Chris, who has been with child care provider Care UK for seven years, beat off stiff competition from across Wales to achieve this remarkable award. Six semi-finalists where whittled down to just three finalists, and Chris received his award at a glittering ceremony held at City Hall, Cardiff.

Said Chris: "I am delighted to have won this award, which is really about the level of service we all provide for children in our care. My thanks go to my colleagues who have supported me in my work, and to Care UK which has not only supported me in my career, but also paid for my parents to attend the award ceremony."

Mario Kreft, chief executive of Care Forum Wales, added: "This year we received a record number of entries and have presented more awards than ever before. It has been a pleasure to recognise the commitment and contribution of all the finalists and the winners. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement."

Chris's success follows the news that Care UK Children's Services, the child care provider responsible for the education and care of hundreds of vulnerable children around the UK, has achieved A Grade Centre status for NVQ Assessment. The training team of four is headed by training manager Zahra Leggatt, and she and her team are responsible for the training requirements of 125 members of staff.

NVQ external verifiers confirmed that very few centres are given the award and that the programmed delivered at Care UK Children's Services is "outstanding." Jan Wood, NVQ External Verifier who works closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and Care Council for Wales, went on to say: "This is an exceptional centre. Candidates really do develop into reflective practitioners and must therefore enhance service."

Richard, who joins in early June, will assume leadership responsibility for Care UK's Learning Disabilities, Mental Health and Children's Services.

Richard holds a BA (Hons) in Public Administration at Leicester Polytechnic and joins from InHealth Group, one of the UK's leading providers of clinical solutions, where he was Chief Executive Officer, Diagnostics & Imaging. Prior to InHealth, Richard was Director of Design & Development at BUPA Hospitals Group.

Commenting on Richard's appointment Chief Executive Mike Parish said:

"We are delighted to welcome Richard to Care UK. He brings significant general management experience to Care UK having held a number of operational management roles within the UK health sector. His extensive experience will strengthen our Specialist Care division."

Angela joins Care UK from Britvic plc, where she was appointed Financial Controller in 2003. She brings a wealth of financial management experience to the division. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) with Deloitte and Touche in London, her first move into industry was to Courtaulds plc in 1991, where she progressed through a series of management roles across the business. In 1999 she was appointed Finance Director of Gray Dawes Travel Limited.

Angela will provide financial leadership to the Care UK Clinical Care Services division. She will provide financial support to the division's centres across the UK and will play a vital role in future bids to win new contracts. She will also participate in the general management of the division.

David joins Care UK from Hart Group and was previously Finance and Commercial Director of a major region of First Group plc. David's extensive commercial and finance experience, gained across a number of different business sectors, will enable him to provide both commercial and financial leadership to the division whilst working closely with Care UK's regional teams on commercial development activities. Like Angela, David is a qualified Chartered Accountant and also has an MA from Oxford.

Paul Humphreys, Group Finance Director, Care UK, commented: "Care UK is fast becoming one of the UK's leading independent providers of health and social care services. Angela's and David's unique and proven talents will help us to maintain a solid financial base in existing services and in implementing our ambitious growth plans."

The appointment of Dr. Lotz comes at a time when Care UK is developing its service provision across the UK. Recently announced contract wins include preferred bidder awards for: diagnostic services in the North East (in partnership with Alliance Medical); Clinical Assessment, Treatment and Support Services (CATSS) in Manchester; running of secondary health care services and an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) in Southampton and south Hampshire (in partnership with South African health care experts Life Healthcare).

Existing contracts include: ISTCs in Devon, Derbyshire, London and Kent; NHS Walk-In Centres in the North East and Greater London; and the first independently managed NHS GP practice in the UK, in Dagenham. Care UK also operates GP out-of-hours services in Essex and Bedfordshire.

Dr. Lotz joins Care UK from Netcare, where he was operations director and medical director of the Greater Manchester Surgical Centre. Dr. Lotz qualified as a doctor in South Africa and has held several clinical and executive roles in South Africa since then. He moved to the UK in 2003 to help set up and develop the ISTC programme for Netcare.

His role at Care UK includes overall responsibility for the full range of clinical services development and he will provide medical and general management support to the Clinical Care Services division of the business. He will also lead the mobilisation of the CATSS programme in Manchester and will play a full role in future contract bid developments.

Dr. Sushil Jathanna, managing director of Clinical Care Services at Care UK, commented: "We are delighted that Eduard has joined our team at such an exciting time in its development. We are fast becoming one of the leading names in the provision of independent management support to NHS treatment facilities, and Eduard's unique skills and experience will help us to consolidate that position and help us plan for future growth."

Angela Geer has been appointed as development director for Care UK Children's Services.

Angela began her career as a Senior Residential Social Worker at Cheshire Social Services Department and, during her carer, has also qualified as a teacher. Following progressively more senior appointments within social work and education including a period with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Hong Kong, Angela was appointed Head of Residential Social Work at Corvedale Care in the early 1990s. Angela has been principal of the Riverside School in Cumbria and Head of Education at St Piers National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE) in Surrey before becoming Director of Corporate Services and Development at Sedgemoor, Somerset, for the last five years.

Angela brings with her a wealth of experience in developing children's services across both care and education.

Mark Pomell has been appointed as Head of Service for the Fostering Support Group based at Care UK's Crystal Palace Office. Mark's previous role was Head of Children's Services at the London Borough of Westminster.

Mark has a wealth of childcare and fostering knowledge. In Mark's six years at Westminster he built a diverse fostering service to 160 foster carers who supported 190 young people in placement. Mark will take over responsibility for the Fostering Support Group and for developing Care UK's fostering services working with colleagues across Children's Services.

John Turk, managing director of Care UK Children's Services, commented: "We are delighted that Angela and Mark have joined us to develop our already expanding Children's Services division. We are fast becoming one of the leading providers of care services to children in England and Wales, and the skills and expertise that Angela and Mark bring to our team will help us to develop that role."