The awards are judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders and experts, the judging is a rigorous two-stage process including pre-scoring to determine shortlists and a judging meeting where entries are discussed and evaluated in detail to decide the winning entries.
From a transparency perspective, we may video aspects of the judging session to show on the evening and give entrants an insight into why a winning entry was chosen.
With a primary degree and PhD in Chemical Engineering, Catherine has more than 15 years’ experience of working in the pharmaceutical industry and the automotive sector. She has held a wide range of technical roles including manufacturing, design, process safety, distribution, project management and managing a technical team. Catherine has been working for Northern Ireland’s economic development body, Invest Northern Ireland for the past 6 years. She is an Operational Excellence Coach, supporting businesses across Northern Ireland in the implementation of Lean Manufacturing principles and Continuous Improvement practices in their processes through a combination of training, advice, mentoring and coaching. Catherine is an active STEM ambassador, promoting STEM subjects in schools, and she sits on the STEM Education NI Advisory Panel.
Terry Warren | Independent Adviser / Consultant |
Dr David Perrin | Deputy Head of Division | Chester Business School, University of Chester
David has a background as an academic and writer on political and economic theory, though over the last two decades has developed expertise in academic credit and accreditation of prior learning issues in Higher Education, now running one of Europe’s largest HE accreditation frameworks for adult learners in work, while publishing extensively in this field. David currently works part-time for the University as Deputy Head of Division in Chester Business School and Framework Leader of Work Based & Integrative Studies (WBIS), which has nearly 1,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students across the University. He has also been Director of the Centre for Work Related Studies at Chester and was appointed as an Associate Professor. He has worked closely with large public sector organisations and has operated as a consultant on behalf of the University advising organisations that have included the Cabinet Office, RAF, Department of Work and Pensions and a range of private-sector providers. He currently sits on the Executive Education Committee of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.
Danny McLoughlin | | LLB, Solicitor (retired), MBA
Danny has had a very varied career in law/governance and corporate matters stretching over 40 years. He started his career in Liverpool. Moving to Tameside in the 1980’s as assistant borough solicitor at Tameside Council. He has dealt with many varied areas of law including commercial; charity; employment; education; company, litigation, local government, EU Procurement, Data Protection etc. In 2000, after helping set – up the Group, Danny became the Group Company Secretary & Director of Legal Services at New Charter, a social housing provider, and in 2009 set – up as a consultant. Danny played a major part in the formation of innovative companies, charities, joint ventures including the formation of JV North (recently awarded £500m to build social housing), an Education Academy (with 3 secondary and 1 primary school). He has also worked on several major retail developments. He helped establish an area of Special Scientific Interest along the Formby coast (protecting wildlife, grasses, Natterjack Toads and Red Squirrels). Danny set – up his own business/legal consultancy in 2009 and has trained as a counsellor. He is a trustee of several local charities, a member of the Nationwide Community Group, and is currently working as part of a small group to save a local community centre for continued community use.
Ruth Ashford | Emeritus Professor |
Former Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean at Manchester Metropolitan University and Executive Dean at University of Chester, Professor Ruth Ashford has over 25 years of teaching and learning experience in HE. Ruth was also former Chair of Academy of Marketing (AM) and former Chief Examiner for Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) for many years, as well as serving on the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) panel responsible for Business and Management Benchmark Statements and this has a provided wealth of experience in managing teaching quality.
Fiona Barlow | Senior Lecturer and Solicitor, Course Leader for Solicitor Degree Apprenticeships | University of Central Lancashire
Professor George Lodorfos | Dean of Leeds Business School | Leeds Beckett University
Professor George Lodorfos is an electrical and electronic engineer by first degree, he holds Masters degrees in Automation and Control as well as in Innovation and Technology Management, and a PhD in Strategic Management of Research and Development. In addition, he has supervised to completion and he has examined many PhDs both in the UK and Europe and is an external examiner for two UK universities. He has extensive practical and academic experience in the field of Strategic Management, R&D and Adoption of New Technologies and Innovation. In addition, he has done extensive research and enterprise work in the areas of buyer behaviour with particular interest in online purchasing and the use of technology to enable the sustainable growth of businesses. Furthermore, he has done extensive research and enterprise work in the areas of Small Businesses Development and Growth. Teaching Experience George is a Principal Fellow of the HEA and has more than fifteen years of teaching experience at all levels, in areas including, Business Strategy, Business Planning, International Business, Managing Innovation and Change, Entrepreneurship, and others. Research Interests Professor Lodorfos' research interests are in the broad thematic areas of Innovation, Enterprise and Change, and Consumer Behaviour. Particular research themes include: • Organisational changes in the form of mergers, acquisitions, demergers and divestments and the effect that they have on organisations' performance. • The management of research and development in technology intensive industries. • The factors that enable SMEs' sustainable development. • The factors that affect consumer behaviour in the food and drinks industry. • The focus of his research and enterprise work, and therefore the impact of his work is on how to "boost" business growth for enterprises.
