Nicki Hay MBE is a highly respected leader in the UK skills, apprenticeships, further and higher education sector, with more than 30 years of experience shaping national workforce development. She serves as Chair of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), Trustee of WorldSkills UK, and a Board Member of Skills England, reflecting her influence across the wider skills ecosystem.

As Director of Apprenticeship Strategy & Policy at BPP, the UK’s leading professional education and training provider, Nicki plays a pivotal role in advancing high‑quality professional apprenticeship provision. She champions BPP’s mission to equip UK businesses with the skilled talent they need—supporting both workforce upskilling and the development of new entrants to industry. Her leadership drives BPP’s apprenticeship strategy, product innovation, and client engagement, strengthening the organisation’s position at the forefront of further and professional education.

Nicki is widely recognised for her thought leadership and long‑standing contribution to the apprenticeship landscape. Her commitment to improving learner outcomes and shaping policy earned her a place in the Queen’s 2021 New Year Honours List, where she was awarded an MBE for services to further education and apprenticeships.

Working closely with employers, training providers, sector bodies, and policymakers, Nicki continues to play a central role in shaping the future of the UK’s education and skills system—promoting excellence, opportunity, and long‑term sustainability across the sector.

Michelle Bury is Head of Learning and Development at Keyloop, where she leads the global strategy for building organisational capability at scale. She specialises in aligning learning, performance, and talent to business outcomes, with a particular focus on developing future talent pipelines. Michelle has led the design of Keyloop’s Early Careers Programme and is passionate about translating development into measurable impact—bridging the gap between learning investment and real business performance.

Desarai Govender-Deokumar is a Learning & Development Manager at Keyloop, specialising in early careers and capability development. As lead facilitator of the Early Careers Programme, she brings a practical, experience-led approach to learning, combining mentoring, reflection, and real-world application. Desarai is passionate about helping individuals build confidence and capability early in their careers, and about designing learning experiences that drive lasting behavioural change and meaningful contribution to organisational success.

Nicola has over 30 years’ experience leading next generation programmes and apprenticeships across both public and private sector organisations. She joined BT in September 2025 as Senior Manager for Apprenticeships and Next Generation Strategy, with responsibility for programmes supporting both new entrants and the upskilling of existing employees.
She is a strong advocate for employer led skills development, working closely with industry, providers, and government to shape high quality apprenticeship/career pathways aligned to future workforce needs.
Prior to joining BT, Nicola led L&D and early careers strategies within large, complex organisations across banking, technology, and the Civil Service. She has also run her own consultancy, delivering skills and early careers programmes for organisations such as Centrica/British Gas, Vodafone and O2, always with a focus on unlocking potential and building sustainable talent pipelines

Emma O’Dell is Director of Skills and Capability Planning. She previously worked in the Financial Services and Legal sectors across a range of HR, Early Career, Talent and Learning and Development roles. At BPP she is responsible for helping organisations understand current and future skills needs across their business. In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, shifting job markets, and complex global challenges all of which are changing the landscape of skills requirements, Emma actively works to understand recent trends around talent shortages in the skills market and advocates for bridging these gaps.

Gillian has worked as a senior HR practitioner and OD specialist for several organisations including Swiss Re, Vodafone and BAA. Prior to her HR career, she was a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting and is also a qualified solicitor. Gillian has written various CRF reports on subjects including HR strategy, organisation design and development, leadership development, coaching and diversity.

Emma Pollard is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. She is a mixed methods researcher with 30 years’ experience of applied research and the author of over 60 reports on higher education and careers covering topics including career decision-making, navigating the graduate labour market and establishing professional careers. Her work has looked at the policies and practices of education providers, professional and sectoral bodies, employers, and government to support transitions and career entry and progression; and explored the motivations and drivers, decisions, actions and experiences of individuals in their early careers including learners, graduates and postgraduates as well as those making career changes later in their lives.

Claire joined ISE as Head of Insights in April 2025. Working closely with Stephen Isherwood, Claire is responsible for developing ISE’s labour market intelligence and thought leadership within the emerging talent market. She manages ISE’s research and analysis activities, including the two core ISE annual surveys (Student Recruitment Survey and Student Development Survey). She works closely with ISE members and stakeholders to identify knowledge needs and with ISE Solution Provider partners to deliver co-created research activities.

Claire is also a Senior Research Fellow in education and labour market economics at the UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities where she specialises in education to work transitions, including early careers recruitment, social mobility, people analytics and diversity data. She has over ten years’ experience building data-led research collaborations with large UK employers including building an ‘early careers recruitment data hub’ containing detailed job application and EDI data on over 2.5 million ‘entry-level’ job applicants – the largest research data resource of its kind.

Prior to joining ISE and UCL, Claire held corporate training and senior leadership roles at BPP meeting the education and training needs of large employers and aspiring young professionals in the financial sector. This included preparing students for entering professional careers (leading the design and delivery of degree programmes) and enabling employers to develop early talent (graduate training programmes and leading portfolios of professional qualifications). Claire started her career working in Corporate Finance at EY as a qualified Chartered Accountant specialising in financial due diligence.

James Robson is Director of the Oxford University Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) and Associate Professor of Tertiary Education Systems.

He is also currently: Chief Scientific Advisor for delivering inclusive growth, a skilled workforce, and fair employment at the Oxford Policy Lab, focusing regional economic development and skills alignment through joined up tertiary education policy; a member of Skills England’s Expert Analytical Group, examining skills supply and demand across the country; and a member of the WorldSkill’s Global Research Council, analysing international skills policy development.

James’ research focuses on the political economy of Tertiary Education systems, bringing together key interests in the nexus of education and employment, the critical study of skills supply and demand, innovation eco-systems, and international policy approaches to the development of integrated tertiary education and skills systems.