Rooney Anand (Chairman)
Rooney Anand is Chairman of private equity backed businesses Away Resorts and Purity Soft Drinks. He also serves as Senior Independent Director for Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc and senior advisor to KKR in the UK. After an early career in FMCG, Rooney is credited with having turned Greene King, the national pub retailer and brewer, into a brand-led restaurant/hotel operator and FTSE 250 company during his tenure as CEO.
Marion Plant (Deputy Chair)
Marion Plant OBE is Principal and Chief Executive of NWSLC and Chief Executive of the Midland Academies Trust which is responsible for four secondary schools. Marion also served a three-year term as a Non-executive Director at the Department for Education. In March 2018 Marion was awarded the ‘Business Woman of the Year Award’ by the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce.
Barry Liles
Barry Liles OBE is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor (Skills & Lifelong Learning) and Head of the Wales Institute of Science & Art, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Barry joined WorldSkills UK’s Board as a Trustee in 2013 and is also Chair Carmarthenshire Public Services Board (2015- present day) and Chair Regional Learning & Skills Partnership Provider Group (2014- present day).
Brian Doran
Brian has been Principal and Chief Executive at Southern Regional College since the formation of the college in 2008. He previously held the position of Deputy Director for Teaching and Learning at the Newry and Kilkeel Institute. Brian has taught in both the post primary and further education sectors and is a past graduate of Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University and has recently completed a senior leadership programme at the University of Oxford.
Dawn Childs
Dawn Childs is the Chief Executive Officer Operations at Pure Data Centres Group. She has held several previous roles across various industries, including the Change Director for National Grid, Group Engineering Director for Merlin Entertainments and the Head of Engineering at Gatwick Airport. Dawn joined Gatwick Airport in 2012 after serving for 23 years as an Engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force. Dawn is also President of the Women’s Engineering Society.
Mark Dawe
Mark is the Chief Executive of The Skills Network. He is on a range of government boards such as the ESFA Advisory Board and the FE Reform Advisory Group. Previously, Mark Dawe was the Chief Executive of OCR, the exam board, for 5 years. He has been a governor of primary and secondary schools and a further education college.
Mike James
Mike James is an engineer by background and now Chief Executive of Cardiff and Vale College Group. He has over 23 years of experience in the FE sector, including holding senior posts in both Bristol and a major London College prior to Cardiff.
Sam Ingleby
Until November 2021,Sam was Managing Director of Portland Communications, the political consultancy and public relations agency. Responsible for the agency’s client teams around the world, he provided senior counsel to a range of clients on all aspects of media, politics and reputation. He began his career working at The Independent before joining the (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) as a fast stream entrant.
Paul Little
Paul Little is founder/CEO of Glasgow City College. Over the past 30 years he has successfully led and reshaped five UK colleges earning a national and international reputation as a visionary reformer, successful change agenda leader, merger specialist and thought leader in redefining college education.
Faried Chopdat
Faried Chopdat is the Founder and Director of the boutique Advisory and ‘Future Leaders’ Coaching company, equario8. His career has also included roles in multi-national organisations such as SABMiller plc, Travelex, Finablr plc, and Deloitte.
Jennifer Rudder
Jennifer Rudder is the Finance and IT Director for Apollo Fire Detectors Limited. She is responsible for the company’s global Finance, IT and Sustainability teams, working closely with manufacturing and sales facilities in the UK, China, Italy and Germany. She has a BSc in Biology and a Masters in Accounting from the University of Missouri, St Louis. She is also a pension trustee for Apollo, and a Non-executive Director for BEA Inc.
Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann
Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE joined WorldSkills UK as CEO in 2015, overseeing all WorldSkills UK’s activities, working closely with the rest of our board across the UK and internationally – in governments, employers and education. Under Neil’s tenure as CEO, the organisation has grown and developed to focus on how international benchmarking from the global WorldSkills network in over 80 countries can be harnessed to drive up standards in skills development across the UK