Greg Morrison | Associate Assistant Headteacher | Burnage Academy for Boys
Greg has worked in education in both France and in England, with 14 years at his current school Burnage Academy. Alongside teaching languages, Greg has previously managed a short-term alternative provision, but in his current role oversees all external work related to the school, including marketing, community work, and transition from primary school. He has supported a significantly increased number on roll, and secured a number of national and regional awards on behalf of the school, including two at the ENAs 2024. He holds an MA in Education which focused on student identity, and is one of the founding members of Manchester City of Languages, which offers an open forum to discuss issues and global solutions relating to multilingualism across the city.
Penny Haughan | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost | Liverpool Hope University
Penny is Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Liverpool Hope University. She has strategic responsibility for a range of aspects of the Life of the University. Her portfolio includes Student Pastoral Care, Student Records and Data, Learning Resources and Learning & Teaching. She also has responsibility for the Executive Deans and the academic Faculties. Penny has overall responsibility for Quality Assurance & Enhancement. She is responsible for oversight of the University’s interactions with external bodies such as the OfS and compliance with their requirements. She has a particular interest in the Student Experience and is responsible for the major University events such as graduation. Penny’s academic background is in Biochemistry and she spent several years as Dean of Sciences and Social Sciences at Liverpool Hope. She has previously worked at the University of Liverpool and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. As DVC Penny is a member of the senior leadership team and reports directly to the Vice- Chancellor & Rector. She has recently led a university-wide initiative to address challenges associated with Women in Leadership. In the last academic year Penny took responsibility for a move from academic schools to Faculties which involved a restructuring of the academic areas of the university. She is currently leading a project overseeing significant changes in the University’s academic framework. The term ‘Provost’ which is added to the DVC title reflects Penny’s responsibility for the international relationships and partnership working. Penny is also Governor at three external institutions including a local primary school in Warrington, a University in London and an FE College in Merseyside.
Helen Nellist | Deputy Principal | Cheshire College - South & West
Helen is the Deputy Principal and Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Cheshire College South and West with a focus on managing Apprenticeships, Employer Engagement, Partnerships, International Recruitment and Provision, Schools Liaison and Marketing/Communications, Estates and Health and Safety for the College. Helen is also a Governor at Upton High School and a Director of the West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber. Helen is also on the Board of Directors for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS where she aims to actively contribute to addressing mental health issues in the benefit of the service users.
Mali Hayes | Singer/songcreator |
Professor June Dennis | MD | Mountain Top Perspectives
June has over 25 years’ experience in higher education and has held senior management roles in 5 HE institutions, spanning universities and private HE colleges. She is a Chartered Marketer and past Chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. June works with higher education institutions and organisations worldwide across a range of areas including collaborative academic partnerships, university centres, curriculum design and development, and student experience. She is a board member of University Centre Leeds and an external member of NCUK Academic Quality Board.
Jackie Njoroge | Chief Strategy & Data Officer | University of Salford
Jamie Griffiths | Smooth Radio Content Director | Communicorp UK
John Cater CBE DL | Vice-Chancellor | Edge Hill University
John was first appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Edge Hill University in 1993. During his 28 years as Vice-Chancellor John has led Edge Hill from a college to a University, gaining Degree Awarding Powers in 2006. As a social geographer, he has published extensively on race, housing, economic development and public policy and co-authored major research studies for the Social Science Research Council, the Commission for Racial Equality and their successor bodies.
Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee | Engineering Team Lead | BAE Systems
Professor Lawrence Bellamy | Executive Dean for Digital, Technology, Innovation and Business | Staffordshire University
Lucky Ali | Enterprise & Employability Executive | University of Liverpool
Lucky Ali is a purpose-driven Biomedical Scientist at the University of Liverpool. Since her college years she has an avid passion for leadership and her proactiveness led her to be elected as the President of Wirral Metropolitan College Students’ Union. Recently she has undertaken clinical vaccine research with the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. Lucky is passionate about exploring and researching the potentialities of current and novel technologies for the enhancement of medicine and healthcare. Her specific research interests lie in Lifestyle Medicine, AI/AR, Health Data Science, and Healthcare Technology. Lucky fervently supports value-led innovations and has just embarked on her own entrepreneurship journey. She has been appointed as the Governor of Wirral Metropolitan College, and as an active member of the Board of Governors she is working towards a more inclusive and quality Further and Higher Education in the Liverpool City Region. Lucky’s aim is to invest in the BAME communities and break the socio-economic barriers. Her vision is to empower underprivileged and underrepresented communities and bring them into the mainstream of talented positions within Europe and across the globe.
