A CARE provider from Settle has become the first in North Yorkshire to achieve a gold award from Investors in People.

The award to Continued Care, based on High Street, comes in the same year the family-run business celebrates its 21st birthday.

It has been named among the top seven per cent of accredited companies in the UK by the organisation which recognises businesses which value their staff.

Director Samantha Harrison said: “It’s fantastic to be able to say publicly what a wonderful job our staff do. We have won several awards in the care industry over the last few years and this recognition from Investors in People really is the icing on the cake for us.”

Continued Care joins an elite group of just nine organisations in North Yorkshire to hold the IIP gold award, of which it is the only care provider.

Ms Harrison said: “The inspector spent two full days speaking to lots of our staff in private and finding out their views on how we operate, and the opportunities we offer. I had no idea what they were saying."

In his report, inspector Roger Bradshaw said Continued Care had a very strong team ethic.

With a total of 100 staff working from the Settle office and a second site in Harrogate, the organisation has grown steadily since it was formed in 1993 and now supports more than 250 clients.

Ms Harrison runs the company alongside her mother, Christine Mitchell, who is also a director, and her aunt Helen Walker, an associate director.

Meanwhile the company has matched-funded the £200 raised by Settle carers Maddie Cokell and Kayleigh Brown when they took part in the Race For Life.

For more information, visit continued-care.co.uk or call 01729 810600.