Speakers

Steve Besley

Head of Education Policy at Pearson/Edexcel

Steve Besley is Head of Education Policy at Pearson/Edexcel, one of the major unitary awarding bodies. He is responsible for monitoring, analysing and advising on qualification development and related national issues. Before joining Edexcel he worked on curriculum and business development in schools and FE.

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Martin Dunford

Chief Executive -  Skills Training UK

Martin was Chief Executive of The Training and Business Group (TBG) during which time the organisation grew to be one of the largest of its kind in the U.K. (with over 40,000) enrolments a year), delivering employer focussed LSC funded work based learning and other vocational learning, particularly in collaboration with FE Colleges, Learndirect and Job Centre Plus.

After University Martin began his career in education, teaching science to overseas students in Oxford. He then moved into international marketing, product and business development of high value, hi-tech scientific instrumentation; a demanding industrial market where competitive advantage is achieved via fast paced continuous improvement. Whilst working in this market he gained his MBA.

Martin is a founder member and Chairman of The Association of Learning Providers (ALP) and previously has chaired the National Providers Sector Group (NPSG). He was a member of the Steering Group of The End to End Review of Modern Apprenticeships and also a member of the advisory panel to Sir Andrew Foster (The Foster Review of FE). In May 2004 he was appointed to the Board of the LSDA and now sits on the Board of the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and is Chair of its Finance Committee. Martin is a current member of The Apprenticeship Ambassador's Network and the DIUS Ministerial Standing Group on Further Education.

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Chris Humphries CBE

Chief Executive - UKCES

Chris Humphries was appointed Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in  January 2008.

This appointment followed high profile national roles as Director General of the City and Guilds of London Institute, the UK's oldest and leading awarding body for Vocational Qualifications, from 2001 to 2007, and Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce from 1998-2001. Other relevant positions included Chief Executive of the TEC National Council from 1994-1998, Chief Executive of the Hertfordshire TEC, Assistant Director of the UK's Council for Educational Technology, and work in the private sector for ICL and Acorn Computers.

Over the last 20 years, Chris has worked actively with Government as an adviser on a wide variety of training projects, including the Open Tech Project, the Training Access Points system, the Prospects careers guidance system, and a variety of other public projects to develop the potential of new technologies for education and training.

 From 1998 to 2000, Chris served as Chairman of the Government's National Skills Task Force, before being appointed as a founder member of the national Learning and Skills Council from 2000 to 2003, and is a continuing member of the national Adult Learning Committee.

He is currently Chairman of UK Skills, and in 2006, led the successful UK bid to host the WorldSkills Competitions in London in 2011. He was a member of the national Skills Strategy Steering Group from December 2002 to 2005, appointed to the Board of the NHSU from 2003-05, and the FE Review Advisory Group in 2005.
 
An Australian by birth, Chris moved to London in 1974 where he still lives with his family.  He was awarded the CBE for services to training and enterprise in June 1998.

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Sue Husband

National Education Manager - McDonald's Restaurants

Sue started her career with McDonald’s in 1987, as a 16 year old, whilst studying for "A" levels in Maths, Chemistry and Geography. Since joining McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, she has worked in a variety of Operations roles including holding responsibility for restaurants in South Wales, working with both Company and Franchised restaurants.

Sue has worked on several secondments within McDonald’s during her 20 year tenure - in Operations, Field Services, and Training and most recently as Central Communications Manager supporting 400 restaurants.

In September 2007, Sue was promoted to head up the Education team and works closely with the wider Human Resources team on the overall People strategy and support of the Skills Pledge.

One of her most recent projects was to develop accredited management training and January McDonald’s was recognised as an awarding body. She is now working alongside the McDonald’s Training team to develop the first McDonald’s accredited qualification – a Level 3 Diploma in Managing a Shift in a Quick Service Restaurant.

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John McNamara

Chief Executive, Alliance of Sector Skills Councils

John McNamara joined the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils in January 2009. John was the Chairman of the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB), the trade association for vocational awarding bodies, and also sits on the UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Board formed by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. John has over 20 years of strategic management expertise gained within the financial services sector and holds graduate and post graduate qualifications from the University of Wales, the University of Aston in Birmingham and Ashridge Management College.

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Graham Moore

Treasurer of the 157 Group and Principal and Chief Executive of Stoke on Trent College

Graham Moore is Principal and Chief Executive of Stoke on Trent College. He has considerable experience in further education, with sixteen years as a principal. He contributed to the Foster Review of Colleges and served on the LSC "Agenda for Change" Business Excellence Group. Currently he is Treasurer of the 157 Group, comprising 23 of the largest further education colleges in the country. He also chairs the West Midland E-learning company which was successful as a Learndirect hub. His knowledge and experience enable him to speak about the key importance of ICT skills to this country's future prosperity with authority. In 2004 he was awarded an OBE for services to further education.

