Hugh Bramwell has been Principal of Burnley College since January 2010. He had been Deputy Principal of the College since 2001 and prior to joining Burnley College held the post of Dean of Technology at Blackburn College.

Hugh started work in further education at Bolton College in 1983 and has worked in a number of further education colleges including Manchester, Exeter, Bolton and Blackburn.  Hugh has a background in quantity surveying and business information systems.

Staff governor Maqsoodah is a lecturer in adult and university study provision for the Health and Social Development Division. She teaches on the BA Social Work course and the Foundation year of the Health and Social Care degree.

Maqsoodah entered the teaching profession after enjoying a successful career as a social work practitioner. After initially enrolling on the Certificate in Education at Burnley College, she is now in the second year of a PGCE which she is studying in conjunction with UCLAN.

Maqsoodah is also involved in delivering Equality and Diversity training to Blackburn with Darwen NHS Trust employees as well as Burnley College staff.

In her spare time, Maqsoodah enjoys socialising with friends and visiting new restaurants.

Calico Chief Executive Mike Birkett joined the College’s Governing Board and Human Resources SubCommittee in October 2009.

Mike took on the role of Chief Executive of Burnley’s biggest landlord in May 2006 after working as Director of Housing and Regeneration for housing associations in Staffordshire and Liverpool.

Throughout his career in the housing industry, Mike has focused extensively on neighbourhood regeneration, performance improvement and culture change, and believes Burnley’s new College and University campus is a key part in the town’s regeneration.

Alongside his role at Calico, Mike is a Board Member of South Liverpool Housing, Chair of their Operations and Development Committee, a member of the Board of GM Procure Ltd., Chair of the Board of Lancashire Housing Partnership and Vice Chair of the Local Strategic Partnership.

Mike, who commutes to Burnley from Liverpool, is a Liverpool Football Club season ticket holder and travels across Europe to watch them play.

David Brown has been a governor at the College since 2005. He is Deputy Chair of the Audit Committee which looks at the College's financial and performance management systems.

David worked as Burnley Council's Director of Environment prior to his retirement, responsible for the Planning and Environment, Streetscene and Markets services. He joined Burnley Borough Council as a planner in 1977 and has worked in a variety of planning and economic development posts. David had been a Council Director since 1995 and was one of two Council nominees to the College's Governing Board, reflecting the close partnership between Burnley Borough Council and the College.

David was born and raised in Edinburgh and has a degree in Geography from the University of Edinburgh as well as a postgraduate Diploma in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Glasgow. His wife is a senior manager with NHS North West and they have three children in their 20s. Before having children, David was a keen rock climber and caver, but 'common sense prevailed!' David now enjoys reading, hill walking (he's nearly half way through climbing all 284 Scottish 'Munros' - mountains over 3000 feet) and playing the guitar (he's a big fan of Richard Thompson).

Deputy Chairman of Corporation
Human Resources Committee
Remuneration Committee
Finance Committee
Search & Governance Committee

Ken has served on Burnley College's Governing Board since 1993. He currently sits on several committees and uses his financial expertise as Chairman of the Finance and the Remuneration Committees. He is now in his fifth-four year term as a governor which will expire in June 2014.

Educated in Manchester, Ken began his career in insurance after leaving college. He joined Backhouse Insurance Group in Burnley in 1957 as manager and rose to the position of Group Managing Director in 1974. Ken worked for the Group for 40 years before retiring in 1997. He has four children (three of whom have studied at Burnley College) and six grandchildren.

Ken has thoroughly enjoyed serving on the College's Governing Board and says: "It's been excellent to see the College develop over the last twelve years. It's really changed beyond all recognition and it's now a very good College with excellent exam results."

Chairman of Corporation
Curriculum & Standards Committee
Remuneration Committee
Finance Committee
Search & Governance Committee

Shelagh has been a Burnley College Governor for 18 years, and Chairman of the Governing Board for 17 of those. She is Chairman of the Curriculum and Standards Committee and Search and Governance Committee and also devotes much of her personal time to supporting the work of the Board and its sub committees.  As Chairman of Governors Shelagh has been particularly active in the development of the new college and Chairs the Accommodation Working Group.

