AELP - Key Persons
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.
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 Strategic Projects
Cheryl joined AELP in December 2015 as a home-based Project Manager. Cheryl has held various roles within the organisation but more recently moved into the Policy, Projects and Comms Team as Head of Strategic Projects.
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.
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.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Managing Director of Learn Plus Us
Debbie is Managing Director of Learn Plus Us (LPU)
Debbie is the Managing Director of Learn Plus Us (LPU), an independent Training Provider based in North London, delivering apprenticeships in Early Years and Residential Childcare, Social Housing and Property, Hospitality and Business Services. Other service offers are employability focussed, including LPU's specialist ESOL for Work programmes. Debbie has previous held the roles of Chairperson, Interim Commercial Director and Chief Commercial Officer at LPU.
Debbie started her career in T&D at Sainsbury's in 1990, moving to Qube Learning in 2000 where she held several operational/quality management roles. Debbie was appointed Managing Director in 2006, promoted to CEO in 2010 where she led the company through significant growth and change, retaining an Ofsted GOOD grade 2, Matrix and achieving consistently very high FE Choices employer and learner satisfaction levels. In 2017 she became Executive Chair, before leaving in June 2018 to launch DSG L&M Consultancy Services. Through DSG Debbie provided a range of leadership, governance, oversight, management, and consultancy services, focussing on apprenticeships and FE/Skills. Debbie has often talked about what a privilege it was to be part of several boards in the capacity of NED / governance advisor and to work with such talented and inspirational leaders and senior teams. Debbie ceased trading as DSG in March 2022, having already taken up the CCO role at LPU the previous October.
If you think you recognise the name, it might be because Debbie previously served as an AELP board member from 2013 to 2022, where she sat on three board groups; Finance, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Quality/Ofsted; and to this day is still part of the Quality/Ofsted group. Additionally she represented AELP as a UCAS Council member.
In her spare time Debbie has the role of Cancer Research UK Campaigns Ambassador for South West Bedfordshire. She also values spending quality time with her family and friends.
Debbie sets high standards and prides herself on being able to represent the views and issues small-medium training providers experience. She has a genuine passion for people development and seeing people reach their full potential.
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:
- 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 AELP Vice Chair and chairs the AELP quality board group.
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 co-founder of HIT Training Ltd
Fondly known as The Gaffer, Jill is co-founder of HIT Training Ltd and a driving force behind the company's award-winning success.
Her passion is the development of individuals to access their potential and provide businesses with the skills they need to excel in their performance, all through apprenticeships.
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:
- Administrator
- Finance Officer
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:
- Chief Executive of TTE Training Limited
Nick Smith is the Chief Executive of TTE Training Limited (TTE), an Ofsted outstanding and award-winning engineering training provider based at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. TTE primarily trains process maintenance and operations apprentices on behalf of COMAH regulated manufacturing employers, including INEOS Inovyn, Essar Oil (UK) and Urenco. Nick currently represents Cheshire and Warrington providers as a director and board member of the Northern Skills Network. He is also a Chartered Manager and Chartered Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and is currently the volunteer Chair of the CMI's West Midlands & North West regional board.
Nick's other volunteer roles include being a trustee and non-executive director at the Northern Consortium educational charity and a member at the Great Academies multi academy trust. In his previous full time role Nick was the Chief Executive of a large University Students' Union, and in a previous life he was a commando trained Royal Navy Training Management and Media Ops Officer.
Job Titles:
- 16 to 19 Senior Policy Manager
Job Titles:
- Membership Account Manager
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance
- Finance Director
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Job Titles:
- Membership Account Manager
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:
- Deputy Chief Executive
- Director of Policy
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Simon is Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy
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.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- CEO of Remit Training
Sue is Chief Executive Officer of Remit Training
Sue is CEO of Remit Training, an Ofsted ‘outstanding' provider which has also been awarded Investor in People Platinum. Having spent more than 25 years in education management, she has led Remit's development to become a highly respected provider of apprenticeships in automotive, IT, business, retail, food manufacturing, hospitality and management. In automotive, for example, virtually all the world's leading truck manufacturers are employer clients. Remit also has a growing commercial training arm to its offer, covering automotive, digital and leadership courses.
Sue works closely with DfE, IfATE and others to help shape positive change in the sector. She is a CBI Councillor (East Midlands) to help influence regional and national skills policy.
In addition to championing high quality training and willing to share best practice, she lobbies for the simplification of the complexity embedded in apprenticeship levy framework, more sustainable investment in apprenticeships and a need for a more credible offer to support the unemployed. She is also an advocate for an English and maths curriculum that aligns with businesses' needs, therefore, is advocating some change in the current offer, particularly in maths.