AELP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Brand and Marketing Manager
Anna looks after the design and branding of AELP's comms. She has been with AELP for six years and has worked as a digital designer in the creative sector for over twenty while also gaining some experience of the education sector by lecturing Digital Media at Bath Spa University. She particularly enjoys the breadth of projects she's involved with at AELP: designing and producing exhibition stands, apps, coffee cups, videos, websites and everything in-between!
Anna has two kids and is a keen runner.
Job Titles:
- Marketing Co - Ordinator
- Marketing and Webinar Co - Ordinator
Ben previously worked as an MI Data Analyst within the automotive sector for 5 years before joining AELP recently. He works as the Data Analyst within the Projects team, gathering data relevant to the sector and AELP that can then be used to inform and enable future decision making.
In his spare time Ben usually has his hands full with his young family, but finds time to follow his passion of motor sport.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Ben is passionate about skills and learning. Starting early in his career, Ben knows first-hand about the power of independent training providers in delivering vital outcomes for learners and employers alike.
Ben was the founder of Arch Apprentices in 2012. Arch pioneered new apprenticeships and new delivery approaches as he helped Arch to grow to be one of the country's biggest training providers. Arch was judged Outstanding by Ofsted in 2016. In that time, Ben lived through the challenges that Independent Training Providers experience day to day, as well as the excitement and rewards that come from delivering real impacts. Ben also sat on the Department for Education's Apprenticeship Stakeholder Board for five years and has insight and experience working with government at both the official and political levels.
He stepped away from Arch at the end of 2019 once it had merged into Avado Learning, its sister business in the Blenheim Chalcot Venture Building group. Since then, Ben went on to work in an independent advisory capacity for corporates, non-profits and government organisations, working on learning and career programmes.
Before setting up Arch, Ben had a career in public sector consulting, in which he co-founded, led and sold RSe Consulting to Tribal Group plc, and was involved as a volunteer in various capacities for 25 years at Toynbee Hall, the social change charity in East London, including six years as Chair of the Board.
Ben is based in South London and has spent much of his working life travelling around the country (and sometimes beyond), something he looks forward to continuing in as AELP's Chief Executive Officer.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- DL Is the CEO of One of the UK 's Largest Training Providers, Learning Curve Group
Brenda McLeish OBE DL is the CEO of one of the UK's largest training providers, Learning Curve Group.
With more than 20 years' experience in the education sector, Brenda has helped drive significant growth in the business, which delivers a broad range of educational services and training programmes across diverse industry sectors and a broad range of learners.
Having entered the sector with East Durham College, Brenda developed her career in a number of roles before joining Learning Curve Group in 2008. Progressing to her current role as Chief Executive, Brenda has helped the business grow from 40 full-time employees to more than 1000.
Learning Curve Group supports approximately 200,000 learners every year through the learning materials it creates and directly across its network of training facilities and skills academies across England and Wales as well as through relationships with many thousands of employers.
The company has seen its turnover increase from £1m to in excess of £60m since 2004 as well as having national coverage as a training provider.
Brenda is an active member of a series of strategic boards and network steering groups including AELP, the North East Chamber of Commerce and the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership.
Charlotte is Managing Director of Innovate Awarding
Charlotte is Managing Director of Innovate Awarding which is an awarding organisation delivering vocational qualifications and end point assessment for Apprenticeships.
She has worked in both academic and vocational examination boards for over 25 years and has driven many assessment reforms and developments both for general and vocational education.
Charlotte has a passion for the vocational education sector and sits on a number of Boards including The Federation of Awarding Bodies, AAT, Walsall College, David Nieper Educational Trust and Career Colleges Trust.
Having experience in both corporate and social event planning, I have now joined AELP to continue my event industry experience, working as an Event Co-ordinator. I help plan and prep for all our AELP events and love the variety and busy pace of my role. In my spare time I am often found in the kitchen cooking all kinds of plant-based dishes, or looking after my bunny rabbit, Blush.
