She worked with government and leaders from the sector to create the first strategy for the Social Enterprise movement. She has ensured that we had a voice within Westminster and Whitehall, this included working with the teams to introduce the Social Value Act which is now embedded into many local government frameworks and in the national Crown Commercial procurement service.  After stepping down as chair of SEUK Claire was asked and accepted to become a patron to the organisation.

Claire led the highly successful Blackburne House Group, until she retired in July 2020. Blackburne House offers an outstanding educational offer to women alongside running its award-winning School for Social Entrepreneurship and highly successful social enterprises.

Claire has received many awards for her role within the sector, which includes an MBE, OBE and also the Queens Lifetime achievement award for Enterprise promotion. Claire was once again honoured in the 2020 New Year’s honours list with a CBE