Paul is the Managing Director at Riverside Training, where he oversees the Senior Management Team covering all funding streams including Apprenticeships, AEB, ESF and Commercial qualifications. Paul’s focus is to grow the portfolio of qualifications ensuring all learners have clear progression pathways and Riverside Training achieves its high quality expectations and growth targets.

Paul has worked in office products previously for 10 years as part of the UK’s largest independent provider and was involved in many acquisitions during this time. Paul moved into education at the start of 2017 just in time for the changes to education over to Levy funded Apprenticeship Standards.

In his personal time Paul is a keen runner, cyclist and a well below average golfer.

Jane has worked in vocational education for 25 years, 23 of them at Riverside Training and she therefore has a wealth of knowledge and industry experience. She is passionate about developing people to their full potential and is driven to provide the highest standard of customer service across all areas of the business. She’s a charismatic and energetic visionary who puts the happiness and well-being of her team above all else, believing that success will come from happy people.

Business development is her main focus & she enjoys nothing more than collaborating with like-minded organisations.

Jane has been a Magistrate since 2001, she’s a keen skier and horse rides as often as she can.

Donna joined Riverside Training in 2015. Donna has worked within the work-based learning industry since 1996 in various roles from administration to management.

Donna leads both the Delivery and Quality teams for Riverside Training. Donna is responsible for overseeing both the Sports, Education and Coaching Department and Functional Skills Department as well as the direct Management of the Delivery teams for HR, Accountancy, Management, L&D and Adult Care.

In her spare time, Donna enjoys lots of quality family time with her 3 young daughters.

Sharon joined Riverside Training in 2008 as the company HR Manager. Sharon is responsible for recruitment policies and also oversees the development of growing our own Learning & Development Coaches.

Sharon’s focus is on recruiting high calibre staff and ensuring compliance is met throughout the business. The well-being of the Riverside Training team is one of Sharon’s main priorities.

During her spare time Sharon enjoys skiing, entertaining and socialising with friends.

Louise joined Riverside Training in August 2006 with extensive experience in sales and marketing.

Louise has been heavily involved with the strategic growth of the business and has a wealth of knowledge in Apprenticeship training for 16-64 year olds, Apprenticeship recruitment and commercial training.

Louise works directly with our National Key Accounts and is responsible for supporting clients with their Apprenticeship Levy funds, ensuring the business meets their training requirements.

In her spare time, Louise enjoys city breaks, yoga and collecting gym memberships (as she never actually goes).

Rebecca joined Riverside Training in June 2020, having graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a First Class Honours Degree in Business and Management.

Rebecca is responsible for building relationships with employers, and for finding and matching apprentices for Levy and Non-Levy employers across the country.

In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys skiing, spending time with friends, and looking after her dog.

Ryan joined Riverside Training in July 2020 as a Sales and Business Development Executive. He’s responsible for building new relationships with employers and discussing with them what qualifications are suitable for their type of organisation. He is also responsible for engaging with our current customers to ensure they are always up to date with our new products and services. Ryan has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to business growth and generating new business opportunities due to having over 5 years’ experience in the sales and marketing industry.

During his spend time he likes to spend time with his puppy, Samuel, his partner and his family. He has a keen interest in gaming, social media and attending the gym..sometimes!

Becksy has only recently joined the Riverside Sales team as a Business Development Officer, effectively following through on lead generation activity on new business clients.

Her initial career choice was as a qualified Early Years Practitioner, managing settings and also being responsible for one-to-one coaching with children with special needs. It was rewarding work but after several years in the role Becky decided a career change was required, so she moved into the highly-charged world of sales.

Here’s an interesting fact; Becky worked alongside Riverside team mate Ryan Stone at an appointments setting company for a number of years as a lead generator. She was fortunate to work on numerous client accounts, and across many different sectors including Health & Safety, Construction and Training. This is where Becky met and worked on behalf of Riverside Training’s Jane Preston & Paul Workman and right from the start she was impressed with their passionate belief in the power of training and the company’s dynamic, innovative approach.

Her most recent role was as the Business Development Manager for a Schools Construction company, which built school facilities, nurseries and playgrounds. Knowing how determined and  utterly convincing Becky can be, we weren’t surprised to learn that she won several  contracts for the company for the likes of Banana Moon & Bright Horizons Nursery chains. 

