Lesley has worked for Juniper since early 2002, and has undertaken a variety of roles within that time. She has been Managing Director since 2015, having previously been Director and prior to that Head of HR & Business Improvement.

Lesley is passionate about vocational learning, and strongly believes in its’ value as a credible alternative to academic learning. Upon leaving school, she undertook a YTS (Youth Training Scheme, for those of you too young to remember) programme and went on to work for several years in various financial roles (accounts, finance and credit control). She pursued qualifications via a combination of work-based learning, college and university, culminating in a master’s degree 20+ years after leaving school.

Lesley heads up Juniper’s Senior Management Team and her vision is to ensure all Juniper’s learners experience outstanding teaching & learning and exceed their potential. She feels strongly about being able to positively impact the local community; by helping to tackle unemployment, improve social mobility, support local businesses and by being an excellent employer.

When not working, Lesley enjoys travelling, particularly to South East Asia, and regularly attends (rather than enjoys!) her local gym.

Richard joined Carvers Training in 1997 after 20 years in the Army. In 2003 he completed a management buy-out and formed Juniper Training as a limited company. Richard was Managing Director until 2015; since then he has been Company Chairman. In 2020 he sold a majority stake in Juniper Training to the senior management team. Richard is also Chair of the Governance Board.

Jon started working at Juniper in 2003. Since 2013 he has been Head of Operations, with responsibility for finance, budgets, data, IT, business development, employer engagement, premises and building & maintaining relationships with key stakeholders. Between 2003 and 2013, Jon had numerous roles including conducting outreach activities to engage NEET young people, supporting unemployed disabled Jobcentre customers into sustainable employment and business development management. Jon is parent Governor at the Royal Wolverhampton School. He enjoys playing football and golf (badly).

Tara has over 13 years’ experience of working in the education and training sector and has worked in various roles including Teaching and Curriculum Management. She was appointed Head of Quality in February 2016 and is Juniper’s Senior Safeguarding Lead. Tara is passionate about education believing that all people should be given the opportunity to reach their potential. She works closely with the senior leadership and wider management team to ensure the delivery of quality learning programmes, so that learners receive the education and training that they deserve.

Michelle’s background is in training and development, having worked within the FE and Skills sector for 20 plus years at both independent training providers and FE Colleges. Michelle joined Juniper from an FE College where she was project co-ordinator for a number of ESF contracts and was instrumental in the set up and day-to-day running of a national transport hub for learndirect provision.

In 2003 Michelle became Centre Manager of our Wolverhampton site and was promoted to Area Manager in 2004. Having undertaken this role for 7 years, Michelle took on a new challenge in 2012 when she became Head of Compliance/Quality, undertaking internal inspections and audits of our centre network and during her time in this role was an Ofsted Nominee. In 2016 Michelle became a Regional Head of Performance and now works with 6 centres and 3 hubs to ensure our students reach their full potential and progress into their chosen careers.

As a Management Board member, Michelle plays a strategic part in developing Juniper’s provision to ensuring that we deliver good quality, relevant provision to meet the needs of our students and local area priorities.

Jason is a specialist in the further education and skills sector with over twenty years’ experience. He has managed a wide range of programmes in FE colleges around England, provided specialist consultancy for FE colleges and training providers and is currently Vice Principal at Northampton College.