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Matthew Nicholas

Jobcentre Plus Director, Employers and Stakeholders

Matthew Nicholas is Jobcentre Plus’ Board Director responsible for employers.  He leads also on their external relationships with a broad range of such partners as the Learning and Skills Council, Local Authorities, Regional Development Agencies, Citizens Advice and external stakeholder management.

Before that he was the Jobcentre Plus Director for Yorkshire and the Humber responsible for all of the welfare to work services and benefit delivery in the Region. He was a member of the Regional Skills Alliance and a non-executive Director of the Government Office.

In Jobcentre Plus and the Employment Service before that he managed the national implementation of the New Deal and, then, the target performance system. That followed senior Civil Service jobs in the then Department for Education and Employment including the framework with the Training and Industry Councils [TECs] and managing the Investors in People standard and two years seconded to the NatWest Bank

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Professor John Philpott

Chief Economist - CIPD

John was appointed in November 2000. He is helping the CIPD to advance thinking on a coherent policy strategy for boosting business efficiency, maintaining full employment and raising real incomes in the UK and other developed economies. His regular Perspectives essays survey 'big picture' labour market and employment policy issues. He also writes a regular blog for the CIPD website.

John has a Doctorate from the University of Oxford and holds a Visiting Professorship in Economics at the University of Hertfordshire. Prior to joining the CIPD he was, for 13 years, Director of the Employment Policy Institute (EPI), an independent policy think-tank. His research and publications have covered labour market trends, long-term unemployment, welfare-to-work, full employment, employability, productivity, minimum-wage setting, the euro and Social Europe. He is a regular media commentator on these issues.

John is responsible for the CIPD's Labour Market Outlook report (formerly called HR quarterly trends and indicators), which provides forward-looking information to help employers forecast recruitment and other employment intentions. It covers subjects such as recruitment, redundancies and pay.

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Dr Lis Smith

Director of Skills, North West Development Agency

Lis has been at the NWDA for four years, joining as National Skills Policy Manager to deliver the lead role with DIUS and DWP, and latterly, in her present capacity as Director of Skills.

She has over 20 years experience in the higher education and skills world, and a real passion for trying to translate business need into fit for purpose provision and support.  She is particularly keen to ensure that the strategic direction and policy formulation around skills and education drives up innovation and enterprise, and the impact that these policies are having for growing regional economies.

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Jon Trigg

UK Strategy Director - A4e

Jon’s role at A4e’s includes development of new areas of delivery which includes encouraging the integration of skills and welfare, provision of legal aid advice, tackling financial exclusion and addressing health and social care inequality.

After graduating from Bristol University, Jon joined the Army, spending most of his service overseas mainly in the Balkans and the Middle East. When he left he was employed by Deutsche Bank and was based in London as their programme and project manager. He specialised in the corporate sector particularly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. His work centred on the creation of infrastructures to support small businesses in hitherto closed economies. Jon was then drawn to the challenges provided by the public sector and became a local government officer, leading on transformational service change to the public.

Jon joined A4e with a brief to look at wider opportunities within the public sector to tackle social issues, with particular interest in driving choice and personalisation of services. In his current role Jon is a strong advocate of both partnership working and joint approaches encompassing all involved agencies as the best way forward on the social agenda.

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James Westhead

Broadcaster and journalist 

James is a senior national and international television correspondent with a decade of specialist experience covering education and social policy.

His current position, since 2007 , is as the BBC's Education & Social Policy correspondent, appearing regularly on all the main news programmes from One, Six and Ten O'clock news to the key radio news bulletins and the Today programme .

Before that he was posted to the US for two years as one of the BBC's Washington Correspondents, covering international affairs and US politics.

From 2001 to 2005 he worked as the BBC's Education & family correspondent, covering these key domestic policy areas as well as travelling abroad on major stories including the Tsunami in Sri Lanka and the flooding of New Orleans.

From 1995 to 2001 James specialised in health issues as a health correspondent for regional TV news and then as one of the founding correspondents on the News 24 Channel which launched in 1997.
James first joined the BBC in 1990 as a local radio reporter at BBC Radio Kent. Before that he gained a degree in politics and philosophy at Oxford University.

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Andy Wilson

Principal  - Westminster Kingsway College

Andy has been Principal of Westminster Kingsway College since July 2004. Previously, he was Deputy Principal at Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College (EHWLC) for three and a half years, where he was part of the management team overseeing the successful merger, and Vice Principal at the College of NE London.

Andy was born near Leicester, studied in Liverpool and has been based in London for the last 25 years. His teaching career included establishing a ground-breaking Media Education facility at CoNEL, as well as Nurse Education, IT and Communication Studies. More recently, his management experience has taken in quality systems, MIS, resource management and curriculum development. Andy is Chair of the RIBA Learning & Skills Sector Client Forum, which provides support to colleges involved in capital projects, and of the London Region AoC Marketing Committee.

He is also the AoC National Skills Champion for the Hospitality industry.

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