Working together across the UK, our members have a shared vision and are committed to acting as a collaborative ‘enabler’ for meaningful and sustainable skills and employment opportunities for all individuals.
We are comprised of some of the UK’s leading employers, training providers and awarding organisations, from across all sectors and levels of qualification, making us representative of the UK’s delivery infrastructure.
Managing Director at QA
CEO at Lifetime Training
Head of Future Talent at Royal Mail
CEO of NCFE
National Lead for Apprenticeships and Widening Participation at Health Education England, NHS
Public Affairs, Partnership & Engagement Director at City and Guilds UK
Head of Apprenticeship Delivery at Network Rail
Global Early Careers and Apprenticeships Lead at Costa Coffee
Director of Apprenticeships at Capita
UK Graduate, Apprenticeship and Student Programme Leader at IBM
Head of Apprenticeships at BT
CEO of Corndel
CEO of Learning Curve Group
Director of Apprenticeships, Teesside University
Senior Vice President of Vocational Qualifications & Training, Pearson Plc
CEO of Paragon Skills
Managing Director, Best Practice Network
CEO, Babington
Apprentice Market Lead, Nestlé UK & Ireland
Strategic Adviser to the Board of Inspiro
Head of Learning and Development, CareTech
Group Head of L&D, Marks and Spencer
CEO, Impact Futures
CEO, Cambridge Spark
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Jo joined QA in 2021 as Director of Education, responsible for the delivery organisation across Learning and Apprenticeships before taking on an expanded role as Senior Vice President of Education across the Group to include QA, Cloud Academy and Circus Street. In November 2023, Jo was appointed Managing Director, responsible for the Groups government-funded apprenticeships business unit which delivers a variety of tech disciplines, across numerous levels, up to degree apprenticeships, to more than 5,000 learners a year.
Jo is a well-established and authentic leader with over 20 years’ experience in the education sector, having started her career as a teacher. Following several years as a teacher and school leader in the UK, Jo embarked on a career, working across all aspects of the learning space – from strategic direction setting and teacher training to delivering digital and cultural transformation programmes – which also gave her experience in international education with both public and private sector organisations.
Prior to joining QA, Jo held a number of senior positions with PA Consulting and Capgemini where most of her time was spent in the university/TVET sectors supporting organisations to deliver an excellent learning.
David Smith is a dynamic and visionary leader who took the reins as CEO of Lifetime in July 2023. With a remarkable track record across multiple blue chip business service sectors, David brings a wealth of expertise and a passion for transforming companies, building long lasting customer relationships, and building colleague engagement all with an eye on sustainability and social value.
Before joining Lifetime, David has held the prestigious position of Chief Executive at 6 previous organisations, where he made a lasting impact in sectors as diverse as Logistics, Facilities Management, Environmental Services, and Retail Banking. David is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
But David is more than just a seasoned executive; he is a true advocate for the power of vocational training and the incredible potential it holds for individuals and businesses alike. With an unwavering belief in the value of apprenticeships, David champions their ability to unlock untapped talents and create meaningful opportunities.
Charlotte Wakeham, Chartered FCIPD, is Head of Future Talent at Royal Mail Group, leading a team of early talent and apprenticeship specialists. Charlotte partners across the national organisation to build a portfolio of early careers and apprenticeship opportunities to hire and develop new talent, whilst also connecting existing colleagues with the opportunity to gain professional qualifications whilst they work. Charlotte leads proactive outreach activity to connect Royal Mail with schools, work experience candidates and prospective applicants across the UK.
Charlotte joined Royal Mail in 2012 and has gained experience across a number of HR disciplines including Workforce Planning and HR Business Partnering, partnering with large teams across the Royal Mail operation. Charlotte is passionate about promoting apprenticeships as an opportunity to access the workplace and education. She also works closely with the Royal Mail Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to ensure that the Future Talent portfolio can make a positive impact on social mobility.
David is Chief Executive Officer at NCFE, a leading not-for-profit provider of educational services and one of the UK’s biggest exam boards. He has enjoyed a successful career in employment and skills for more than 18 years, spanning frontline delivery in some of the most deprived communities in the country, to his current role as CEO of the NCFE. David is a Non Executive Board Member at the Federation of Awarding Bodies and Together for Children.
David’s diverse career has shaped his perspectives on education, skills and employment. His experience includes working in the public sector for the Learning and Skills Council (now ESFA) where he was heavily involved in qualification reform policy and the introduction of the QCF. He has also worked with several leading national employment and skills providers, including Working Links and Ingeus during periods of significant market shift such as the introduction of ‘payment by results’. Prior to joining NCFE, David was Group Commercial Director at Babington.
