Latest news with #HazelGray
Scotsman
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Deloitte appoints new Aberdeen office senior partner and opens doors to new city centre office
Deloitte has appointed Hazel Gray as its new office senior partner for Aberdeen, as the firm moves to a new office space in the city centre. Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Gray, a partner in the firm's Global Investment and Innovation Incentives (Gi3) team, brings vast experience to the role, including ten years advising the energy sector, with a particular focus on research and development incentives companies operating in the sector. Her experience spans national, international and independent energy companies, as well as the broad network of service providers that support the sector. She has worked extensively with a diverse portfolio of clients – from entrepreneurial start-ups to energy supermajors – helping them benefit from government incentives and implement effective strategies, both in the UK and globally. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A proud Aberdonian, Gray has lived and worked in the granite city for the majority of her career. Her appointment also marks a personal milestone, as she is a former pupil of St Machar Academy, one of the local schools now supported by Deloitte's 5 Million Futures programme. Deloitte's new office space in the heart of the city centre. Gray takes over the role from Shaun Reynolds, who has held the position of Office Senior Partner for the last four years. Reynolds will continue to lead Deloitte's M&A industry team across the UK and will work closely with Gray on their mutual clients. Hazel Gray, new office senior partner for Aberdeen at Deloitte, said: 'I'm thrilled to be leading our fantastic Aberdeen team during this time. We have a wealth of talent and skills here, and I look forward to helping people thrive and grow in their careers at Deloitte. 'It's an exciting and pivotal time to be working in the energy sector, as the industry continues to address the urgent challenge of transitioning to a more sustainable future. The complexity of that shift creates both risk and opportunity, and I'm proud to be stepping into this role at a time when our clients need trusted advice more than ever.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The announcement coincides with the firm's move to a new office space in the heart of Aberdeen city centre, where Deloitte will be based on the eighth floor of the Silver Fin Building at 455 Union Street, directly opposite the IQ Building and next to The Capitol. Deloitte Aberdeen office senior partner Hazel Gray. The new office space has been designed with flexibility in mind, enabling dynamic use of desks and meeting areas that supports more efficient and collaborative ways of working. Gray continued: 'While the new office gives us a traditional workspace, we've designed it with a modern, collaborative spirit at its core. We've created an environment that encourages interaction and teamwork across all teams. We want this to be a shared space that strengthens our overall team dynamic and reflects how we work together. 'Aberdeen plays a critical role in the UK's energy landscape, and is a key hub in Deloitte's regional network, so it's right that there has been continued investment in the city. I'm proud to be leading our team here as we continue to support clients at the forefront of the sector.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Angela Mitchell, practice senior partner for Scotland at Deloitte, said: 'I'd like to congratulate Hazel on her well-deserved appointment to office senior partner. Her deep sector expertise, strong leadership and commitment to our people and clients make her ideally suited to lead our Aberdeen office into its next chapter. 'The move to our new space marks an important investment in the region, and one that reflects our confidence in the future of the north east and the role it continues to play nationally for Deloitte.'
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Elderly douple died after Covid ‘taken into house by carers'
A Northern Ireland woman whose parents succumbed to Covid -19 within a month of each other believes care workers inadvertently brought the virus into their home. Testifying before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Hazel Gray shared her heartbreaking experience, stating the infection was spread by "people doing their jobs", caring for vulnerable individuals like her parents. The inquiry's seventh module is currently scrutinising the effectiveness of test, trace, and isolate protocols implemented during the pandemic. Ms Gray described the enduring trauma of being unable to be with her parents in their final moments, saying they simply "disappeared." Her testimony underscores the devastating personal toll of the pandemic and raises questions about the safety measures in place to protect vulnerable individuals receiving in-home care. Ms Gray's parents, George and Violet Little, from Co Fermanagh, died in December 2020 and January 2021. They were 80 and 78 years old. Ms Gray, a member of the Northern Ireland Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group, told the inquiry on Tuesday that people in the region had presumed that 'things were being done' to prevent the spread of Covid. She said: 'Only when it came to my own doorstep did I realise that what I presumed was not happening at all. 'People who were working with vulnerable people – carers coming to my mother – were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers. 'To me, it seemed to be a total lack of common sense; this was nine months into the pandemic. 'These people were actually spreading a virus and nothing was being done to counteract that.' The inquiry heard that Ms Gray's parents lived in a rural area and depended on carers who went to their house four times a day to move Mrs Little, who used a wheelchair. Counsel to the inquiry Sophie Cartwright asked Ms Gray if she was confident Covid was taken into her parents' house by the carers. Ms Gray said when her father first tested positive for the virus, she took a test herself. She said: 'I immediately went and had a test and I was negative, so I knew that it wasn't me that had passed the virus to them. 'My mum, we got her a postal test. Hers came back positive as well and then mine was positive. 'I am fairly confident I didn't bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers.' She said she spoke to the carers' manager and asked when they had been tested. She told the inquiry: 'His answer was, it wasn't the hospital trust policy to actually test carers who were going into the homes of vulnerable people. 'That was the shocking realisation that this was what was happening in the country – carers were going into the homes of people who were not tested.' Ms Gray said she sent a text message to then-health minister Robin Swann about the situation and he responded that he would look into it. She told the inquiry that her father died first, in December 2020, while her mother was in hospital. She said: 'I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for my mother, knowing that my father had passed away and nobody was there with her to comfort her. 'They said on the day of my father's funeral she watched the clock.' Ms Gray also raised concerns about paramedics who attended to both her father and mother while wearing 'basic PPE '. She said: 'When I asked them did they get tested, they said no, who would do their jobs if they were going to be tested and come back positive? 'It was this attitude – 'If we don't get tested we won't know whether we are positive or not'. 'This virus was being spread by people who were doing their jobs and caring for people who were already sick. 'The process to me just did not make sense.' Ms Gray said she was not able to be with either of her parents when they died because of Covid restrictions. She said: 'If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal's owner to be there with them to the very end. 'I, twice, didn't get that opportunity and so many people have had similar experiences. 'The trauma of not being there for your parents' last breaths will stay with me forever. 'My parents disappeared, I never saw them again.' Ms Gray added: 'My parents' lives were cut short. Their experience was horrendous – for me, for them, for the whole country. 'All those who were lost, their lives must not have meant nothing, they cannot have died in vain. 'We must have changes in this country that people never have to experience this kind of trauma over a virus again.'