Becky lives in Brackley with partner Jon and the combined family consists of three girls – Ellie 23, Phoebe 16, Megan 15 and a little boy Leo who is 2 along with two older sons Mason 10 and James 12. To complete the family is not yet 12 month old puppy Nessa. Wow! Apparently the house is utter madness (quelle surprise) but that’s just how Becky likes it.  Becky has been with Jon for 9 happy years and they are planning on getting married in 2023. That’s going to be one heck of a party.

Becky loves spending time together as a family and, when some peacefulness calls, going on long dogs walks. Little Leo especially loves jumping in the muddy puddles en route! 

Becky says she’s excited to be part of the Riverside team and is looking forward to a brilliantly successful 2022. We’re with you on that Becky.

Megan joined Riverside Training in October 2017, with nearly 10 years’ experience in customer service and building relationships with employers. Up until July 2020, Megan was responsible for finding and matching Apprentices for Levy and Non-Levy employers across the country, predominantly focusing on Herefordshire. Megan then went on Maternity Leave and returned in June 2021 as Business Development & Sales Administrator.

Megan has a keen eye for detail and puts her English Language degree to good use when copywriting and proofreading for Riverside’s marketing department.

Outside of work, Megan enjoys travelling, taking her two dogs for long walks in the Herefordshire countryside and spending time with her family.

Kieren joined Riverside Training in August 2015. Kieren is the marketing executive and oversees all marketing campaigns and social media activity.

During his spare time, Kieren enjoys spending quality time with his family or going to the gym.

Paul joined Riverside Training as Freelance Head of Marketing having spent over 30 years working for telecom giant BT, 13 years of which were with the mobile arm (now known as O2) and ending up back in the parent company for 7 years as Head of Sponsorship. Paul gathered over 30 major awards but the two BAFTAs (for digital innovation) rank up there – check out that immodest pic! His deal with the RFU to sponsor the England Rugby team is still going strong 23 years later.

Paul and his wife semi-retired to a restored farmhouse in Italy in 2006 which they just love but get to visit all too infrequently these days. Paul ran a marketing and sponsorship consultancy from there but they had to return home for medical reasons. Paul then started writing and found a niche helping SME-sized companies analyse their marketing effectiveness, delivering more impactful branding and communications. That’s all you have to deliver for RT too, Paul!

Away from work, Paul loves art, architecture, wine, design books, football, America and Italy, good company, cooking, olive picking, and his close family – Paul has been happily married for 48 years and has three lovely daughters and four fab grandsons (and two fine sons-in-law).

Lucy has recently joined the company as the Lead IQA and will specialise in quality and leadership.

Lucy brings a wealth of experience to the role; she started as a business administration apprentice, rather appropriately, and went on to become a tutor, IQA, Ops Manager, Quality Lead, and even a Head of Apprenticeships. She’s also been an Ofsted Nominee, expertise which might be useful as we await our next Ofsted inspection.

Away from work Lucy loves to explore the Cumbrian countryside during long walks with her husband and two dogs. She’s also an avid reader. Welcome aboard Lucy.

Helen joined Riverside Training in 2006. Helen’s background is in hospitality and management and she looked after hospitality and catering learners when she first started with us and was very successful in supporting the learners to achieve. Helen then had the opportunity to undertake her V1 Award in 2017, which she achieved, and then became part of the quality assurance team where she has been ever since.

As a Quality Officer, Helen helps mentor and support Learning & Development Coaches to develop and achieve their learners.

In her spare time, Helen enjoys going out for afternoon tea with her friends and spending lots of quality time with her two sons.

Jason has worked at Riverside Training since 2018, starting off as a Learning & Development Coach delivering management qualifications up to level 5 and Project Management. Since working at Riverside he has completed various qualifications such as APM Level 4, ILM level 5 and also his End Point Assessment qualification.

Since 2020 Jason has been heading up the Curriculum Development Team for Riverside as the Curriculum Development Manager. He creates and manages the building of the online programmes and resources that our learners see and ensures all the programmes are kept up to date.

In his spare time Jason likes to socialise with his wife, 2 kids, and friends as well as taking a keen interest in digital media and taking long walks with his dog.

