Governors | Preston College

Bring your professional expertise to the board of Preston College and support an organisation that is firmly grounded within its local community and dedicated to delivering inspirational education and training that improves opportunities for its learners and the wider region.

• Location: Preston, Lancashire

About Preston College

Located in Fulwood, just outside the city centre, in the heart of Lancashire, Preston College is a large, vibrant, and innovative General Further Education College with a history of meeting the teaching, learning, and skills needs of both young people and adults in central Lancashire and beyond.

The College takes great pride in supporting all our learners to achieve the qualifications and outcomes they need. It also provides the technical skills, knowledge, and experience employers and universities seek. As such, we play a vital role in developing and maintaining social mobility within our thriving local community. The success of the College is underpinned by an unwavering mission to inspire, educate and support its diverse community to reach its potential and our vision to transform lives through education.

Our vision: to transform lives through education.

Given our geographic location and the importance of the city within the context of the wider county, we deliver a wide-ranging, technically focused curriculum.

We are the provider of choice for over 8,500 learners, all of whom are supported by a dedicated team of around 500 staff. We were graded as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in our last inspection (January 2023), and we have an annual turnover of just over £30m.

“We are incredibly diverse in the work that we do. If someone wants to get involved in a huge range of different aspects of college education, then this is the place for them.”

The College’s key Strategic Objectives are to:

• Deliver high-quality teaching, learning and support to promote high levels of attendance, achievement and positive outcomes for learners
• Provide a high-quality technical and vocational curriculum, aligned to regional and local businesses and community needs
• Value our diverse college community and provide aspirational progression pathways for all learners and staff
• Improve financial surplus and cash generation to provide future investment capacity
• Fully embed a culture in which all staff deliver outstanding performance that contributes effectively to the learner experience
• Nurture effective partnerships that benefit learners, staff, the City of Preston and the wider region

You can access further information relating to our organisational values here .

The College has continued an exciting and successful journey in recent times. Led by our Principal & CEO, Simon Nixon, we continue to take ambitious strides in further improving various aspects of our business, such as our curriculum, teaching and learning and our investment in technology and digital infrastructure.

Furthermore, we continue to be a key partner to a wide range of local and regional stakeholders and have managed to achieve all of this whilst maintaining good financial health.

With all of this in mind, we believe that as a college, we are in a very positive place as we move into a new academic year – a year which will see us celebrate the 50th anniversary of our establishment on our current site.

As we continue on this ambitious journey of growth and development, we must continue to challenge our own thinking, question our actions, and make decisions that are in the best interests of our students.

To do this, we need the support of a high-functioning governing body and now seek to appoint new members to our board who will be able to offer their expertise to the following sub-committees:

• A new Chair of Resources Committee
• A new member of Audit & Risk Committee
• A new member of Search & Governance Committee

Peridot Partners and Preston College are, together, committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and our client expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references before any final offer can be made.

For further information about the role, or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultant at Peridot Partners:

If you would like to know more about this role please contact Dan Baxter

We are already fortunate to be supported by a diverse group of dedicated professionals who give their time and energy to help our college flourish through their roles as members of our Corporation Board and its sub-committees.

With several current board members coming to the end of their respective terms of office, we seek to appoint a number of new board members who can bring their professional expertise to our board and join us in our vision to transform lives through education.

“I’m really looking forward to showing our new governors the happiness within the College; people laughing and smiling. It is a true reflection of our culture. It’s a vibrant place and it’s very positive.”

John Boydell, Chair of the Board.

Chair of Resources Committee

Our Resources Committee advises the Board on matters related to finance, human resources, estates, health & safety and EDI, amongst other things. This Committee has oversight of college operations to ensure they are efficient, effective and prudent. With current Committee Chair, Joanne Jones, stepping down from the role in March 2025, we seek to appoint her successor to ensure a sufficient handover is possible.

Our Resources Committee is about more than just finance. As such, we welcome applications from experienced, qualified finance professionals and will also be very happy to receive applications from senior leaders with expertise in areas including estates, HR, and IT.