Shelagh has been a Pendle Borough Councillor and Parish Councillor for 20 years and is also a longstanding Lancashire County Councillor.

Shelagh is also Chairman of Governors at a local children’s centre, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board at Marsden Heights Community College and sits on the Governing Board at Blacko Primary School.

Shelagh was a director of a builder’s merchant and engineering firm, specialising in procurement, before retiring.

Shelagh is a keen gardener, rugby supporter and enjoys music and attending the theatre.

Finance Committee

Helen is the Human Resources Director at Aircelle Ltd in Burnley where she has worked since 2007. 

Helen has a wide range of experience in HR, beginning her career in 1991 as a Personnel Assistant for GPT Ltd.  She then became a Training Officer for The University of Liverpool in 1994 and then took on the role of HR Officer, for the Bridgewater Paper Company Limited in 1997.  She has also worked for Brake Bros PLC, Asda Stores, and the RHM Group Ltd.

She is a highly motivated MCIPD qualified Human Resources Director with experience in HR leadership roles and has gained a broad range of skills including influencing, communication, strategic planning and team working.  Key strengths include managing and delivering change with, and through, others to achieve business objectives.

Curriculum & Standards Committee

Former primary school teacher and Governor Anne Kelly joined the College’s Governing Board and Curriculum and Standards Committee in November 2009.

Anne taught at Briercliffe Primary School and St James’ Lanehead Church of England Primary School before retiring in August 2008. She now works part-time as a teaching assistant.

Anne is also a member of Briercliffe’s Parish Councillor and a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Burnley Borough Council. She served a term as Mayoress of Burnley between 2004 and 2005 alongside Mayor Councillor Margaret Lishman. During their term of office they raised £28,000 for the children’s ward at Burnley General Hospital.

Curriculum & Standards Committee
Human Resources Committee

Former Burnley College HNC student Tariq Mahmood worked as an apprentice engineer at Lucas Automotive and in the engineering sector for ten years. He has also worked at Pendle Training, ELTEC and Manchester Training and Enterprise Council.

Tariq, who is an Investors in People assessor, has established a consultancy called Insight100 to help organisations improve their performance using a range of standards and frameworks including the Customer First standard. He has worked with national and international clients from a range of sectors to help them understand, measure and grow their customer and employee loyalty scores and ultimately their competitiveness.

Human Resources Committee
Audit Committee
Search & Governance Committee
Remuneration Committee

David Meakin is in his third spell as a governor, having served on the Governing Board’s Audit Committee for 12 years between 1993 and 2005. He was invited to rejoin the Governing Board in 2007 and is now an active member of the HR Committee.

David began a 35 year career with the NHS after leaving school, working in Nottingham, Birmingham and Aylesbury before arriving in Burnley. When David retired from the NHS in 2005 he was Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive.

During his time with the NHS, David achieved a long held ambition of completing a BSC (Hons) degree in Mathematics through the Open University. In his retirement, he is now enjoying a daily game of squash, gardening, cooking and wine.

Vacancy

Student Governor
Curriculum & Standards Committee

Student Governor Conner Panaro joined Burnley College Sixth Form Centre from Our Lady and St John Catholic College. He is studying  A Levels in Mathematics, ICT, Computing and Music Technology and plans to progress to an American University to study Computer Science.

Conner was a member of the Student Council at high school in addition to being Deputy Head Boy. He wanted to join the Governing Board to gain a greater insight into how the College is run.

Curriculum & Standards CommitteeAudit Committee

Ken Phillips recently retired as Director of Regional Partnerships Project with our partner university, the University of Central Lancashire. He is Vice Chairman of the Curriculum and Standards Committee which considers issues relating to courses and student achievements and also is a member of the Audit Committee.