Alix has 20 years of experience in Operations in both independent and corporate organisations. Alix has worked as a General Manager for 14 years, her previous role was working in Learning & Development covering 62 sites across the North of the UK.

Alix thrives on being able to inspire and encourage others to reach their full potential – we never stop learning!

In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, shoe shopping and being a social butterfly.

Claire joined Riverside Training in 2019 as an; Operations Departmental, Team Leader Supervisor, Human Resources and Project Management Learning & Development Coach whilst also working on a number of Curriculum Development projects.

Claire has worked in the work-based industry for 14 years and prior to this worked in retail management for a number of national retailers.

In her free time, Claire loves spending time outdoors cycling, paddle boarding and being at the beach. Her other passion is going to music festivals and gigs.

Lara joined the Riverside Training family in December 2019. She is head of Essential Skills and Creative Learning. Lara manages how we at Riverside teach functional skills, maths and English and looks at how we can best support learners to achieve the essential skills that will be the foundation on which they can build their lives and careers. She is passionate about giving everyone an equitable opportunity to reach their potential and the essential support to shine.

Lara has had an eclectic career having given up on her dream of winning an Oscar as a great actress. She grew up working with her parents in their independent book shop, so has always had a keen understanding and appreciation of sound business principles and excellent customer service. Lara has managed shops as well as businesses in the commercial and third sector. She specialised for a time in Heritage Services and at another period of her career in Community Development. She’s also had a successful interlude as a fundraiser.

Lara is a bookworm, a foodie and a bit of a wine snob but more than anything she is looking forward to meeting and working with you.

Nick is the Team Leader for our Sport, Education and Coaching Team, a sector which brings together many of his passions. Nick studied Sport and Physical Education at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, where he also represented the University in BUSA basketball competitions and coached the second team. On returning to Hereford he began a 16 year career teaching Physical Education and progressed to the role of Subject Leader for PE.

Nick joined Riverside Training in June 2020 as the tutor for our PE apprenticeship programme, delivered in association with Stride Active. We quickly recognised his enthusiasm and experience in the sector and gave him the opportunity to develop a team providing apprenticeships across this sector.

Away from work Nick enjoys time with his family, his wife of 12 years Lucy and two daughters, Ella and Marnie, who have shared his passion for sport which has seen them progress in golf and gymnastics respectively. He is a member of Burghill Valley golf course, enjoys cycling and also coaches cricket during the spring/summer.

Jane was born in Hereford and is completely sports mad.

Jane has worked in Education for 25 years and started out as a swimming teacher in primary education. She has coached at Hereford Swimming and Triathlon Club, becoming a specialist in disability coaching and teaching. Jane taught six subjects and has been a Head of House.

Jane joined Riverside Training in November 2020 as a Learning and Development Coach delivering Coaching Professionals, Teaching Assistant & Community Sport and Health Officer.

Jane’s hobbies include travel and spending time with her family and grandchildren.

Maddy joined Riverside Training in September 2020 as a Learning & Development Coach in Adult Care and Business Administration. She has 30 years of experience in the health and social care sector, with half of those spent as a Learning & Development Coach supporting learners and apprentices to achieve their qualifications.

Maddy is at her happiest when she is with her family, picnicking by lakes, rivers, or the sea, getting lost in woods, watching sunsets from hilltops, paddling in rivers, stargazing in fields, or exploring abandoned buildings and castles. She is never without her camera to capture all those beautiful memories.

At home Maddy likes to sing, paint, craft, knit, sew, create, draw, listen to a huge range of music and watch crime programmes.

Clair joined Riverside Training in September 2020 as a Learning and Development Coach for Leadership and Management in the Health and Social Care sector.

Clair has been working in social care since 1997 when she started work at a residential school in Herefordshire supporting young people with Learning Disabilities and complex needs, eventually ending up as  Senior Shift Leader.  Clair subsequently joined the team at Herefordshire Council where she delivered a bespoke induction and foundation qualification for staff working with adults with learning disabilities.

