Biography

My background in training, like most trainers, did not start out wanting to be a trainer.  I was at Art College and we were doing a module on Computer Design.  The tutor at that time (computers being relatively new in college) did not really understand how the computer worked or the software we needed to use.

Fortunately, I already had a computer and the software that was used on the course.  So I approached the tutor with a possible solution.  “I can teach them to do this module, I know how to use the computers and I know the software”.  Needless to say the tutor was more than happy to hand this over.

That was the moment that I realised what it was that I wanted to do as a career.

That was over 17 years ago and I still love providing both solutions and training.

I moved with my then girlfriend down to Coventry and enrolled on my Adult and Further Education Teachers course.   I really enjoyed the course and how it was delivered as I could not only do the theory but I could put it into practice as the provider also utilised me to train their own students.

I passed the course and also completed my D32 and D33 assessors awards which would then allow me to assess NVQ courses.

I then had many different training jobs with different training providers and was always requested by certain companies by name, when they wanted to book any training.  I provided training for companies like, British Steel, British Gas, Rover, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lucas, Alvis, Peugeot, Barclay’s and West Midlands Police.

In 1998 a training provider I was working with placed me on a long term placement at Dunlop Tyres in Birmingham.  It was here that started to see the advantage of designing courses that suit the client, as many training providers still only provide off the shelf courses.

My role was to provide training services for all of Dunlop Tyres staff, both office and factory staff.  My main priority was to find out what it was they currently did as a company, what they felt they needed to be able to do and then the current skill levels of all staff involved.

I wrote and delivered many courses, that where targeted at specific requirements within the business and soon gained a reputation for providing training that was different to going on normal training courses.

In 1999, Dunlop Tyres went into a joint venture with Goodyear Tyres.  I was then approached to be part of a change management team and on contract directly by the now Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd.  I was responsible for making sure the whole team were trained correctly for our implementation of SAP.

After the successful implementation of SAP I was then asked to take up a full time training role, still on contract with Goodyear Dunlop.  I was responsible, now for both businesses’ training provision.  I was the longest serving temporary contract staff member they had ever had at 7 years.  I was then asked to join them as a full time member of staff.

During my time a Goodyear Dunlop, I have written over 80 different courses and designed, developed and delivered a Training Academy.   Created many e-Learning modules to support the training provided.  I have also taught many members of their staff to train their own specialist skills.  Creating not only a training academy that runs courses but one that runs courses delivered by the subject mater experts themselves.

The courses I developed range from normal office applications like Word and Excel, through to bespoke software developed at Goodyear Dunlop, for the IT training.  For the Soft Skills training, I have developed courses from Presentation skills, through to Project Management.  Some of the courses are specific only to Goodyear Dunlop and are used globally throughout the business.

I am now running my own company and I am enjoying that even more, because of the knowledge and skills I have learnt in all my previous jobs.  Coincidently, Goodyear Dunlop still remains one of my biggest clients and I have been providing training services to English Heritage, Skipton Finance and North Hertfordshire Strategic Area Partnership Group.