Jane is a Registered Nurse, and Executive Coach and Organisation Development Specialist, with broad experience in clinical and corporate senior leadership roles in the NHS. Her interests and experience include influence and experience in schools and post 16 skills and education; workplace learning and education; education progression pathways; coaching and leadership development; job creation and career development; vocational training and Apprenticeships; Chair of a number of development groups for apprenticeships (Trailblazers), and T Level Health Employer Panel Chair. (Technical Education reforms, Department of Education).
Janes current Role with HEE is National Lead for Apprenticeships and Senior Programme Manager for Talent for Care, with responsibility for supporting and overseeing implementation of new apprenticeship standards with Employers in the Trailblazer system.
Jane has worked for the majority of her career in the NHS in Bristol, and now holds a national role in the NHS, managing the introduction of the apprenticeship reforms, using her experience, garnered during her career, in leading, facilitating and overseeing implementation of new apprenticeship education pathways – which includes liaising with, and supporting Employers, working with stakeholders and Health and Education policy leads, to ensure that the apprenticeship standards are fit for use in the health and care sector, to support and develop patient facing and indirect patient facing roles. The programme Jane leads is designed to move from development and implementation, to a quality focussed, strong and sustainable apprenticeship strategy for the NHS.
Jane’s career includes many high points, particularly as a national Ambassador for Apprenticeships, in leading and supporting people fulfil their potential; in seeing the careers of many apprentices develop and flourish over the years; in raising the profile of widening participation and establishing new career pathways into health and care roles.
Jane was honoured with a national award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Apprenticeships’ in 2020, and her team gained the Team Award in 2021. Jane was also awarded recognition as Highly Commended for partnership working with HEE and Skills for Health in the Health Service Journal Awards, 2020.
Patrick has over 30 years experience in the field of accreditation, assessment design and educational technology. From the design of educational resources with MESU/NCET and BECTa to running of post-sales technology support departments with Apple Computer, his career has always addressed the fusion of education, skills development and assessment technologies.
For the last 20 years this work has focussed on the specific field of learning and assessment research and development linked to Government Policy and national accreditation programmes. This spanned work with the RSA Examinations Board, OCR Examinations, Cambridge Assessment Group and now he leads on Strategic Partnerships, Stakeholder Policy and Research work for City & Guilds.
The role considers the growing impact of Policy and new technologies on the education and skills industry. It also identifies initiatives to enable City & Guilds to develop and extend the range and quality of learning and assessment products and services they offer. Helping people to get work, develop on the job and progress in their careers. Helping employers, regions and the UK economy overall to prosper.
Throughout his career he has remained committed to the notion of ‘fit for purpose’ assessment and learning solutions based on evidence-based research. Patrick currently sits on the UK eAssessment Advisory Group, Joint Council for Qualifications, West Midlands BITC Leadership Board and is an advisory member of the Federation of Awarding Bodies Board and eAssessment Association. He sits on the planning committee for the European Association of Test Publishers Conference, is a Trustee of the Mitchell City of London Education Foundation and a member of the Society of Leadership Fellows.
Hannah has have worked in the field of Apprenticeships and Graduates for nearly 20 years and is currently the Head of Apprenticeship Delivery at Network Rail. Previous positions have included senior roles in National Express and RATP Dev London – a London Bus company. Hannah has been involved in developing various apprentice standards through trail blazer groups including a new standard for Bus Maintenance Engineers, and has worked with key stakeholders such as Transport for London to develop qualifications to drive improved customer experience
Hannah is Vice Chair of Governors and the Special Educational Needs Link Governor at a local secondary school and is passionate about the role that apprenticeships play in driving organisational performance and increasing social mobility.
Hanna has recently relocated with her family from London to Sheffield, where they joined the Open House Project – a self-supportive, eco-friendly co-housing community.
Ruth joined Costa Coffee in September 2021 and leads the Global Early Careers and Apprenticeships area. Ruth drives Costa’s talent strategy for graduates, apprentices and early careers, creating opportunities to enable the business to grow their leaders of the future. She is passionate about continuous talent development, diversity and inclusion across all stages of career and changing perceptions of apprenticeships.
Prior to joining Costa, Ruth led the early and emerging talent area at Capgemini, developing award winning apprenticeship programmes across a range of specialisms.
Jenny is Leader of IBM UK’s multi-award winning Early Professional Programmes with responsibility for all aspects of the schemes, including recruitment, career management, development of education programmes and financial management.
Jenny was at the forefront of developing Degree Apprenticeships in 2015 and is Chair of the Digital and Technology Solutions Level 6 Trailblazer. She was leader of IBM’s Girls’ Schools’ and Dare2BDifferent outreach programmes which were recognised in the Opportunity Now Work Inspiration awards 2011 and 2014.
