Famous as Northamptonshire CC’s ‘strawberry lady’, Katherine Kerswell, takes over the presidency of SOLACE this week. She tells Heather Jameson about her career
Katherine Kerswell has a number of achievements to her name.
During a career spanning 22 years in local government, she has been chief executive of a borough, a metropolitan and a county council.
And at the LGA conference, Katherine will take over the presidency of SOLACE from previous incumbent, Worcestershire CC chief executive, Trish Haines.
But, for all her glittering career, Katherine will always be known as the ‘strawberry lady’. Shortly after her arrival as chief executive of Northamptonshire, she used the fruit as a metaphor to motivate staff in a management video on website YouTube. The ‘Taste the strawberry’ campaign was born – to much media attention.
Speaking to The MJ on the eve of her presidency, there is a strategically-placed plate of biscuits in the middle of the table, alongside a bowl of grapes… and strawberries.
‘I didn’t put them there,’ she laughs. She is obviously not as obsessive about the fruit as some might have thought. She still gets strawberry-shaped gifts, and recently, was sent a picture of a new baby dressed in a strawberry baby-grow.
Love it or loathe it, the imagery captured the imagination – and has lasted.
Katherine has spent most of her working life in local government – despite a brief stint as an export assistant for a drum-making company. She was interested in politics and ‘how you get people to do things’.
She says: ‘As a woman, at that time, I couldn’t get a job in a union.’ Instead, she ended up in Leicester City Council in its HR department, working on equalities. Leicester at that time was ‘really forward-thinking’, but not getting the same negative attention for equalities as some London boroughs.
With 10 years at Leicester and an MBA under her belt, Katherine moved to Merton LBC as head of corporate policy – but within 12 months was lured away to be chief executive of Redditch BC.
‘It was a new town, and I was very clear about what I wanted to create for the community,’ she explains.
It was the first year of the new Labour Government, and funding was still very tight at the authority. ‘I asked the leaders, “What do you want to prioritise”, and then we cut our budgets accordingly.’
In 2001, Katherine moved to Solihull MBC. ‘It was fabulous – I really enjoyed it. I got to work with people such as Sir Michael Lyons, then Lyn Homer and Stephen Hughes [chief executives] at Birmingham.’
Katherine was keen to find a way to involve staff. She came up with the slogan, ‘One council, one vision’ – all set to the musical accompaniment of the [rock band] Queen song. She laughs at the cheesiness of it.
But, in reality, it carries the serious message of pulling staff together. ‘As a chief executive, it’s your job to make sure your people in the organisation have the right conditions for them to do their job,’ she says.
The obstacles which get in the way – from photocopiers and phones to budgets – make it harder just to get on.
She pulled together meetings with the staff, where they shared their ideas for improvement – using poetry, songs, and acting to work ideas through. ‘The thing I remember most was the laughter,’ she says, And many of the recommendations were put in place.
‘There were all sorts of things which enabled us to say to people, “This was your idea, and it has happened.”’
Next stop on the journey was Northamptonshire – where Katherine is still chief executive – giving her a hat-trick of borough, metropolitan and county exposure.
Her experience across the whole range of councils gives her a unique perspective. Working with a large number of staff is, she says, as difficult as working with a small number, but in a different way. She describes metropolitans as ‘rock and roll’ compared with the ‘orchestra’ of counties, with their far more refined feel.
The county had previously had something of a chequered history. ‘We were the ones in the naughty box.’ However, the members are open to new ideas and, she says, it is ‘the best management team I’ve ever worked with’ – although she adds. ‘I have worked with some great people’.
It will be a fascinating time to take over as president of SOLACE, with finance at the top of the agenda, and the anger of the public at central government over expenses.
Katherine describes it as ‘a powerful moment for us’ in terms of the political situation. And as for the finance: ‘There is a psychological contract with society which needs to be written. What are people prepared to fund?’
The difficulty is that people don’t understand how much things cost. Northamptonshire alone spends £21m each year getting rid of waste. ‘My mother is horrified,’ she adds.