Simultaneously Clair worked for a small not-for-profit organisation as Project Manager leading on nationally-funded projects to raise the profile of adult social care across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and The Black Country.  It was in this role that Clair developed her leadership, management skills and knowledge which took her to her current post with Riverside, where Clair has used her skills to build provision for Leaders and Managers in Adult Care alongside staff in other sectors including Team Leaders and Supervisors.

Outside of work Clair enjoys spending her time with her husband and daughter, a very active scout and gymnast, which keeps Clair busy.  She enjoys taking long walks in the countryside followed by long soaks in the hot tub. Clair’s other hobbies include reading and researching new things.  Music is a massive part of Clair’s life and she has a song for everything. She lives life to the full and is always willing to try something new – as long as it doesn’t involve running.  If she is running, she is being chased, ha!

Steve joined Riverside Training in March 2005 as a Learning & Development Coach. Steve delivers apprenticeship training in Management, Customer Service and Business Administration as well as some bespoke commercial workshops.

Outside of work, Steve enjoys walking, reading biographies and trying to keep up with his grandchildren.

Hollie joined Riverside Training as a Learning & Development Coach in January 2021 with over 15 years of industry experience in Law and Human Resources Management. She is Associate CIPD qualified and dedicated to tutoring level 5 and 7 HRM and L&D.

During her spare time, Hollie is studying Level 7 CIPD to gain strategic insight into how HR can align with business priorities. She also enjoys spending time with her family and has a keen interest in reading, music and travel.

Paula joined Riverside Training as a Learning & Development Coach in May 2017 with a wealth of experience in training and Project Management in the private financial sector. Roles have included Head of Training, Curriculum Development and ELearning Management. Her most accomplished moment was when she achieved FCA regulation for a large financial company in the UK.

Paula delivers the Associate Project Manager Qualification amongst others.

In her spare time, Paula likes to run and swim and is always planning a short break holiday to somewhere new!

Kriszti joined Riverside Training in November 2020 as an AAT Learning & Development Coach having worked in various managerial positions for over 10 years.

Throughout her career, she has always enjoyed working with numbers in the financial side of businesses. Kriszti has a great interest and enthusiasm for Business, Finance and Management Accounting, where she continues developing her knowledge and skillset.

In her free time, Kriszti enjoys spending time outdoors rock climbing, fell running, mountain biking and walking with her dog in the forest.

Kirsty is our Learning & Development Coach within the vocational area of Early Years and Education. Using her 13 years experience of working in early years she facilitates the learning of apprentices who are starting their careers in a variety of educational settings such as nurseries, childminders, primary & high schools, and SEN schools.

Having achieved the Diploma in Childcare and Education while at college, a variety of qualifications have been achieved in order to assess and deliver competency: level 3 TAQA, level 4 CET, and level 2 IAG.

Her knowledge and experience enable Kirsty to deliver the underpinning knowledge in training sessions based on safeguarding, child development and assessment, health and safety, inclusion, teamwork and communication among many other skills.

Within her spare time, Kirsty enjoys spending time with family and reading.

Sarah is a Learning & Development Coach in the accountancy sector.

Sarah has 20 years of accountancy experience, working in both financial and management accounting, within the service, manufacturing and charity sectors.

She has been involved in teaching, coaching and learning for eight years, delivering accountancy tuition and apprenticeships.

In her spare time, Sarah enjoys exploring new places and learning about them. She also likes to eat out and socialise with friends, and has recently started getting into gardening.

Chantel has only recently joined us as a dedicated Learning and Development Coach for Customer Service and Business Administration after gaining many years of experience in customer-facing roles within retail, leisure and dental health care.

Originally from Cape Town, Chantel planned to make the UK a temporary stop on her journies but 23 years later, having fallen in love with the British weather, she decided to stay.

Away from work Chantel loves exploring the outdoors with her devoted family. She has always been a passionate surfer and can often be seen paddle-boarding along the River Wye! And despite a dreadful accident several years ago remains an active biker, albeit of the fair-weather variety these days. Painting, baking and bbq-ing are her preferred safer hobbies.

Sarah joined Riverside in 2017 as a Customer Service, Business Administration and Human Resources Learning & Development Coach. Sarah gained her HR experience working for a large retailer for over 14 years and she also worked as a CivilService manager for 5 years.

In her free time Sarah loves travelling, socialising, shopping, walking her dog, and spending much time watching her son play football.