Jenny is currently Chair of the Digital Degree Apprenticeship Trailblazer. She is a member of the TechSkills Board and a Commissioner for the Princess Royal Training Awards. Jenny was a finalist in the Everywomen in Technology Inspiration of the Year award 2015 and was named Apprenticeship Champion of the Year 2020 in the National Apprenticeship Service awards.
Jamie is a commercial learning professional with a passion and specialism for apprenticeships. Joining BT at the beginning of 2023, as Head of Apprenticeships, Jamie leads the apprenticeship strategy across the business, focusing on both entry level talent and reskilling and upskilling the current workforce.
Prior to joining BT, Jamie gained significant multi sector experience across public and private sector organisations, including London Fire Brigade, Network Rail, Volkswagen and most notably had accountability for the Jaguar Land Rover Apprenticeship programme whilst working for Training Provider Babcock. Jamie has spent the last 3 years working in the nuclear sector working in partnership with Sellafield, focusing on future skills and capability.
Co-Founded Corndel in 2016 to focus on delivering the highest quality professional training and apprenticeship programmes. Passionate about workplace development, education, and skills. 20 years’ experience in professional service consulting with PwC, IBM and Deloitte. Leads on strategy, culture, and corporate growth. Career interest in public policy, the importance of work and empowering people to seize opportunities to maximise their professional potential.
Brenda McLeish OBE 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.
Learning Curve Group supports approximately 120,000 learners every year through the learning materials it creates and directly across its network of training facilities and skills academies in the North East and Yorkshire as well as through relationships with many thousands of employers.
The company, which has just developed a new purpose-built headquarters five miles south of Durham City, has seen its turnover increase from £1m to in excess of £45m in the past decade 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.
She has also led on strategy to respond to local and national priorities to support NEET’s, apprenticeship provision, delivery to the unemployed, work based training, flexible learning provision and English and Mathematics.
Jo Burgess joined Teesside University as Director of Apprenticeships in April 2022. Teesside University already had a strong reputation as an Ofsted Outstanding Apprenticeship provider. Under Jo’s recent leadership the university has launched a new Professional Apprenticeship strategy setting out the vision and mission to support an apprenticeship system that delivers for high-level skills, social mobility and contributes to sustainable economic growth.
Prior to joining Teesside, Jo held a pivotal role at Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency, where she was Head of Innovation Talent and Skills. In that role she was responsible for directing public investment, shaping policy and leading cross Government talent and skills initiatives to enable the UK to deliver on its innovation capabilities.
Jo is passionate about apprenticeships and the benefits they bring. As a CIPD professional specialising in learning and development, Jo has held a range of early talent and learning and development roles within public and private sector, before taking on a strategic LEP role delivering first Apprenticeship Hubs and talent brokerage services across North Yorkshire.
She has had the privilege of supporting a range of apprenticeship developments including leading the roll out of the first-degree apprenticeship in Data Science and a member of the Research Scientist apprenticeship trailblazer, to most recently joining the Social Research Apprenticeship Trailblazer with Teesside University.
Freya Thomas Monk is Senior Vice President of Vocational Qualifications & Training at Pearson Plc. Freya is responsible for a £140M business delivering apprenticeships, vocational learning and qualifications in the UK and internationally, working closely with universities, colleges and schools, and with government and employers, to drive skills to serve our economy. Freya joined Pearson in 2004 and previously led the fast growth of the digital English Assessment business. She is passionate about the importance of education in helping individuals reach their goals in life.
Before Pearson Freya held roles as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company and led web development in the dot.com era. She holds an MA from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD (Paris).
Freya serves as Chair of Governors of a primary school and sits on the boards of Pearson Education Limited and the UK-ASEAN Business Council (a FCDO sponsored trade body). She lives in London with her husband and three children.
With over 20 years’ diverse experiences working in a variety of sales, marketing and operations director roles for international brands such as Premier Global and Fitness First, Mark was appointed Chief Executive at Paragon Skills in March 2015. In this time, Mark has successfully led the team through a turnaround period of vast change, implementing a new values driven culture that has resulted in learner success rates that have increased significantly year on year and a strong Ofsted Grade 2. Passionate about providing an outstanding teaching and learning experience and takes pride in helping individuals to meet their own professional goals and businesses to reach their strategic vision.
Simon joined Best Practice Network as Managing Director in 2019, already having 20+ years’ experience working in senior sales and operational leadership roles in; Telecommunications, Retail and Training.
Simon has successfully led significant growth in businesses across, Education and Early Years’ sectors, within the UK and Internationally.
Immediately prior to his role at Best Practice Network, Simon worked as CEO of a mid-sized learning disability charity, where he remains a Trustee.
Best Practice Network trains 30,000 teachers and early years professionals, annually across a range of government backed qualifications and Apprenticeships. As a business they are passionate about equality and ensuring that every child benefits from an excellent education, regardless of background or region.
