Meet the team
Our experienced and caring team are looking forward to meeting you and your pet
Sarah Oliver
Kennel Manager
Sarah joined the Chalkwell team at the beginning of 2018 after spending almost six years running a very successful doggy day and pet care business in Surrey. She has undertaken training with the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers and will be developing basic obedience and socialisation classes at Chalkwell.
Sarah and her Border Collie, Savannah, love to explore the local countryside and may even be seen out running together once in a while.
Kennel Assistants
The role of Kennel Assistant is a varied and rewarding one. We expect that our guests are cared for as if they were at home. Each and every animal is made to feel comfortable and an enormous effort is made by our team to make the visit as enjoyable, rewarding and as stress free as possible. Often our guests are frightened of a new environment; it is the Kennel Assistants role to look after their welfare whilst they are with us from cleaning, grooming, walking and feeding or just a cuddle. Kennel Assistants work under the supervision of our Kennel Manager, Sarah & long standing Kennel Supervisor, Fay. There is a high degree of cleaning in this role including cleaning the kennels, steam cleaning and keeping the general cleanliness of the kennel & cattery environment to a high standard.
The duty kennel staff are supported by our Securitas Operations Management team who have over 94 years kennel management & training experience between the 3 of them.
team
Specialist Expertise
Chalkwell Kennels & Cattery is supported by specialist teams that include Health & Safety, Governance & Compliance, HR, Legal & Finance as well as our own on site canine training & welfare experts.
Andy Ackers
Securitas Canine Services Operations & Courses Manager
Andy brings vast dog handling experience to the Chalkwell team. He joined the RAF in 1988 as an RAF Policeman specialising as a Police Dog Handler. During his service he completed operational tours as a Drug Detection search dog handler with Specialist Police Operations, and as an Arms and Explosive Search Dog Handler in Gibraltar, supporting HM Forces and Special Branch Police operations.
He also served 2 tours at the Defence Animal Centre, the British Armed Forces centre of excellence for training working dogs, as both trainer and instructor, delivering specialist search dogs and handler courses. Conducting the role of Project/Operations Manager, he specialised in developing several canine Counter IED projects for Afghanistan, delivering canine and personnel training to ensure handling capability prior to operational deployments.
Kenny Braddick
Securitas Canine Services Head Trainer
Kenny brings many years of dog training and handling to Chalkwell. He was an RAF Policeman specialising as a Police Dog Handler for 36 years. Kenny reached the rank of Warrant Officer and held the position of the Provost Marshals Dog Inspector, ensuring the RAF’s fleet of Police dogs were trained to meet the tempo of UK and overseas operations.
During his military career he completed operational tours as a Drug Detection Dog Handler and as an Arms and Explosives Search Dog Handler working alongside Special Forces. Ken also served a tour of the RAF Police School Dog Training Wing and 2 tours at the Defence Animal Centre, the British Armed Forces centre of excellence for training working dogs, as both trainer and instructor, delivering specialist search dogs and handler courses.