Job Titles:
- Head of Apprenticeship Workforce Development
Cheryl joined AELP in December 2015 as a home-based Project Manager, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience from her previous roles in two Independent Training Providers and an Awarding Organisation in the North East. Cheryl's current role as Head of Apprenticeship Workforce Development involves overseeing AELP's operational role as one of five partners in phase two of the DfE Apprenticeship Workforce Development (AWD) Programme, designing, developing and implementing a programme of CPD for apprenticeship providers to ensure high quality apprenticeship delivery across the sector. Cheryl holds various qualifications relevant to the sector including a BA (Hons) in Education Studies, a Foundation Degree in Work-based Learning , a Level 4 in Project Management and she is also a qualified tutor, assessor and internal quality assurer.
When Cheryl isn't busy at work, she can often be found walking or running the streets of Billingham in the North East, with her Labradoodle George!
Job Titles:
- Events Coordinator
- Event Co - Ordinator
Chloe works as an Events Coordinator as part of the events team here at AELP. She enjoys the process of planning events from start to finish and seeing it all come together on the day. After work you'll find her doing yoga or playing with her cat Olive.
Chris is Chief Executive of JTL
Chris Claydon MBE joined JTL as Chief Executive in February 2023. His focus is on the quality of the learner journey and he has initiated a number of change programmes, as well as a change in strategic direction, to ensure that quality is at the forefront of all that JTL does.
Prior to JTL Chris spent 7 years leading the industry-led statutory skills body, the ECITB. He joined the ECITB in 2015 following a career in the British Army as a helicopter pilot and senior officer where he held various roles in the Ministry of Defence.
Ciaran is the Public Affairs Manager at AELP and is responsible for offering political and public policy advice to AELP's CEO, Board, Members and stakeholders and managing AELP's relationships with political stakeholders. He joined AELP in March 2023 from the University of Salford.
Working in public affairs for AELP excites him because he know how important it is to communicate the needs of the sector to our elected politicians to help them build a skills system that works for all.
Outside of work Ciaran has a passion for ancient history and motor racing, and usually spends his time reading or looking after his dog.
Dorothy helps with the administration and marketing of our webinars. She has been in the sector for over 14 years and with AELP for six months. She particularly enjoys the variety and independent aspect of the job. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, reading and sci-fi.
Chihiro is a research associate at AELP, where she leads the company's research initiatives. Holding a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, she specialises in the field of education for individuals with challenging backgrounds. With her expertise in qualitative and quantitative analysis, she conducts external research projects in vital areas, providing insightful evidence. Additionally, she conducts internal research that enhances AELP's policies and activities. Driven by the rewarding nature of their work, she is passionate about making a positive impact on people through education. She loves cats and listening to and attending classical music concerts.
Job Titles:
- Membership Sales Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Policy & Stakeholder Manager
Iain is Chief Executive Officer of Aspiration Training Limited
Iain has been working in the training & employability sector for over fifteen years. Prior to his appointment as CEO of Aspiration Training Ltd in 2017 he held a number of positions including CEO of one of the largest Apprenticeship providers in the UK, Employability Director at a large College and Director of the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA). Iain has a wealth of experience in the employability, vocational training, and apprenticeship market, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He has a MBA from the Open University and lives in South Wales with his wife and two daughters.
Ian is Chief Quality and Curriculum Officer at Paragon Skills
Ian has been successfully working in the Further Education and Skills sector for over 25 years in a wide variety of roles across several reputable organisations; including both independent training providers and further education colleges. He is currently Chief Quality and Curriculum Officer at Paragon Skills an independent national training provider after 8 years as Chief Operating Officer.
He is also a practicing Ofsted Inspector with over 20 years of hands-on experience, having carried out over 100 inspections with different remits across the sector including more recently monitoring visits to new providers. As such, has a very good understanding and detailed knowledge of the inspection framework and the impact Ofsted has on our sector.
