Jessica Hill | FE Week

Private equity and training: a complicated relationship explained

The last ten years has seen a gold rush of global private equity (PE) companies seeking to make the most of the opportunities presented by the apprenticeship levy by pouring their money into England’s independent training providers. But PE owners are being hit by a double whammy of lower profit margins in the apprenticeships training […]

Colin Booth, chief executive, Luminate Education Group

Colin Booth’s 40-year career has taken him from teaching anything anybody would pay him for, whilst living homeless in his Ford Cortina, to becoming chief executive of one of the largest college groups and a national leader of further education. But recent months have been the toughest of all with his Luminate Education Group facing […]

A break with tradition: the crafts fighting for survival

The biggest losers in the government’s mission to boost apprenticeships are traditional crafts for whom the term “apprenticeship” was initially intended. We investigate how longstanding training going back to the Middle Ages is now under threat. Crafts passed on since England’s original national apprenticeship scheme was introduced in 1563 are now considered too small in […]

Skills and training: the centrepiece of Brabin’s northern project

The mayor claims to have used her adult education budget to target areas where change was needed most, but is keenly eyeing more powers to make a difference

Ian Pryce, chief executive, Bedford College Group

Ian Pryce believes FE “hasn’t been good” at telling the story of how 30 years of college independence from government changed it “out of all recognition”. The chief executive of the Bedford College Group, is determined to redress that in his final FE Week interview as he approaches retirement. There is a perfect synchronicity to […]

Destination defund: the fight to save travel and tourism courses

High-profile workforce shortages in the travel industry haven’t stopped the government’s plans to defund rafts of popular courses. Jessica Hill investigates what’s next for travel and tourism training. When stories about long queues at UK airports hit the headlines last summer, travel woes were blamed on staffing shortages across the industry. But with the government […]

Munira Wilson, Lib Dem education spokesperson

As a coalition government seems increasingly likely, FE looks to the Lib Dems’ Munira Wilson to see if the party really is “the party of education” as its education spokesperson claims it to be. The central command of Munira Wilson’s party has avoided speaking on education issues lately. The “latest news” section of the Lib […]

Is FE really meeting its goals when it comes to diversity?

In the wake of the shocking murder of George Floyd by a police officer on the streets of Minneapolis nearly three years ago, businesses and public institutions pledged to redouble their efforts to tackle racism and discrimination. Pledges, diversity charters and steering groups were launched to show that action was being taken. Representative organisations in […]

Chris Claydon, CEO, JTL

Chris Claydon has a biography better suited to James Bond than to the chief executive of a training provider for building service engineers. He has flown Apache military helicopters, briefed cabinet ministers on evacuations from the Arab Spring uprisings, and helped save lives by designing countermeasures to the roadside bombs used in Afghanistan. Oh, and […]