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The FCT team
We employ around 50 highly experienced and qualified staff, all of whom regularly update their knowledge of industry practices to ensure that our people are up-to-date on all industry and Government developments.
Lara Newson – Managing Director
Lara Newson founded FCT in 1993 with just a filing cabinet in a spare room. Having previously worked as a freelance trainer, Lara used her links with colleges and companies to develop the networks that survive to this day.
From such small beginnings FCT has grown into a market leader in the provision of competence assurance services for the rail industry, and is now rolling this approach out to other areas. FCT was ranked 33rd in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list in 2005.
Outside work Lara breeds Appaloosa horses and trains them for western competitions
Chris Brandreth – Commercial Director
Chris Brandreth joined FCT as Commercial Director in 1997 following a career in Further Education spanning management and communication studies, leadership of vocational training provision and the establishment of commercial departments in two colleges to meet the training and development needs of large employers.
Linking competence assurance in safety critical and high risk job roles with NVQ awards and government funding has dominated his work since the early 1990s. His delivery models - from apprenticeship training to workplace assessment of experienced staff - consistently gain outstanding recognition. He holds a Masters’ Degree in Human Resource Management and Certificate in Education.
Ewa Bardell – Quality Assurance Manager
Ewa Bardell is the Company’s Quality Assurance Manager and the Programme Director of its approved assessment centre of the Chartered Management Institute.
Ewa is a qualified teacher and a Chartered Manager and has a Master’s degree in English. She has spent all of her career in various management, teaching and training roles in further education, in both the public and private sector, and her areas of expertise include communication, management, training, competence assurance and quality.
Ewa’s current role at FCT includes designing and developing the Company’s quality improvement systems as well as its database management information systems.
Joyce Dargie – Senior Consultant
Joyce has many years’ experience of working in further education and the social care sector. She is a qualified teacher and social worker and has managed services in both sectors, becoming a senior manager in a not-for-profit trust for seven years.
She is an MBA and a Chartered Manager and came to FCT initially in 2000 as a management trainer and assessor. Joyce now has lead responsibility for equality and diversity within FCT, manages the marketing function and has responsibility for a range of business developments. She retains a role as the main internal verifier for FCT’s CMI assessment centre and has delivered bespoke competence assurance programmes to senior managers in rail.
Joyce enjoys working in a multi-disciplinary environment, leading new projects and bringing people together to deliver innovative, quality programmes.
Marilyn Sang – WBL Programmes Manager
Marilyn Sang has worked at FCT since January 2003. On leaving university with BSc (Hons) in Business Information Technology she started her career at GlaxoSmithKline in the Product Marketing Team. Prior to joining FCT she worked at the IEE (now IET) in the Project Management Team.
Marilyn joined FCT as a progress reviewer and key skills assessor for the then Modern Apprenticeship scheme, where she obtained a NVQ L3 in Training & Development. In 2004 Marilyn was promoted to WBL Programmes Manager - managing a team of five reviewers, two administrators and WBL schemes with well over 300 learners following Rail Transport Engineering, Engineering, Management and Health & Social Care Apprenticeship Programmes. In 2006 she achieved her NVQ L4 in Management with the Chartered Management Institute .
Marilyn thrives on taking responsibility, enjoys working in a dynamic team which has contributed to many of FCT’s outstanding results.
Jamie Hey – Internal Verification Manager
Jamie leads and manages the team working in Rail Operations and Rail Engineering. Client and stakeholder management is central to his role, ensuring both satisfaction and quality are maintained throughout project life cycles.
Responsible for team development, he manages project allocations and staff deployment across clients and disciplines. Jamie works with key clients during periods of change and development, helping to design and develop effective strategies and plans. He delivers and evaluates various training, coaching and assessment methods.
Holding a BA (Hons) and MSc in psychology, Jamie is passionate about understanding and facilitating personnel behaviour, interaction and dynamics in the workplace.
Debbie Johnston – Qualifications Manager
Debbie is an experienced trainer, assessor and internal verifier, specialising in business and administration, customer service and learning and development NVQs. Debbie also ensures the quality and standardisation of the FCT assessors and the portfolios that are processed through the centre.
Her career in training and business administration has included spells at private sector companies such as British Airways, in university education, as well as the adult learning sector. She has worked at FCT for six years and during this time has assessed and supported nearly 1000 candidates towards their NVQs. Debbie also has experience in designing and delivering programmes of learning for individuals and groups.
Premvanti Sanghani – Office Manager
Prem joined the company in 2007 to fulfil a challenging role that spanned two teams – Learning & Development and Work Based Learning. She was also responsible for implementing, training and assessing the ITQ programme amongst office staff.
She is currently responsible for the smooth running of the FCT office at Shaftesbury House. Her team ensure that our clients experience a positive and efficient service when using FCT.
Prem holds a BSc (Hons) and started her career in ICT strategy. She has local government experience in many departments including ICT, Social Services and Corporate Project Management.
Karen Patterson – Health and Social Care Manager
Karen joined FCT in 2008 and is Manager of Health
and Social Care programmes and is responsible for running the Health and Social
Care NVQ centre.
Karen has previous experience of setting up and running a successful NVQ centre and has delivered training and qualifications to various organisations across the UK for the last 10 years.
Over the last 20 years she has worked in a variety of settings with people with learning disabilities and mental health needs and has achieved a BA Hons in Learning Disabilities and an MA in Mental Health.
Karen is passionate about leading and being part of a team to ensure the delivery of high quality, jargon free training and qualifications.
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