Philip Augar

Head of Post 18 Funding Review

Philip Augar, a former banker with a doctorate in history, is chair of the independent panel advising the government’s review of post 18 education and funding. He has held numerous public and private sector directorships. The author of several books, he contributes regularly to the Financial Times and BBC.

Bill Rammell

Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, University of Bedfordshire

Bill Rammell took office as Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire in September 2012. Prior to that he was Deputy Vice Chancellor at Plymouth University where he was responsible for the student experience and internationalisation.

Bill was MP for Harlow from 1997 to 2010. He was Minister of State for Further and Higher Education in the Labour Government and also served as Minister of State for the Foreign Office and Minister of State for the Armed Forces.

With a commitment to widening access to higher education that is rooted in personal, academic and government experience, Bill leads the University's mission to deliver the best possible student experience for an international learning community. He is passionate about the University's record and role in transforming lives, promoting employability and world-leading research.

Jenny Taylor

UK Foundation Leader, IBM UK Early Professional Programmes

Jenny Taylor is responsible for IBM UK's Graduate, Apprenticeship and Intern programmes; managing recruitment, career management, development of education programmes and finance and operations for the schemes. This involves working across the full spectrum of IBM's business lines, managing Early Professionals in business, technology, consulting and sales roles. These programmes have won multiple awards.

Jenny is Chair of the Tech Partnership Digital Apprenticeship Standards and Degree Apprenticeships Employer steering groups and plays a leading part in the development of Trailblazer standards. She actively supports initiatives to create skills for the digital economy including girls’ schools outreach, STEM and employability skills for young people. Jenny has received industry recognition for her mentoring and inspirational leadership. She is also a Commissioner for the Princess Royal Training Awards and a member of the Quality Assurance Agency degree awarding powers committee.

Jenny has appeared on national TV and radio to discuss career and education opportunities for young people. She is a graduate of the University of Liverpool where she read History.

Fiona Hudson-Kelly

Chief Executive, Smart Apprentices

Fiona is an award winning serial technology entrepreneur, CEO and the inspirational founder of Smart Apprentices. Smart Apprentices is one of the UK’s Top 50 fastest growing technology companies, providing a suite of innovative technology platforms for apprenticeship providers and end point assessment organisations.

An apprentice herself with Rolls-Royce at the age of 16, Fiona is passionate about creating opportunities for our young people to succeed through the apprenticeship route, as she did herself, many years ago. Starting her first company at just 26 years of age, over 3 decades she has built and sold 2 multi-million technology companies whilst raising 4 children on her own.

Her entrepreneurial journey is inspiring and heart rendering. When she lost one of her companies in the wake of the Rover Group failure and had to pick herself up and start again as a single mum, virtually penniless, she successfully started and sold her next technology company Silver Lining Solutions to US investors for £5.6m.

An avid life-long learner, she has just completed her Masters MBA degree. Fiona is an award winning serial entrepreneur and author of Survival of the Smartest, a must read for any college leader.

Caroline J Bedford

Head of Trainee Experience, Grant Thornton and Co-Chair, Accountancy Trailblazer Standards

Caroline is passionate about using the apprenticeship levy to bring a diverse range of talent into organisations and build capability for the future. She has implemented the Apprenticeship Levy in Grant Thornton, is Co-Chair of the Accountancy Trailblazer Standards and a London Apprenticeship Ambassador.

She currently looks after Grant Thornton's Trainee Experience, ensuring that the firm’s 800 trainees can achieve their professional qualifications and become rounded advisors to our clients.

For the past 10 years she has been a Leadership and Professional Development Consultant with a proven track record of designing and delivering award winning programmes.

Chris Baumann

Group Chief Executive, Aktrion Group

Chris graduated with a BSC in Mechanical Engineering from Nottingham University and worked as a design engineer for GEC Turbine Generators before completing a MBA and moving into operations and the business management including 4 years in Australia running and then selling his own engineering business.

Returning to the UK, Chris was appointed Divisional Managing Director at Senior Plc and then Aalberts NV of Holland responsible for their UK and Spanish businesses before joining Aktrion in 2004. In that time, Aktrion has trebled in turnover and expanded into new sectors including Food & Drink and has recently been acquired by Atalian Servest, a €3billion global group.

One of Chris’ passions in business is training & development of staff and in particular young people and Aktrion have developed extensive training programmes for their 3,400 staff and sponsored the FDF Apprentice of the Year award for the last 5 years.

Karen Hewitt

Apprenticeship Manager, British Airways & Chair, The Aviation Industry Skills Board

Karen is the Apprenticeship Manager for the Global Learning Academy, managing apprenticeship programmes for British Airways. She is leading and implementing the apprenticeship levy strategy across the parent company - International Airlines Group (IAG), made up of 15 operating companies. Karen is the Chair of the Aviation Industry Skills Board which represents the views of employers across UK Airlines, Ground Handling Companies and Airports. She is also the Chair of the Trailblazer for Cabin Crew apprenticeship standards.

Karen started her career as an apprentice with British Airways, and has 30 years of operational airline experience, people management and learning & Development expertise. She is passionate about early talent attraction and development, and has a proven track record in delivering award winning apprenticeship and graduate programmes.

