Leading UK-wide recruitment and training specialist Acorn has made a series of appointments to further strengthen its well-established training division.
Ian Brealey, Louise Mumford, Sally Knock and Jonathan Hubbarde all join Acorn as training advisors and will be based at the company’s head office in Newport. The new recruits will deliver support to the company’s apprenticeship schemes and other training initiatives, offering guidance, advice and training to learners and businesses.
Sarah John, Commercial Director (Learning & Development) for Acorn said: “We are very pleased to welcome our new team of training advisors to Acorn. Each of our new recruits brings a wealth of experience in their relevant sectors, enabling them to provide specialist advice and guidance using their own first-hand experiences.
“We are committed to providing the very best training to learners in order to help them progress in their chosen careers and we are delighted to have attracted such a high calibre of recruits to help us do this.”
Ian Brealey gained experience of managing over 500 staff, while working in the retail sector for companies such as Morrisons & Boots. Ian helped ensure that staff performance was maximised through focused training, making him perfectly suited for his new role as a Retail and Management Training Advisor.
Ian said: “My new role presents me with an opportunity to return to field management and use my experience to advise others looking to build long-term careers in the retail industry.
“I have been very busy learning the standards needed to advise on the apprenticeship programmes and I am now looking forward to putting what I have learned into practice.”
Louise Mumford has been a senior educational practitioner for almost 15 years. Working with universities, colleges and work based learning companies; Louise has designed and delivered numerous bespoke training courses across a wide spectrum of subjects including employability and family support.
Speaking about her new role, Louise said: “I’m finding my new role challenging but also very enjoyable. I have met a lot of interesting people and I am looking forward to providing further guidance to clients on apprenticeship programmes and helping learners to effectively engage with employment.”
Jonathan Hubbarde worked in the insurance industry for over 15 years, and will use his in-depth understanding of the sector to deliver apprenticeships in the industry.
Talking about his new role, Jonathan said: “It has been a big change for me to go from working in insurance to delivering guidance and advice to those wanting to build careers in the industry.
“The support I have received from the team at Acorn has been great. There’s been a lot to learn but seeing the learners that I’m working with progress in their chosen field is very rewarding.”
Starting her career as a careers advisor in 1983, Sally Knock progressed through the ranks to become a senior manager. She has also used her leadership skills to deliver ILM management training to public authority and blue chip company employees and will use this experience to deliver apprenticeships to all levels of management in her new role.
She said: “I am really enjoying my new role as a training advisor. I am working with around 30 learners who are all progressing really well. The role itself is very varied; I am out and about a lot and get to spend time with a lot of different people which is great.”
With more than 20 years in the business, Acorn has its UK headquarters at the Celtic Springs Business Park in Newport and operates from 38 branches across Wales and the South West, North West and South East of England.
Acorn places up to 6,500 people into the workplace with around 850 different clients each week. The group also delivers training to more than 1,000 individuals and makes 1,700 permanent placements every year.