North Wales Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
Couple died after Covid ‘taken into house by carers', daughter tells inquiry
Hazel Gray, from Northern Ireland, told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that the virus was spread by 'people doing their jobs', caring for the vulnerable. She said the trauma of not being able to be with her parents when they died will stay with her forever, adding that her mother and father 'disappeared'. Module seven of the inquiry is examining test, trace and isolate policies adopted during the pandemic. Ms Gray's parents, George and Violet Little, from Co Fermanagh, died in December 2020 and January 2021. They were 80 and 78 years old. Ms Gray, a member of the Northern Ireland Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group, told the inquiry on Tuesday that people in the region had presumed that 'things were being done' to prevent the spread of Covid. She said: 'Only when it came to my own doorstep did I realise that what I presumed was not happening at all. 'People who were working with vulnerable people – carers coming to my mother – were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers. 'To me, it seemed to be a total lack of common sense; this was nine months into the pandemic. 'These people were actually spreading a virus and nothing was being done to counteract that.' The inquiry heard that Ms Gray's parents lived in a rural area and depended on carers who went to their house four times a day to move Mrs Little, who used a wheelchair. Counsel to the inquiry Sophie Cartwright asked Ms Gray if she was confident Covid was taken into her parents' house by the carers. Ms Gray said when her father first tested positive for the virus, she took a test herself. She said: 'I immediately went and had a test and I was negative, so I knew that it wasn't me that had passed the virus to them. 'My mum, we got her a postal test. Hers came back positive as well and then mine was positive. 'I am fairly confident I didn't bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers.' She said she spoke to the carers' manager and asked when they had been tested. She told the inquiry: 'His answer was, it wasn't the hospital trust policy to actually test carers who were going into the homes of vulnerable people. 'That was the shocking realisation that this was what was happening in the country – carers were going into the homes of people who were not tested.' Ms Gray said she sent a text message to then-health minister Robin Swann about the situation and he responded that he would look into it. She told the inquiry that her father died first, in December 2020, while her mother was in hospital. She said: 'I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for my mother, knowing that my father had passed away and nobody was there with her to comfort her. 'They said on the day of my father's funeral she watched the clock.' Ms Gray also raised concerns about paramedics who attended to both her father and mother while wearing 'basic PPE'. She said: 'When I asked them did they get tested, they said no, who would do their jobs if they were going to be tested and come back positive? 'It was this attitude – 'If we don't get tested we won't know whether we are positive or not'. 'This virus was being spread by people who were doing their jobs and caring for people who were already sick. 'The process to me just did not make sense.' Ms Gray said she was not able to be with either of her parents when they died because of Covid restrictions. She said: 'If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal's owner to be there with them to the very end. 'I, twice, didn't get that opportunity and so many people have had similar experiences. 'The trauma of not being there for your parents' last breaths will stay with me forever. 'My parents disappeared, I never saw them again.' Ms Gray added: 'My parents' lives were cut short. Their experience was horrendous – for me, for them, for the whole country. 'All those who were lost, their lives must not have meant nothing, they cannot have died in vain. 'We must have changes in this country that people never have to experience this kind of trauma over a virus again.'