Jen Bramley is Chief Executive Officer of Babington – one of the largest and longest-established apprenticeship providers in the UK.
Jen has more than 15 years’ experience in the education and training sector.
Prior to her appointment as CEO, Jen served as Executive Director of Customer Engagement, and latterly Chief Operating Officer where she was responsible for successfully building initiatives to drive service delivery, quality, compliance, customer operations and safeguarding across Babington’s extensive provision. Besides playing a critical role in shaping the strategic direction of the business in 2023, Jen led the Company’s engagement with Ofsted, resulting in a Grade 2 (‘Good’) outcome for Babington across all inspection categories.
Jen is a highly experienced, purpose-driven, and dynamic leader with a passion for people, and is a lifelong advocate for the place and potential of Skills and Education to transform lives and careers. Jen serves on the governing board of her local primary school and is delighted to represent Babington as an active member of both AELP and St Martin’s Group.
Simon Gibson is currently Group Head of L&D at Marks and Spencer running a team covering the entire company and employee lifecycle. Responsible for defining/transforming the strategy and vision for learning across M&S, and for creating world-class learning experiences for 65,000 +colleagues, managers and leaders alike. He has a varied history and experience of working in different sectors and economic climates. From start-up to large multi-national Corporate, including fields such as Finance (b2b and b2c), I.T., Sales, SaS, Solar Energy, Distribution, Media & Digital and Retail. A real passion and energy to drive learning change for the good of both the individual and business, whilst being brave about how technology can really aid some the challenges ahead
Alex started his career as an apprentice within the Hospitality sector moving on to become the Managing Director of a large support services group, VT Group PLC. Alex then moved to Babcock International Group, where he continued to build the apprenticeship expansion into further sectors. For the 10 years following that Alex led Lifetime Training, which grew to become one of the largest providers of apprenticeship training in the country. He became a Board member of AELP for over 10 years and provided support and insight to Government during the reform of apprenticeships during the introduction of the levy.
Over the past 18 months Alex has supported Babcock’s Civil Training business’s transition to corporate ownership. This has now rebranded as Inspiro, with Alex as Chair. Inspiro focuses on Apprenticeships and Adult Technical training across the engineering and service sectors.
Nigel Taylor is CareTech’s Group Head of Learning and Development. He represents CareTech on many Governmental departmental initiatives, working closely with many of their key departments, including the Department for Education.
Nigel is passionate about developing the workforce, as a key asset and supports the provision of developing resources to enable our workforce to thrive. He believes that learning is something we all do every day, and applying this learning effectively is key to providing our staff with opportunities so they feel supported in their roles and can, in turn, can support those in our services/homes/schools providing high quality care and support.
Caretech are committed to utilising apprenticeships where appropriate and have achieved the position of 54th in the top 100 employers for apprenticeships.
Simon is the Chief Executive Officer of the group of companies that includes apprenticeship providers Impact Futures and The Childcare Company – which provides apprenticeships and other skills programmes across childcare and early years, health and social care, and business skills to over 5000 learners.
Simon has nearly 30 years of experience leading and transforming businesses across financial services, business services and the adult skills sectors. His executive career has spanned Barclays, the NHS, Financial Ombudsman Service, Santander and Capita. Simon was also the Group MD of PeoplePlus Group, one of the UK’s largest Skills, Social Care and Employability providers to local and national government.
Simon is a Fellow of the Institute of Employability Professionals and a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute. Simon is also the Chairman of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority, overseeing fire and rescue services to over 800,000 people and which was recently judged one of the top 100 Apprenticeship Employers – the top Fire and Rescue Service in the country.
Sam is the CEO/Co-Founder of Accelerate People, an Apprenticeship End-point Assessment Organisation currently operating within the Digital Sector. As well as overseeing the day-to-day operations, Sam leads on the vision and strategic direction of the business within the Blenheim Chalcot portfolio.
Sam has worked in the BC portfolio for some 10 years as Director of Operations where she led a highly successful team and was responsible for delivering Ofsted Grade 1. Sam is a qualified External and Internal Verifier and tutor and prior to her BC career, she spent 12 years at a national training provider with over 5,000 apprenticeship starts per year, starting as Area Manager and working up to CEO.
A passionate advocate of Apprenticeships, Sam has helped numerous businesses in the sector to build their infrastructure to enable them to achieve and maintain quality provision as they grow.
Gareth John FCA is Policy Director of First Intuition, an award-winning national education provider of accounting and leadership & management programmes who offer online and classroom courses including apprenticeships. Gareth qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the 1990’s before moving into professional education for the main accountancy awarding bodies. He is a member of the ICAEW’s Education & Training Board and is involved in a number of other skills and apprenticeship groups.
