Our leadership

Bob has successfully managed and developed service sector business opportunities, from both a financial and general management perspective. Bob bought a controlling interest in Mears Group PLC in 1996, floating the small business on the AIM market later that year. Mears became one of the most successful flotations over the first ten years of the AIM market.

In 2016 Bob took on the role of executive chairman of what was later to become the Sureserve Group plc. The business had recently floated and had a troubled start to life as a main list plc. Bob completed the successful turnaround and strategic re-positioning of the business and stepped down from his role as chairman and chief executive in 2021.

Bob is currently holding executive and non-executive roles in a number of companies where he continues to be instrumental in guiding beneficial changes that will not only improve the business itself but will aid communities and have a positive impact on the lives and welfare of others.

This extends to Bob’s philanthropic work where his philosophy, ‘Improving Lives’, is particularly evident. So far, he has supported more than 65 charitable organisations and individuals and continues to support many of them. Bob is the founder of The Mears Foundation, The Footprints Foundation and The Holt Trust which co-ordinate teams of volunteers to work on projects that have a life changing impact for tens of thousands of individuals both in the UK and overseas.

Bob has been Chairman of Totally plc since September 2015.

Wendy has worked in healthcare for almost 40 years, holding roles within the NHS and the private sector. She built her experience in frontline clinical roles with Derbyshire Ambulance Service before moving into NHS leadership roles where she was CEO for three primary care trusts and part of numerous national strategic projects supporting the NHS to ensure services were developed to address the changing needs of the population of England and Wales.

Wendy ran her own business, working with US-based healthcare organisations and BUPA before joining Totally as CEO in 2013.

Working as part of the Board of Totally to deliver its buy & build strategy, Wendy has worked closely with investors to raise capital and acquire six businesses to date while delivering upon Totally’s organic growth strategy. Wendy recognises the importance of quality services and the need recruit talented individuals to help drive the business forward.

Wendy is passionate about delivering continuous improvement to ensure patients can access appropriate services quickly and receive the best possible care from every part of the Totally Group.

Lisa Barter has been a chartered accountant for more than 20 years and has extensive finance experience built over 13 years working in finance in the independent healthcare sector.

Lisa joined Totally in August 2017 and is responsible for finance, IT and digital services alongside contracting and procurement. 

Prior to joining Totally, Lisa was the head of divisional finance for the healthcare division of Care UK and was employed by Care UK for more than ten years in a senior finance capacity. Care UK is England’s largest independent provider of NHS services and has a diverse portfolio of healthcare services which include elective surgery treatment centres, provision of healthcare in UK prisons, urgent care centres,  GPOOH and NHS 111 services. Lisa was  financial controller at Mercury Health Ltd during which time she established a team and implemented finance processes and systems prior to the company’s acquisition by Care UK in 2007. The healthcare division of Care UK continued to grow to become a £380m revenue business. Lisa started her finance career at Ernst & Young in 1990 where she qualified as a chartered accountant and she has also held roles as finance manager in both Hewlett Packard and Oracle.

John was appointed Medical Director for Totally with effect from 1 January 2023. This role provides leadership across the Group for our medical and clinical staff as well as providing strategic advice to the Board on future growth opportunities. John also ensures that Clinical Quality remains a priority across the organisation.

John joined Totally as Joint Managing Director of Pioneer following the acquisition of Pioneer Healthcare in 2022, and provided day to day operational guidance to the team. John is an adult neurosurgeon with a special interest in spinal surgery and paediatric neurosurgery.

John was previously the head of department of neurosurgery at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, one of the biggest neurosurgery departments in the UK. He is a member of a number of peer review committees in England including the Paediatric Brain Tumour Registry and the Paediatric Head Injury Group.

Tony Bourne joined the Board of Totally plc as Non-Executive Director in October 2015.

Tony is also a non-executive director of Barchester, one of the UK’s largest operators of residential care homes, and Spire Healthcare Group plc, one of the largest private healthcare groups in the UK, a London Stock Exchange-listed company and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Tony is chairman of CW+ (formerly Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity), one of the largest NHS charities. Previously, Tony was chief executive of the British Medical Association from 2005 until 2013.

Tony worked in investment banking for over 25 years including as a partner at Hawkpoint and as global head of the equities division and a member of the managing board of Paribas. Tony has also previously served as a non-executive director of Southern Housing Group from 2004 to 2013 and Scope, which focuses on cerebral palsy and is one of the UK’s largest charities.

Mike Rogers has been a Non-Executive Director of Totally plc since December 2015.

Michael has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare services and care services provision. From 2007 to 2017 he was a Non-Executive Director of Mears Group PLC, the provider of support services to the social housing and care sectors in the UK, which is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Michael is also a former health and social care adviser to Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

In 1976, Michael was appointed as managing director of the British Nursing Association. In 1988, he became the chief executive of Nestor-BNA plc when the group floated on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Michael remained there until 1996, prior to founding Careforce Group plc in 1999 which floated on AIM in 2004. Careforce Group plc completed a number of acquisitions to become one of the UK’s leading domiciliary care providers, prior to its acquisition by Mears in 2007, following which Michael joined the Mears board.