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Covid Inquiry: Woman who lost parents gives evidence to inquiry
A woman who lost both her parents to Covid-19 believes they caught the virus through her mother's carers who were not routinely Gray has been giving evidence at the Covid Inquiry on behalf of Northern Ireland Bereaved Families for parents, Violet and George Little, died a month and a day apart in December 2020 and January inquiry is looking at the approach of the UK government and devolved nations to testing, tracing, and isolation adopted during the pandemic. 'Lack of common sense' "The carers coming to my mother were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers, and to me it seemed to be a total lack of common sense that this was nine months into the pandemic, not two weeks or two months," said Ms Gray."This was nine months later, and these people were actually spreading a virus, and nothing was being done to counteract that."Ms Gray's mother had a care package four times a day as she had been in a wheelchair for 18 father, Mr Little, had been the main carer for his wife before the Mr Little tested positive, Ms Gray said she "knew that it wasn't me that had passed the virus to them" as her test had been mother also tested positive before she caught the virus too."I'm fairly confident that I didn't bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers," she Ms Gray told the inquiry that it was the "shocking realisation" that carers were not being tested, which prompted her to send a text message to the then Health Minister, Robin Swann, who she had known for several inquiry heard aspects of the text sent on 7 December 2020."On getting my dad's result on Saturday morning, I asked my mum's carers when they were last tested and they said they're never tested," Ms Gray said."I rang their manager and I've been informed it's not policy for carers in the community to be tested at all on a regular basis."I feel this has been the most likely cause of the transmission as my dad rarely leaves the house and I'm so confused as to how those looking after the most vulnerable are not being routinely screened." 'Not being there for your parents last breaths' Counsel to the inquiry, Sophie Cartwright, listed a few of the concerns from the NI bereaved families for justice including failures in contact tracing, discharge from hospital to care homes following a positive test or no test, and the absence of a robust system to test, trace, and isolate the virus and the detrimental impact of isolation of vulnerable groups and asked that some consideration be given around the use of isolation in any future pandemic when making said when she was isolating and wanted to be with her parents she was left with a "strong feeling that it must be a human right to have someone with you when you pass away where this is possible"."If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal owner to be there with them until the very end."I twice didn't get that opportunity and so many people have had that similar experience."The trauma of not being there for your parents last breaths will stay with me forever," she concluding her evidence, Ms Gray described the "horrendous" experience her parents dying "prematurely" had "for me, for them, for the whole country"."We must have positive changes that people never have to experience this type of trauma over a virus again."Prevention is better than cure and measures must be put in place now because this could happen again at any time," she added.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Couple died after Covid ‘taken into house by carers', daughter tells inquiry
A woman whose parents died of Covid a month apart during the pandemic has told a public inquiry she believes the infection was taken into their house by carers. Hazel Gray, from Northern Ireland, told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that the virus was spread by 'people doing their jobs', caring for the vulnerable. She said the trauma of not being able to be with her parents when they died will stay with her forever, adding that her mother and father 'disappeared'. Module seven of the inquiry is examining test, trace and isolate policies adopted during the pandemic. Ms Gray's parents, George and Violet Little, from Co Fermanagh, died in December 2020 and January 2021. They were 80 and 78 years old. Ms Gray, a member of the Northern Ireland Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group, told the inquiry on Tuesday that people in the region had presumed that 'things were being done' to prevent the spread of Covid. She said: 'Only when it came to my own doorstep did I realise that what I presumed was not happening at all. ' People who were working with vulnerable people – carers coming to my mother – were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers. 'To me, it seemed to be a total lack of common sense; this was nine months into the pandemic. 'These people were actually spreading a virus and nothing was being done to counteract that.' The inquiry heard that Ms Gray's parents lived in a rural area and depended on carers who went to their house four times a day to move Mrs Little, who used a wheelchair. Counsel to the inquiry Sophie Cartwright asked Ms Gray if she was confident Covid was taken into her parents' house by the carers. Ms Gray said when her father first tested positive for the virus, she took a test herself. She said: 'I immediately went and had a test and I was negative, so I knew that it wasn't me that had passed the virus to them. 'My mum, we got her a postal test. Hers came back positive as well and then mine was positive. 'I am fairly confident I didn't bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers.' She said she spoke to the carers' manager and asked when they had been tested. She told the inquiry: 'His answer was, it wasn't the hospital trust policy to actually test carers who were going into the homes of vulnerable people. 'That was the shocking realisation that this was what was happening in the country – carers were going into the homes of people who were not tested.' Ms Gray said she sent a text message to then-health minister Robin Swann about the situation and he responded that he would look into it. She told the inquiry that her father died first, in December 2020, while her mother was in hospital. She said: 'I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for my mother, knowing that my father had passed away and nobody was there with her to comfort her. 'They said on the day of my father's funeral she watched the clock.' Ms Gray also raised concerns about paramedics who attended to both her father and mother while wearing 'basic PPE'. She said: 'When I asked them did they get tested, they said no, who would do their jobs if they were going to be tested and come back positive? 'It was this attitude – 'If we don't get tested we won't know whether we are positive or not'. 'This virus was being spread by people who were doing their jobs and caring for people who were already sick. 'The process to me just did not make sense.' Ms Gray said she was not able to be with either of her parents when they died because of Covid restrictions. She said: 'If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal's owner to be there with them to the very end. 'I, twice, didn't get that opportunity and so many people have had similar experiences. 'The trauma of not being there for your parents' last breaths will stay with me forever. 'My parents disappeared, I never saw them again.' Ms Gray added: 'My parents' lives were cut short. Their experience was horrendous – for me, for them, for the whole country. 'All those who were lost, their lives must not have meant nothing, they cannot have died in vain. 'We must have changes in this country that people never have to experience this kind of trauma over a virus again.'
