BIS&DfE

	Jayne McCann Apprenticeship Unit, Trailblazers Team - BIS&DfE
Jayne McCann leads the delivery of phase 2 Trailblazers in the BIS and DfE Apprenticeship Unit. Her previous responsibilities within the Unit include Apprenticeship Quality, Standards policy, and working on the Government response to the Richard Review. Before her civil service career Jayne taught English in Hong Kong, and held posts at Merseyside Police and Hugh Baird College.

	Andy Palmer Managing Director, Aspire Achieve Advance Limited
Andy Palmer is Managing Director of Aspire Achieve Advance (3aaa), the leading provider of Apprenticeships in the IT, Social Media and Accountancy sectors. Andy was previously Managing Director of Automotive Apprenticeship provider, Skillnet, and before that spent five years as Director of Education and Skills at BT. He joined BT from e-skills UK where he was Director of Operations. Andy is a Board Member at Ofsted and has worked in an advisory capacity with the CBI, Awarding Organisations, Government Departments and their Agencies throughout his career.

	Helen West OBE Head of Skills Development, Aspire Achieve Advance Limited & e-Skills
Helen graduated from Bristol University with a degree in Psychology and has worked in a variety of roles at the public-private sector interface, most recently as Chief Executive of Business Link Yorkshire. Every job in her career has focused on maximising customer service – whether designing new approaches, developing teams, growing organisations, transforming performance, or restructuring to reduce costs. In her early roles, those customers were individuals, including young people and those out of work, and projects included the design and roll-out of the national Restart training programme. Latterly those customers have been businesses; she set up and led two Business Link organisations, the largest of which provided services to over 120,000 businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber. Working for a private sector firm delivering public sector services, she transformed the company to a £35 million business, doubling outputs in a 12 month period and generating £35 for the local economy for every pound spent. However, following cuts in public spending, her role focused on steering the company through successful downsizing and eventual closure, while keeping staff engaged and delivering services right through to the very last day. Indeed, they achieved their highest levels of customer satisfaction in their closing months. Helen has recently been appointed as Head of Skills Development with e-skills UK. In 2007, she was awarded an OBE for services to business in recognition of her work.

	Keith Marshall OBE CEng FIET IET Trailblazer Manager, The IET
Keith Marshall is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, London. His early career was as an Electrical Engineering Officer in the Royal Navy, specialising in conventional submarines. Leaving the Royal Navy he worked as a systems engineer in a defence contract company before joining the Engineering Industry Training Board (EITB). At the EITB Keith led the team that developed the early engineering National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). He was part of the team that transformed the EITB from a statutory to a non-statutory organisation. Keith’s next position was as part of the team that set up the Training Standards Council (TSC) the first organisation to inspect the quality of non-Further Education College work-based training providers. As a Senior Inspector he scheduled and led inspections. When the TSC joined with the Further Education inspectorate to form the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI), widening its remit to cover all work-based training, Keith became Director of Inspection with responsibility for Planning. On leaving the ALI Keith was appointed CEO of SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building services engineering covering Electrotechnical, heating and ventilation, plumbing, refrigeration and air-conditioning. He set the organisation up and ran it for ten years, leaving in September 2013. Keith now works as an independent consultant. Keith has an honours degree in electrical engineering and is a Fellow of the IET. He was appointed OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2008 for services to vocational training and in 2013 was awarded Fellowship of the City & Guilds of London Institute

	Sharon Frazer Learning, Assessment, Design & Practice Manager, City & Guilds
Dedicated to the improvement of the UK vocational education and training system, Sharon has supported the development and implementation of vocational training programmes for nearly 25 years. One of the UK’s most experienced writers of national occupational standards and vocational qualifications; Sharon has used leading edge techniques for working with industry to produce standards and qualifications for Management (1997 and 2004), Business Administration (2000 – 2009), Customer Service (1998), Hospitality (2001 – 2009) and many other sectors. Her expertise extends across the full range of vocational contexts and she is known for the development of high quality apprenticeship schemes, foundation degree frameworks and competence-based initiatives which maximise stakeholder participation and are designed to meet current and emerging industry need. Sharon worked with LLUK, Ofqual and Awarding Organisations to co-author the current L&D standards and qualifications for Assessment and Quality Assurance and has since continued to champion initiatives to research and disseminate best practice across the sector. Sharon is an occupational and organisational psychologist and long-standing member of the British Psychological Society. For the last 5 years she has been an active member of Ofqual’s External Advisory Group for Equality, Inclusion and Diversity. Sharon is an Associate Lecturer with the Open University and currently works for City & Guilds in the Learning, Assessment, Design and Practice Team. Her current focus includes policy and practice to support remote assessment, international standards and apprenticeship design.

	Graham Hasting-Evans Managing Director, NOCN
Graham has many years senior management experience in a number of economic sectors both in the UK and internationally. He has lead several organisations through periods of major change and challenge. He joined NOCN as Managing Director at the beginning of 2011, having worked on workforce training, employment and skills development in industry, government and also on the construction of the London Olympics. His work on developing the skills of adults and young people includes time in Southern Africa and Thailand as well as parts of northern Europe.

	Carole Carson Chief Executive Officer, Babington Group
Carole Carson is the CEO of the Babington Group. She has over 20 years senior management experience in private, public and the third sector, encompassing a wide range of operational management, business improvement and consultancy roles before joining the Training provider world in 2003 working at Director level. Carole is Chair of the Higher Skills SIG for AELP and a Fellow of the Institute of Employability Professionals.

	Corrina Hembury Head of Policy and Planning, Babington Group
Corrina Hembury is the Head of Policy and Planning at the Babington Group. She has over 15 years’ experience in FE working for both third sector organisations and Independent Training Providers. Corrina is a Board member of the Nottinghamshire Training Network, sits on Steering Groups with AELP for the Apprenticeship reforms and SLC for 24+ Learning Loans and has a wealth of experience within the Apprenticeship world.

	Marcus Bowsher Business Development Partner, Babington Group
Marcus Bowsher is a Chartered Insurer with 25 years’ experience in the Financial Services Sector, where he held several senior positions including Sales Director Bristol & West, Strategic Partnership Director AXA and Head of Affinity Partnerships at ACE European Group. Marcus now runs his own consultancy business and has been advising on developing apprenticeships in the Financial Services sector through work with the Babington Group and most recently with BIS where he has led work on the new standard for the Financial Advice Sector.

	Ian Carnell Apprenticeship and Certification Manager, SEMTA
Ian Carnell, short biography: • 22 years with Rolls Royce Aerospace - Jet engine fitter/tester (development engineering) - Foreman jet engine test department and Halford Laboratory (development engineering) - Manager jet engine test (development engineering) • Training controller/Manager (Young People) Rolls Royce - Leavesden Watford • Operations Manager (Young People) - Hertfordshire Training and Enterprise Council • Apprenticeship and Certification Manager - Semta

BIS&DfE

Jayne McCann

Apprenticeship Unit, Trailblazers Team - BIS&DfE

Andy Palmer

Managing Director, Aspire Achieve Advance Limited

Helen West OBE

Keith Marshall OBE CEng FIET

IET Trailblazer Manager, The IET

Sharon Frazer

Learning, Assessment, Design & Practice Manager, City & Guilds

Graham Hasting-Evans

Managing Director, NOCN

Carole Carson

Corrina Hembury

Head of Policy and Planning, Babington Group

Marcus Bowsher

Business Development Partner, Babington Group

Ian Carnell

Apprenticeship and Certification Manager, SEMTA