10 March 2025

A Q&A with Leah Fowler, Resourcing Specialist at Anchor

Leah Fowler shares her experience of starting at Anchor as a Human Resource (HR) Administration Apprentice before getting her current role as a Resourcing Specialist.

Can you tell us more about your career journey so far and how you started as a Human Resource Administration Apprentice at Anchor?

Hi! I’m Leah, a Resourcing Specialist at Anchor. My career started after I left school in 2015. I spent a few years in retail to build up my experience in a work environment and after my fixed term contract ended, I took a few months to look for a new job, having no idea what I wanted to do career- wise.

University wasn’t for me, so I started looking into apprenticeships.

The idea of being able to gain qualifications while developing a career sounded ideal to me.

I applied in lots of different sectors and started at Anchor in 2018 as a Human Resource Admin Apprentice.

At the time, I hadn’t heard of Anchor and knew virtually nothing about Human Resource – but I was thrilled when I received the call offering me a position. Once I started it didn’t take long to realise, I was exactly where I needed to be.

Discover where you could fit in at Anchor with your skills and experience.

What experience did you gain whilst completing your Human Resource Administration Apprenticeship?

During my apprenticeship, I had so many opportunities. I worked in different teams, gained tons of experience, built relationships with people across the organisation, attended award shows and even went to the Houses of Parliament.

I enjoyed the apprenticeship and really got into the coursework – for the first time I questioned to myself that I may be cut out for further education. I came out of my apprenticeship with a distinction. As challenging as my apprenticeship could be, there was never a moment I didn’t feel like I had 100% support from my team and Anchor as a whole, and I ended my apprenticeship by winning the Highly Commended Apprentice of the Year award.

Hear from other colleagues at Anchor who started as an apprentice. Read our Q&A with Governance and Safeguarding Coordinator, Georgia Frampton.

How did you progress into the role of Resourcing Specialist at Anchor?

My role at Anchor has changed quite a bit over the 7 years I’ve been here. I was offered a permanent Human Resource Administration position 8 months into my apprenticeship, I then moved into the Recruitment Team as an Onboarding Advisor, supporting new starters through their recruitment journey.

I then moved to be a Resourcing Advisor supporting our Care Homes and new commissions and I’m now a Resourcing Specialist for Key Management roles in Care. This means I recruit for roles such as a Home Manager, Wellbeing Manager, District Manager or Director of Care. I also recruit for Care Support services roles such as Marketing, Governance & Safeguarding, Care Quality and Service Improvement.

Working in so many different roles at Anchor has given me the opportunity to gain tons of transferable skills. These have benefited each role I’ve held as Human Resource and Recruitment are both heavily people focused. As well as this it’s also allowed me to bring my existing colleague relationships along my career journey – from starting in HR providing guidance to care homes, to now recruiting talented Care Home Managers.

What do you enjoy most about your role as a Resourcing Specialist?

I love my role in Recruitment, I’m not the most ‘outgoing’ person – it’s still quite a shock to me that I can succeed in a role like this. I’ve built some amazing relationships with the people I support; I’ve offered some fabulous people positions with us – and I can see the effects that my work has. Anchor has given me so much encouragement over the years to continue learning and developing.

I think for most people coming out of school and being 16-18, knowing what career path you want to take can feel overwhelming and impossible. I joined Anchor completely by chance and looking at my role 7 years later I can say it turned out to be the best decision I made.

Leah Fowler is a Resourcing Specialist at Anchor