Waking up and looking forward to my first day in a new job in the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies.
Good first impression
The excitement of being in a new environment, meeting new people, new things to do and also a feeling of anxiousness overcame me. It was also the move to another Government Department for me. I had worked for Companies House but now would be working for the CIC Regulator's Office. The words ‘don’t be late, don’t be late’, were running through my mind as I was sitting in heavy traffic listening to the radio. Lateness shouldn't have been an issue as the Regulator's Office was within the Companies House building. I only wanted to make that first good impression!
Career background
I’m no stranger to casework. As previously mentioned I worked in Companies House for 9 years. If you have applied to restore a company then you’re more than likely to have dealt with me on the Restoration team. On that team I also had the opportunity to work with the Government Legal Department and with other specialised teams within Companies House. There were a lot of interesting cases where people would want to restore a company for a variety of reasons.
Before that I was on Register Maintenance (or the Customer Operations Team (COT) as it is now known). In my time in Companies House I also helped on other teams and acquired some knowledge on dissolution, change of name and limited liability partnerships.
Even prior to my civil service career I worked for Admiral Insurance as a file handler within the claims department ensuring that people’s repairs went as smoothly as possible.
My role
I am one of three Case Managers whose general roles are:
- examine CIC applications
- promoting and protecting the CIC brand
- providing guidance and help to prospective CICs
I have already been involved in webinars about how to incorporate a CIC. These have been very insightful and have been a great learning experience in preparation for my new role. You may (or may not) recognise my name when talking to me on the telephone or when I have answered a query by email.
I am soon learning the other aspects of this exciting role and look forward to dealing with the more meatier aspects of the role. These include complaints, FOI requests and drafting Memorandum of Understanding.
Looking ahead
The office is always finding new ways of getting the CIC brand out there and we are expanding our use of digital services such as Twitter which I am looking forward to being involved in.
We also have our blog platform (which you’re obviously reading). Keep a look out on the work of the CIC Regulator and invited guess bloggers. You'll get a taste of what we do and what other Community Interest Companies do.
I’m glad to have remained in the Civil Service and excited to embark on an exciting and (I’m pretty sure) challenging journey in the Regulator’s Office.
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2 comments
Comment by kathleen Roberts posted on
I have just been appointed as Secretary for a group trying to set up a Community Interest Company for the use of facilities in our local medical centre( within a former old school building) which has ample space to become a community health hub. We are meeting again next week and I need to have made preparations to send off the relevant application forms. I started to download the INO1 but after 24 pages was concerned my ink cartridge would run out! Does the whole of this need to sent off with the CIC36? I only have very basic computer skills and do use twitter.
Can I personally contact you by telephone or email
Comment by Marilyn J Liddon posted on
Dear Kathleen
Please either email cicregulator@companieshouse.gov.uk or leave a message on our voicemail 02920 346228 and we'll get back to you.
Regards
Marilyn Liddon