AELP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Brand and Marketing Manager
Anna looks after the design and branding of all our 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
- Webinar Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- CEO of One of the UK
Brenda is CEO of Learning Curve Group
Brenda McLeish 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 450.
Brenda is an active member of a series of strategic boards and network steering groups including AELP, the North East Chamber of Commerce as well as the Tees Valley Combined Authorities Local Enterprise Partnership board, chairing the Business Engagement workstream.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Managing Director of Innovate Awarding
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.
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.
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.
Emily manages our busy events programme, planning and executing conferences, events and workshops throughout the year.
Emily joined AELP in 2019, with a background in social events and weddings, and particularly enjoys the variety of her role and seeing the teams hard work come together during the live events.
In her own time, Emily is a keen gardener and is currently growing a variety of fruit and vegetables.
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 Operating Officer at Paragon Skills
Ian has been successfully working in the Further Education and Skills sector for over 20 years in a wide variety of roles across several reputable organisations; including both independent training providers and further education colleges. He is currently Chief Operating Officer at Paragon Skills an independent national training provider.
He is also a practicing Ofsted Inspector with over 15 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.
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:
- CEO
- Director
- Member of the Board
- Chief Executive of JTL
Jon Graham graduated in 1988 with a BA(Hons) in Accounting and Economics and then joined BDO (Stoy Hayward) as a trainee chartered accountant in their London office.
On qualification, Jon joined the Accountancy Tuition Centre (ATC Ltd), a specialist professional education business.
He became the Managing Director of one of their divisions in 1993 and with other directors and private equity, bought and three years later sold the business to Kaplan (a competitor organisation).
He remained with Kaplan for a number of years as a UK main board director, with responsibility for their professional development businesses and corporate acquisitions.
In 2010, he joined CIPFA (an accountancy institute specialising in the public sector) as their Managing Director.
In the same year, Jon was appointed to the Advisory Board and the Audit and Risk Committee of the Skills Funding Advisory. He held this role for 6 years.
Jon became the Chief Executive of JTL in March 2015, an educational charity that focuses on delivering apprenticeships in the Building Services Engineering Sector. He held this position until June 2022 when he joined Lifetime Training as the Chief Executive Officer. Lifetime is the UK's largest apprenticeship provider and works to deliver apprenticeship training solutions that unlock bright futures for people and businesses in a number of sectors, including Retail, Care, Hospitality, and Management.
Jon is passionate about the opportunities that apprenticeships provide for people in all stages of their career and is committed to supporting the UK future-proof skills training for both individuals and businesses.
Job Titles:
- Sales & Membership Manager
Job Titles:
- Senior Event Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chartered Accountant at KPMG
Mark is the Chief Executive of The Skills Network
Mark was recently appointed as the Chief Executive of The Skills Network after 4.5 years as CEO of AELP. He is on the Board of WorldSkills UK as well as a range of government boards such as the ESFA Advisory Board and the FE Reform Advisory Group
Previously, Mark Dawe was the Chief Executive of OCR, the exam board, for 5 years. He has been a governor of primary schools, secondary and a further education college. Mark has a wealth of experience across a broad spectrum in the education field. Prior to his role at OCR, Mark was Principal of Oaklands FE College having been Deputy Director, FE Strategy at the Department of Education and Skills and before that as Deputy Director, Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit after joining the department in 2003.
Having read Economics at Cambridge University before qualifying as a chartered accountant at KPMG, Mark joined Canterbury College, becoming Head of Corporate Services in 1994. In 2000, he helped set up eGS, an e-procurement provider to the public sector. He gets his grit and resilience from supporting Plymouth Argyle and Boreham Wood, cycling and four school and university aged children.
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:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director of Strategy and Business Development
Paul is Director of Strategy and Business Development
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director and Founder of Ginger Nut Media Ltd
Phil is Director and Founder of Ginger Nut Media
Phil is Director and Founder of Ginger Nut Media Ltd, which he launched in 2011. Phil left school at 16 with no education beyond Level 2, and went straight into the world of work.
Job Titles:
- Membership Co - Ordinator
Rob is Chairman of South Thames Colleges Group
Rob is a qualified solicitor and has worked in law, international finance and education.
He has been involved in the education and training sector for over twenty years - he chaired ITEC (the International Therapy Examination Council), an international Awarding Organisation in the health, beauty and sports sectors, which he owned with his sister Jane, for 18 years, until its sale to VTCT in 2016. Rob purchased Remit, one of the larger multi-sector training providers in the U.K. in 2008 and chairs the Remit Group board. He also chairs the South Thames Colleges Group Corporation, one of the largest London college groups which, through merger, combines Kingston, Carshalton, South Thames and Merton Colleges. Rob also has other business interests in the skincare and automotive sectors.
Rob joined the AELP board in 2018 and sits on the AELP Board Finance Sub Group and chairs the AELP Board Membership & Revenue Sub Group.
Job Titles:
- COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
- Director
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.