Julian Skyrme | Executive Director of Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement | The University of Manchester
Current priorities for the Directorate of Social Responsibility include playing a lead role in the origination and development of the University’s strategy on social responsibility (in collaboration with the Vice-President and President and Vice-Chancellor) and providing expert advice, research and support to key members of the Senior Leadership Team – chiefly the Vice-President for Social Responsibility, the President and Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer. Julian also leads on the annual Planning Cycle for social responsibility, the development and implementation of internal and external communications and marketing strategies for social responsibility and managing high-profile internal and external events relating to social responsibility, including annual Making a Difference Awards and a Community Festival. Dr Julian Skyrme is a qualified secondary teacher and spent his early career in a large state Sixth Form College as Head of Social Sciences and later as Assistant Vice-Principal/Senior Tutor. He has worked in higher education since 2001, becoming the University’s first Head of Widening Participation in the newly merged institution in 2004, and the first full-time Director of Social Responsibility in 2013. Julian is passionate about the social purpose and benefits of higher education and has advised on a number of national policy groups and committees, including for the DfE, HEFCE, OFFA, UCAS, SPA and BIS. Locally, Julian represents the University on Manchester City Council’s Strategic Education Partnership Board and Homeless Partnership Board. He also volunteers as a Governor on the Board of Loreto Sixth Form College in the Moss Side/Hulme area and as a Director and Trustee of MACC – the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector support organisation for the city of Manchester. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, occasional musician, frequent cyclist, lifetime Manchester United and Wales fan.
Mike Jones | Doctor of Business Administration |
On leaving the RAF Mike began a 20 plus year career as a Human Resource professional ,starting out as a Personnel Trainee with the then De Havilland Aircraft Company at Broughton ,near Chester (now Airbus) and his industrial appointments included periods as Personnel Manager/Director in the Food Products, Engineering and Paper industries as well as Consultancy with both Grant Thornton and Price Waterhouse before joining the St Helen’s based Pilkington Group, initially as Group Management Development Manager and then becoming Managing Director of its subsidiary Leadership Business, Lakeside Training and Development Ltd. This role led Mike into the University Business School world when he was appointed as a Visiting Fellow at Manchester Business School. Gradually Mike increased his work within the University Business School sector in numerous Fellowships and Senior Appointments including a spell as Dean of the Business School at the University of East London and as the Director of the Foundation for Management Education . However, it was in his work as the Director General of the Association of MBA’s the professional body for holders of the prestigious MBA degree that he made his most international impact in masterminding and running the Global accreditation service which safeguards and validates the design, quality and assessment of the MBA degree the world over. As a result Mike was and still is a recognised global authority in his field and as such has worked at and with most of the top business schools across the globe often as a member of their Management Advisory Boards. He has served on various Government Committees concerned with linking Universities to the world of work.He is a Trustee of the Lubbock Trust at Balliol College Oxford. Mike has been awarded a Doctor of Business Administration degree including one “Honoris Causa” from our the University of Chester where he is appointed as a Visiting Professor. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Management and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development In his semi -retirement Mike’s life continues to be one of industry and service He has developed an interesting portfolio of volunteer activities including becoming a Trustee/ Director of Age UK, a School Governor, a Trustee at Balliol College, Oxford and a Director of a National Housing Association. He is a Liveryman and Past Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and a Freeman of the City of London.