We anticipate candidates for this role to have previous experience of boards such as ours, giving them the skills and understanding of the expectations, processes and procedures that come with leading a committee.

Audit & Risk Committee Member

Our Audit & Risk Committee, led by Sally Little, ensures the effectiveness of the College’s internal controls and management systems, including those relating to risk, and advises our Corporation on the necessary and appropriate steps needed to overcome challenges and mitigate risks. The Committee also provides a forum for reporting by the College’s internal auditors, accountants, etc. The Committee also receives and considers reports from the main FE funding bodies.

For this role, we seek to appoint a candidate who is a senior leader or manager in their professional capacity and has experience within the areas of finance, audit, risk, compliance and/or governance.

Search & Governance Committee Member

The Search & Governance Committee, led by Georgia Dunn, advises our Corporation on matters relating to the appointments of Board members and committee members and other governance issues.

For this role, we welcome applications from individuals working at a senior leadership or management level in their professional capacity who have a background in HR and law. We will also welcome applications from more general strategic leaders who have experience leading large and complex organisations/businesses and can offer significant value to our wider Corporation.

“These roles would be great not just for experienced professionals, but also for someone wanting to progress their career. They can support us whilst getting exposure to different processes and procedures in the Boardroom.”

Clare Rayner, Clerk to the Board.

Expectations and Time Commitment

Our Corporation meets six times per year. These meetings start at 5:30 p.m. and are generally held on Thursdays. We have an additional virtual meeting at the start of each academic year, which launches the new year. We also have one additional strategy meeting in January each year.

In addition to this commitment, appointed candidates will be asked to attend the relevant committee meetings as described below:

• Chair of Resource Committee
  • 5 meetings per year, usually held on a Thursday, starting at 5:30 p.m.
  • A monthly time commitment of around 12-15 hours.
• Member of Audit & Risk Committee
  • Meets termly, usually held on a Wednesday, starting at 5:30 p.m.
  • A monthly time commitment of around 10 hours.
• Member of Search & Governance
  • At least 3 times per year, usually held on a Thursday, starting at 5:30 p.m.
  • A monthly time commitment of around 10 hours.

Where possible, all meetings are held in person, but, in some circumstances, offer the possibility to join meetings virtually. Appointed candidates will be asked to serve a term of four years with our Corporation.

For further information about the role, or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultant at Peridot Partners:

To access a full job description and application details,
please fill out the form below.

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To formally apply, please submit a CV and supporting statement (ideally maximum 2 sides of A4 each) that clearly outlines your suitability for the role against the criteria provided in the person specification, including your interest and motivationin applying for this position. Please ensure your CV and supporting statement is in a Word format. Please include your home address, contact email and mobile.

Please ensure that your application is emailed to response@peridotpartners.co.uk inserting “Application: Preston College – Governor” and then Audit & Risk, Search & Governance or Chair of Resources Committee into the subject field. You will receive an acknowledgement on receipt of your application within 2-3 days. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please contact our admin team.

For further information about the role, or to arrange a confidential discussion,  please get in touch with our advising consultant at Peridot Partners:

As a sector-leading executive search consultancy, we know the importance of creating recruitment processes which are fair, inclusive and free from bias. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a process that values differences.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification, please let us know.

If you experience any technical or accessibility difficulties, need help making an application, or have any additional support that needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection process, please let us know.

Recruitment selection processes are based on evidence of competence stated in the person specification and in relation to our values.

Timetable

Closing date: 9 a.m. Friday 1st November 2024
Candidates informed of outcome: Tuesday 12th November 2024
Interviews: Tuesday 19th November 2024

Peridot and Preston College are committed to promoting equality and diversity. To help us raise awareness and support a culture that is diverse and recognises and develops the potential of all, we need to appreciate the profile of candidates who apply for positions.We would therefore be most grateful if you would complete this equality monitoring survey .

The information will be treated confidentially and anonymously and will help us to support our commitment to fair recruitment practice. All information provided will be held in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone, in line with the new Data Protection Act 2018 launched on 25 May 2018.

The information provided does not form part of the decision-making process and will not affect your application.

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