Clare is the latest to join our team. She has spent 17 years working in HR & Training within businesses involved in logistics, food manufacturing, hospitality and with the DWP. Her career passion is to train and develop people to reach their full potential. Which sounds like a perfect qualification for joining Riverside. So Clare will be joining the team to tutor CIPD at Level 5.

Away from work Clare spends as much time as possible  having fun with her young family, holidaying (remember that?), and has recently taken up running. She aims to complete her first 5K run in the next few weeks. Good luck Clare.

Stacey has been working at Riverside Training since September 2020 and is our Learning & Development Coach for the dental nursing programme. She has been working in the dental nursing sector for 25 years, and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in everything dental. Stacey is a registered dental nurse and as such upholds and promotes the GDC standards expected with this responsibility. Stacey continues to learn and develop her knowledge and skills in dentistry and education to give her students the most up to date knowledge and experience.

Outside of work Stacey is a mum of 2 sports mad children, she spends large parts of her free time at the side of football pitches or dance competitions. If she ever gets a minute to herself she can be found wild swimming in rivers or lakes at any time of year. She has been known to break the ice on a lake in order to get in for a swim in the depths of winter…brrr!!

Kirsty has only recently joined us as Learning & Development Coach for coaching professionals level 5.

Kirsty has just left the property world having been an Estate Agent for the last 6 years. Prior to that she was a Team Manager, looking after a team of 50 fault technicians and call handlers within the telecoms industry; servicing major Government contracts. It was demanding but incredibly rewarding work.

On a personal note, Kirsty is married with 4 children, a cat and a Giant African Land Snail.  She lives in Cheshire overlooking some lovely countryside. Life is busy but never dull. Kirsty’s another keen runner in the team experienced in doing 5km, 10km and even half marathon, although her runs during lockdown have been more limited. She and her family are huge basketball fans, supporting the Manchester Giants and, rather surprisingly, the Brooklyn Nets. You may have guessed her favourite place aside from home is in NYC and she can’t wait for the USA to open up again so the family can visit once more.

Kirsty told us that joining an organisation such as Riverside Training will allow her to grow her career whilst supporting learners. She is absolutely passionate about people and learning and we understand she literally can’t wait to get started. That’s the spirit!

Alison has worked in the Early Years Education sector for over 26 years and she is very passionate about it. Indeed Alison has a wealth of experience that she brings to Riverside having worked in schools and early years settings both in the UK and abroad as a Teacher, a Manager and as a Consultant. Alison is a qualified Assessor and IQA and she enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. That said, Alison is always ready to learn new skills and to take on board fresh approaches in Education.

Away from work, Alison loves spending time with her husband going to music festivals and experiencing spa days. She enjoys travelling enormously and considers herself very fortunate to have visited many different countries around the world. Sounds wonderful Alison.

Eloise joined Riverside Training in July 2016 working on the ESF Project as a Project Coordinator. When the Project finished Eloise then joined the Business Support Team and currently works closely with her Learning and Development Coach buddies and processes personal information for our Apprentices.

Eloise also manages our Cognassist platform for our learners and Learning & Development Coaches.

In her spare time, Eloise enjoys making memories with her two sons and spending quality time with friends and family.

Rochelle joined Riverside Training in April 2018 as a Business Support Administrator Apprentice. Rochelle is now one of three Business Support Team members and is one of the first points of contact for the business.

Rochelle is responsible for processing personal information adhering to all data protection regulations and supporting all lines of business, including Learning & Development Coaches, external customers and subcontractors.

In her spare time, Rochelle loves spending quality time with her family, gaming and driving in her convertible with her roof down (come rain or shine).

Maddie is the youngest member of the team and one of our most recent recruits having joined Riverside in September as a Finance Apprentice, after completing her A levels.  Maddie has always been good with numbers so undertaking the AAT apprenticeship at Riverside will hopefully be a great first step in her career, allowing her to develop her natural skills. We are delighted to know that Maddie is thoroughly enjoying her course and working at Riverside.

Outside of work Maddie enjoys socialising with her friends and she’s a mad keen animal lover with 3 dogs, 2 rabbits and a cat. Sounds like she could be learning some decent management skills too with that assortment!