There will be a lot of soul-searching about what public services are for, and what they are going to provide in the future. Perhaps Katherine’s presidency will mark a redefining in the purpose of local government.
During a career spanning 22 years in local government, she has been chief executive of a borough, a metropolitan and a county council.
And at the LGA conference, Katherine will take over the presidency of SOLACE from previous incumbent, Worcestershire CC chief executive, Trish Haines.
But, for all her glittering career, Katherine will always be known as the ‘strawberry lady’. Shortly after her arrival as chief executive of Northamptonshire, she used the fruit as a metaphor to motivate staff in a management video on website YouTube. The ‘Taste the strawberry’ campaign was born – to much media attention.
Speaking to The MJ on the eve of her presidency, there is a strategically-placed plate of biscuits in the middle of the table, alongside a bowl of grapes… and strawberries.
‘I didn’t put them there,’ she laughs. She is obviously not as obsessive about the fruit as some might have thought. She still gets strawberry-shaped gifts, and recently, was sent a picture of a new baby dressed in a strawberry baby-grow.
Love it or loathe it, the imagery captured the imagination – and has lasted.
Katherine has spent most of her working life in local government – despite a brief stint as an export assistant for a drum-making company. She was interested in politics and ‘how you get people to do things’.
She says: ‘As a woman, at that time, I couldn’t get a job in a union.’ Instead, she ended up in Leicester City Council in its HR department, working on equalities. Leicester at that time was ‘really forward-thinking’, but not getting the same negative attention for equalities as some London boroughs.
With 10 years at Leicester and an MBA under her belt, Katherine moved to Merton LBC as head of corporate policy – but within 12 months was lured away to be chief executive of Redditch BC.
‘It was a new town, and I was very clear about what I wanted to create for the community,’ she explains.
It was the first year of the new Labour Government, and funding was still very tight at the authority. ‘I asked the leaders, “What do you want to prioritise”, and then we cut our budgets accordingly.’
In 2001, Katherine moved to Solihull MBC. ‘It was fabulous – I really enjoyed it. I got to work with people such as Sir Michael Lyons, then Lyn Homer and Stephen Hughes [chief executives] at Birmingham.’
Katherine was keen to find a way to involve staff. She came up with the slogan, ‘One council, one vision’ – all set to the musical accompaniment of the [rock band] Queen song. She laughs at the cheesiness of it.
But, in reality, it carries the serious message of pulling staff together. ‘As a chief executive, it’s your job to make sure your people in the organisation have the right conditions for them to do their job,’ she says.
The obstacles which get in the way – from photocopiers and phones to budgets – make it harder just to get on.
She pulled together meetings with the staff, where they shared their ideas for improvement – using poetry, songs, and acting to work ideas through. ‘The thing I remember most was the laughter,’ she says, And many of the recommendations were put in place.
‘There were all sorts of things which enabled us to say to people, “This was your idea, and it has happened.”’
Next stop on the journey was Northamptonshire – where Katherine is still chief executive – giving her a hat-trick of borough, metropolitan and county exposure.
Her experience across the whole range of councils gives her a unique perspective. Working with a large number of staff is, she says, as difficult as working with a small number, but in a different way. She describes metropolitans as ‘rock and roll’ compared with the ‘orchestra’ of counties, with their far more refined feel.
The county had previously had something of a chequered history. ‘We were the ones in the naughty box.’ However, the members are open to new ideas and, she says, it is ‘the best management team I’ve ever worked with’ – although she adds. ‘I have worked with some great people’.
It will be a fascinating time to take over as president of SOLACE, with finance at the top of the agenda, and the anger of the public at central government over expenses.
Katherine describes it as ‘a powerful moment for us’ in terms of the political situation. And as for the finance: ‘There is a psychological contract with society which needs to be written. What are people prepared to fund?’
The difficulty is that people don’t understand how much things cost. Northamptonshire alone spends £21m each year getting rid of waste. ‘My mother is horrified,’ she adds.
There will be a lot of soul-searching about what public services are for, and what they are going to provide in the future. Perhaps Katherine’s presidency will mark a redefining in the purpose of local government.