Ken attended schools in London and after a year in the civil service he trained to be a teacher. After a stint of teaching in London and Hull, he returned to education to study his chosen subject of Politics at the Universities of Hull and Manchester. Ken began teaching Politics at the University of Central Lancashire in 1972 and in the mid-1980s he became a head of department. He was appointed Director of the Regional Partnerships Project in February 2004, having previously been Head of the Department of Education and Social Science.

Ken has four children aged from their teens to their thirties. Work and family have limited the time he has been able to give to hobbies but he is an avid reader, enjoys listening to music (he's a fan of Bob Dylan), and is in his element when swimming in the sea. He can sometimes be persuaded to go on long walks.

Student Governor
Curriculum & Standards Committee

Student Governor Carrie Prestage is studying A Levels in Law, Fine Art, History and Psychology. Carrie is a former Norden High School pupil and plans to progress to university to study Law before pursuing a career as a barrister.

Carrie was Deputy Head Girl, a mentor and prefect at Norden and wanted to join the Governing Board to understand how the College operates and play a role in developing its policies.

Audit Committee

Former St Mary’s College, Blackburn student Paul Ragnall joined the College’s Governing Board and Audit Committee in March 2011.

Paul joined the National Pensions Service after completing his A Levels and has worked in a number of roles over the past 30 years including benefit delivery, HR, Health and Safety and for Job Centre Plus. Until recently, Paul was the Deputy Manager of the Padiham Pensions Centre and has now taken up a national role in relation to health and safety and elements of the human resources function.

Paul, who has children aged 16 and 13, enjoys watching football, walking and spending time with his family in his spare time.

Support Staff Governor
Curriculum & Standards Committee

Leah started her career at Burnley College in 2001 as Information Officer in Student Services. She joined Marketing and Communications Department as Multimedia Coordinator  in 2008, having previously undertaken the role within the ILT team for four years. She is responsible for copywriting for the digital marketing solutions, developing the College’s social media presence and updating and maintaining content on the external website and staff intranet.

Leah, who  is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing having recently achieved the Level 6 Professional Diploma, has a BA (Hons) English Studies from Sheffield Hallam University and a number of industry qualifications. She undertook the position of Chair of the Supporting Excellence Steering Group for two years and sits on a number of cross-College groups.

In her spare time, Leah is a keen gym member and enjoys walks around the Ribble Valley where she lives.

Student Governor
Vacancy

We currently have a vacancy for a Student Governor

Consultant Governor

Chief Executive of Brookhouse Holdings in Darwen, Richard became a Burnley College Governor in 1993 whilst he was Managing Director at Smiths Aerospace.

Brookhouse Holdings designs and manufactures composite aerospace structures for companies including Airbus, BAE, Boeing and Aircelle. It employs 500 staff.

Richard grew up in South Lincolnshire before studying for a degree in Production Engineering and Management at Loughborough University. After working in the automotive industry in the Midlands, he moved to Burnley in 1987.

A season ticket holder at Burnley FC, Richard is also on the boards of the NWAA and Vision Action Burnley. At Burnley College, Richard is Chair of the Audit Committee, on the Engineering Advisory Board and on the Accommodation Committee for the new College.

Human Resources
Remuneration Committee
Search & Governance Committee

Philip stepped down from being Senior Partner at Waddington and Son Solicitors in January 2009.

He had spent over 24 years at the firm after joining on a traineeship and continues to work for them as a Senior Consultant. Philip specialises in Criminal Law.

After being a Careers and Training Officer for the Burnley and District Law Society Committee, the Law Society recommended Philip become a Burnley College Governor in 1993.

He has been Chair of the HR Committee for ten years and is also a member of the Remuneration and Search Committees.

Originally from Darwen, Philip is a Blackburn Rovers supporter, is the captain of his local pub’s darts team and enjoys watching his eight year old son playing football.

Academic Staff Governor
Curriculum and Standards Committee