Karen is a member of the London Apprenticeship Ambassador Network since its launch in 2012.

Mark Dawe

Chief Executive, Association of Employment and Learning Providers

Mark was appointed as the Chief Executive of AELP 2 years ago. He is on the Board of WorldSkills Uk and the UfI Trust as well as a range of government boards such as the ESFA Advisory Board, IfA Quality Alliance and the DfE’s Apprenticeship Stakeholder Board.

Most recently, 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 (and AELP Board Director) 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 aged children.

Jennifer Coupland

Director of Professional & Technical Education, Department for Education

Jennifer Coupland took up post as DfE’s Director of Professional & Technical Education in October 2016. Her previous role was Acting Chief Executive of the Standards and Testing Agency where she oversaw the Agency’s work on primary school assessment policy and operational delivery, covering the maternity leave of the current Chief Executive.

Prior to that Jennifer spent three years as the Deputy Director of the joint DfE/BIS Apprenticeships Unit where she was responsible for apprenticeship reform including creating new apprenticeship trailblazers, degree apprenticeships and the public sector apprenticeship duty. Before this, Jennifer was the Deputy Director in the Department for Education responsible for the early stages of Traineeships development as well as Raising the Participation Age, careers and NEET policy.

Jennifer began her career in the Employment Service where she ran a benefit section in a local office and delivered a range of programmes to support long term unemployed people into work. Since moving to central Government Jennifer has worked on a number of policy areas including: benefits, schools and post-16 education. Jennifer is married to Dan, who runs his own small business, and together they have three daughters aged 17 and under.

Gillian Keegan, MP

Member of Parliament for Chichester

Gillian Keegan MP has held a number of senior executive positions in the Technology, Banking and Automotive sectors. Gillian was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Travelport, a technology company owned by Blackstone, prior to this she spent eight years based in Madrid as Group Vice President for Amadeus IT Group, which transacted the largest IPO in Europe in 2010. In her earlier career she was involved in the development of digital payment services in the mid 1990’s.

After more than 25 years working for multinational corporations, Gillian decided to embark on a political career in 2014. She was first elected as a local councillor in October 2014 and in May 2015 she stood as a parliamentary candidate in St Helen’s South and Whiston, gaining second place for the Conservatives. Gillian was elected as the MP for Chichester during the 2017 general election.

Dr Julie Nugent

Director of Productivity and Skills, West Midlands Combined Authority

Dr Julie Nugent has extensive experience in the productivity and skills sector having held a range of senior roles across government and the further education sector. She has particular expertise in financing further education and has led on developing new funding systems for the Skills Funding Agency and the Learning and Skills Council. Julie has worked in the Black Country and in Birmingham which has provided her with a keen understanding of the importance of skills in improving economic competitiveness and people’s life chances.

Keith Smith

Director, Apprenticeships, Education and Skills Funding Agency

Keith Smith has over 20 years of experience working in and around the education and skills system. He has worked in a variety of roles, from running local skills programmes to leading national projects. In recent years he has been leading the development and delivery of the national Further Education and Apprenticeship funding systems. Keith has been a Governor of a number schools and University Technology Colleges. He is currently the Programme Director with responsibility for implementing Apprenticeship funding reforms and the Apprenticeship Levy.

Gordon Marsden, MP

Shadow Minister, Higher Education, Further Education and Skills

Gordon Marsden MP was elected as the first Labour Member of Parliament for Blackpool South in 1997. He was educated at Oxford University, University of London and Harvard. Prior to his election, he was the Editor of History Today magazine. As a Member of Parliament Gordon previously was Labour Shadow Minister for Regional Growth, chair of Parliament’s All Party Education and Skills Committee, and a former member of Education and Business and Skills Select Committees. He is currently the Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Further Education and Skills and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism, Leisure and the Hospitality Industry.

Paul McGuire

Chief Operating Officer, JTL

Paul McGuire is the Chief Operating Officer of the JTL group, which includes JTL, the leading apprenticeships provider to the building engineering services sector, and is also Managing Director of CompEx, an international assessment certification company.

Paul is a qualified accountant with over 25 years’ experience in finance across both the private and public sectors, including senior roles in the apprenticeship and skills sector since 2005, as, Finance Director of the Learning & Skills Council and then Chief Operating Officer of the Skills Funding Agency.

Paul joined JTL in 2016 as part of a new executive management team, who have delivered significant improvements to JTL’s quality, achievement rates, and financial results.

Ace

Head of Creative Industry Development, ACM & Guitarist/Songwriter, Skunk Anansie

Holding an MA from Middlesex University in Media and Project Management focussing on Music Education, Ace is the Head of Creative Industry Development for The Academy of Contemporary Music in the UK, the owner of the Ace Guitar Academy in Europe, and has just finished a new book on flexible income streams for the modern musician.

Ace is also the founding member and guitarist of UK rock phenomenon Skunk Anansie. Celebrating 25 years together and selling over 6 million records along the way, the band have headlined at Glastonbury festival, played for Nelson Mandela and sold out concert halls around the world. Skunk Anansie also now run their own Label and London based studio.