He is also an AELP board member and chairs the AELP quality board group.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance
- Finance Director
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chairman of the Walsall Employment and Skills Board
James is Assistant Principal for Commercial Development at Walsall College
James Norris is Assistant Principal for Commercial Development at Walsall College. He is responsible for the delivery of the college's employer engagement provision, which includes apprenticeships, work with the unemployed and cross college sales and marketing activity.
James has held director roles and was a business owner before moving into further education in 2008 as Director of Employer Engagement at Sandwell College. He joined Walsall College in April 2012.
James is currently Chair of the Walsall Employment and Skills Board. In addition, he represents the College on boards within the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Francesco Group, Association of Colleges and the Collab Group.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Co - Founder of HIT Training Ltd
- Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants
Jill is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Hospitality, the Hospitality Professionals Association (HOSPA), the British Institute of Innkeeping and the Royal Society of Arts.
Job Titles:
- PA to the Chief Executive
Job Titles:
- Sales & Membership Manager
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman Nichola Is Director of Apprenticeship Strategy and Policy at BPP Education Group
Nichola Hay has worked in the Further Education sector for over 20 years. She was Operations Director for Quantica Training, one of the largest training providers in London. Following this, Nichola went on to start her own business and is one of the founding directors of Outsource Training and Development, which was acquired by Seetec Group in 2016. She stayed with the business to support the integration into Seetec Outsource Training. Nichola then joined the Executive Board of Estio Training as the Chief Operating Officer, a specialist provider of digital and tech apprenticeships.
In Oct 21 Estio Training was acquired by BPP Education Group, a global leader in professional and vocational education. In November 22 Nichola moved across to join the senior leadership team as the Director of Apprenticeship Strategy and Policy for the group.
In addition to her role at BPP, she chairs the board of Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), Chair of AELP London and sits on the GLA's Skills for Londoners Board. Nichola also sits on the Aviation Industry Skills Board (AISB) and takes an active role in 14-19 strategic groups, policy groups and committees.
Nichola passionately believes in the power of apprenticeships. As a result, she was recognised for her services to apprenticeships and skills in Her Majesty the Queen's 2021 New Year Honours List, where she was awarded an MBE.
Job Titles:
- Membership Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Brand and Marketing Co - Ordinator
Sharon is Head of Early Careers and Apprenticeships - Business Partner, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP)
Sharon has been in the business for 27 years in a variety of functions and roles. She joined the HR team 16 years ago, covering all elements of Supply Chain and now heading up the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) Early Careers agenda for Great Britain.
Having spent the majority of her career developing young talent at the start of their careers, her current remit fits perfectly with her passion to create opportunities to support the next generation of young leaders. As part of her commitment, Sharon strives to work with strategic partners who challenge organisation's approach to under representation of young people across all communities and works to create a level playing field in the recruitment process that might unconsciously deselect from those groups.
Sharon's dedication and commitment to CCEP's apprenticeship programme has been recognised by CCEP's leadership team, as well as her peers and apprentices alike. She has received praise for her outstanding leadership of the programme, which has continued to grow and expand in line with the business' Early Careers agenda. As well as recognition from the leadership team, Sharon is adored by the apprentices themselves, who see her as a trusted advisor and mentor.
Job Titles:
- Director of Policy
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Stewart was the former Chief Executive Officer of AELP from April 2013 until March 2016. Stewart currently holds a number of Non Executive positions in the sector including Chair of the social enterprise Youth Employment UK. Stewart has worked in the funded work based learning sector for over 20 years and in particular has supported AELP since its formation. Stewart worked as an independent consultant within the training sector, working with a number of training providers and colleges specialising in business development and funding issues. Following a background in HR and general management in the private sector Stewart joined Hertfordshire Training and Enterprise Council in 1994 as Chief Executive until 1998 when Stewart joined Spring Skills as Chief Executive in 1998. Spring Skills was then largest independent training provider in the sector involved in the delivery of a range of programmes in the service sectors such as retail, customer services, hospitality and business administration.