Meet The Governors

Nigel is a former student of Lakes College and has recently retired from his role as Head of Profession (Engineering and Maintenance) with Sellafield Ltd, where among his many responsibilities he had overall responsibility for the training and development of 2,400 maintenance and engineering staff, including the technical content and governance of apprenticeships. His enthusiasm and commitment to partnership working, and to enhance opportunities for local communities, shines through.

Nigel chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Finance and Corporate Working Group. He also participates in self-assessment sessions for quality purposes.

Interests and expertise: engineering; nuclear; health and safety

With a background in education, leadership and sport, Mark began his career as a teacher and lecturer, motivated by a desire to make a positive difference to learners’ lives. His early experience included delivering English and maths basic skills within the prison education system, before progressing into further education as a sport lecturer and senior leader.

Mark spent over a decade at Accrington & Rossendale College, becoming Head of Sport and later a Director, before moving into a senior role at Blackpool & Fylde College. He later worked in education consultancy across the North West, supporting colleges with quality improvement and Ofsted preparation. In 2022, Mark was appointed Interim Principal for the States of Guernsey, where he helped lead significant improvement, followed by his role as Executive Principal in Milton Keynes prior to joining Lakes College.

Having strong links to Cumbria, Mark is committed to working with students, staff, employers and key stakeholders to build on the College’s strong foundations and support its ambition to be at the forefront of technical, academic and vocational education and training.

Interests and expertise: leadership and governance; teaching and learning; quality improvement; education inspection and improvement; stakeholder and employer engagement.

An education specialist and a former lead inspector with Ofsted, Elaine brings important sector experience to the board, championing high-quality provision which is student-focused. She is firmly committed to ensuring that all students have the very best chances to learn and as a consultant working with several colleges, she has oversight of practice elsewhere in the country which adds value to the board.

Elaine is Vice-Chair and will take on the co-chairmanship of the Quality Working Group in the coming year and lead responsibility for equality and diversity and learner support.

Interests and expertise: education and training; Ofsted; equality and diversity and learner support

Yvonne is a cyber security specialist bringing a new skillset to the Lakes College Board and, as someone local to Cumbria, welcomes the developments in further education in recent years that provide greater opportunities for young people, including apprenticeship route. Prior to joining the board, she has had occasion to visit college and was impressed with the learners she met.

From her experience working with learners in her day job (not just Lakes) she looks forward to challenging not just on the academic front, but on the softer skills that a learner needs, including the ability to write documents such as policy and procedures. She is looking forward to contributing her subject matter expertise and to taking on roles in the future in a chairing capacity.

Interests and expertise: cyber security; IT; employer engagement

Peter is Managing Partner of local Chartered Accountants and business advisers Robinson and Co. He takes a keen interest in driving businesses forward to reach their full potential, irrespective of size and type. He brings significant business development expertise to the board.

Peter is a member of the Finance and Corporate Working Group.

Interests and expertise: finance; business development

Elaine is HR Manager for JDP in Cumbria with a particular interest in leadership and change management, having supported several companies through the process during her career. She believes in the power of building trust, coupled with an open and honest approach to effect change.

Elaine likes to explore different angles to the challenges all businesses face and is adept at seeing patterns and opportunities, bringing a fresh perspective to decision-making. With former experience in a community-based organisation, she is motivated on a personal level to re-engage in community activity through her board membership and looks forward to her own self-development.

Interests and expertise: HR; staff relations; internal communications; change management

As Senior Legal Counsel with Assystem, the world’s third-largest independent engineering organisation, Alistair’s knowledge and experience in law and compliance — coupled with his knowledge of the nuclear sector — brings much welcome skills to the Lakes College Board.

With an interest in education from a previous life at a local authority, Alistair is driven by his firmly-held belief of the transformational effect of education to unlock economic growth, in addition to providing critical services of benefit to local communities.

Alistair firmly believes in the importance of the learner experience and looks forward to using his considerable leadership skills and analytical ability to maximum impact.

Interests and expertise: law; economics; risk; compliance; employer engagement

Val Pallister has recently retired as Data Services Manager and her passion for the college has led her to continue in a boardroom setting, bringing her not inconsiderable experience to the skills mix, including to the Audit Committee. Her understanding of the complex sector rules is a valuable asset to the board.

Throughout her career Denise has been a committed volunteer, serving on Workington Town Council and mentoring ex-offenders. A former student of the college, she has returned to support and promote education as a means of expanding horizons and getting work. Denise is currently working as a strategic adviser for Mace Group, has supported local authorities with regeneration and infrastructure funding bids and has previously supported unemployed people to find work by building their confidence and skills. She is currently seconded to Sellafield Ltd and has been recently elected to the local authority, where she serves as the Portfolio Holder for Roads and Transport.

Denise is a member of the Audit Committee.

Interests and expertise: community; worklessness; education and training; local authority

Prior to her appointment at Cumbria, Jill held several senior leadership roles including Head of Department of Engineering and Mathematics at Sheffield Hallam University and Head of School of Engineering at the University of Chester.

In the course of her career, Jill has attracted more than £1.8 million in research funding and is the author of more than 70 publications and has delivered numerous invited lectures.

She has won prestigious awards including the Charles Sharpe Beecher Prize for aerospace research and the THE award for Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiatives.

Jill is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and is a Director of the National College for Nuclear.

Norma is Director and Company Secretary of the Cockermouth Agricultural Show and on the Executive of the North West Show Association, in addition to her daytime job at the Rural Payments Agency. She is a Chartered Company Secretary.

She is a co-opted member of the Audit Committee, following a long many years as a full-time Governor.

Interests and expertise: governance; audit