Professor Nicola Curtin FMed Sci | Professor | Newcastle University
Phil Harris | Emeritus Professor & Chair of the Judging Panel | University of Chester
Phil Is Professor Emeritus at the University of Chester and was previously Executive Director of the Business Research Institute, a Dean of its Business Faculty and held the Westminster (Grosvenor) Chair in Marketing and Public Affairs. He is Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa. He is a past Chairman of the Marketing Council (UK) PLC, Board member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Professor of Marketing at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand and Founding Director of the Centre for Corporate and Public Affairs at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he led one of the largest business start-up and support initiatives in the North. Prior to becoming an academic he held positions in the international chemical, and foods industries with ICI and RHM and has chaired or been a board member of the American Marketing Association, Academy of Marketing, and the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Phil has advised government on Medium Sized Businesses and Small Business and helped found the Educate North Awards in 2015 and University Enterprise Challenge in 2016. He is recognised for his work in developing high quality entrepreneurs regionally and internationally both in the not for profit, private and public sectors. He serves on a number of boards, trusts and holds visiting positions and professorships in China, Germany, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
Jemma Stevens | SU President 2024-2025 | Liverpool Hope University
Jemma graduated from Liverpool Hope University in 2024 with a First class BSc(hons) in Sport and exercise Science and Nutrition. She developed a drive for leadership during her year as the Netball Team Captain. This naturally led onto her successful campaign to be the current Students Union President. This role involves running campaigns, chairing Board of Trustee meetings, marketing and managing student events, and being the voice of student needs and wants. She also is a Senior Executive Volunteer for Wilder Student Fight Night, a charity boxing event which raises money for ‘Oddballs’, a charity which aims to raise awareness for men’s testicular health. Main responsibilities within this role includes managing the logistics, assisting in the marketing of the event and being a main point of contact for the fighters. In the future, Jemma hopes to get into Events coordination and management as she has found a real enthusiasm for this in her current roles. Jemma’s biggest passion is sport, specifically netball and tennis, both in which she has had experience coaching children and adults as well as being a regular competitor.
Dr Shobana Partington | Head of Department | Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
Shobana has over 20 years experience of working in Higher Education in the UK and abroad. She leads the department that delivers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the subject area of business technology, business analytics, project management, operations and supply chain, events and hospitality management. The department is also home to the sector leading Degree Apprenticeship programme in Digital Technology Solution.
Professor Steven Rhoden | Dean, School of Business | University of Central Lancashire
Professor Tim Nichol | Pro-Vice-Chancellor Faculty of Society & Culture | Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Nichol has a degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and a PhD from the University of York. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has held or holds fellowship status with the Royal Society of Arts, the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Chartered Management Institute. After qualifying with Coopers and Lybrand as an accountant, Professor Nichol joined the Newcastle Business School in 1992 and held various senior positions including Director of Northumbria University’s London Campus. In 1997 he was seconded temporarily to the UK Government’s Know How Fund and worked as a Resident Advisor at the Ukrainian central bank in Kyiv. Professor Nichol joined LJMU in 2015, first as Dean of the Liverpool Business School and then as Pro Vice Chancellor for the newly created Faculty of Business and Law. He is currently creating a new Faculty of Society and Culture that will bring together the humanities, art and the creative industries, education, justice studies, business and law. He holds a number of external academic and professional appointments including editorial and review responsibilities, non-executive and other board directorships and Trustee positions. Professor Nichol’s research interests are in the areas of corporate governance, family company governance and power maintenance in multi-generation business families and family businesses.
Wendy Ellis | Principal and CEO | Franklin Sixth Form College
Jennifer Wilkinson | Pro Vice-Chancellor Marketing, Recruitment & Admissions | Liverpool Hope University
Jennifer Wilkinson is Pro Vice-Chancellor Marketing, Recruitment & Admissions at Liverpool Hope University. Her expertise is in domestic and international partnership development and management, student recruitment and marketing, including embedding of EDI and environmental justice into this work. She oversees the marketing and communications, domestic and international recruitment, widening access and outreach, admissions and graduate outcomes at Hope. Jenny is also an Academic Associate at University College London, working in the Leadership and Learning area, where she is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate examining the intersection between international student recruitment and climate action in higher education. She is a member of several advisory boards and judging panels across the higher education sector.
The Educate North Awards represent both an important high-point and aspiration for the North’s academics, institutions and indeed students. It provides a platform for sharing excellence and achievement. More importantly it encourages, promotes, and nurtures the sector and talent. Congratulations on reaching 10. Here’s to the next ten celebrations of what the education sector achieves.DR JOHN CATER CBE DL, VICE-CHANCELLOR EDGE-HILL UNIVERSITY
I was overwhelmed to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 as part of the Educate North Awards. It’s inspiring to see so many dedicated people being recognised for their important work across the educational sector and across so many disciplines. I hope the creators will build upon their own success since 2015 and create more opportunities to showcase what education really means in the North of this country.PROFESSOR NICOLA CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE
Seeing the Educate North Awards live for the first time in 2023 was a wonderful experience. To bring an often disparate sector together is wonderful, to share best-practice is fulfilling and to see the superb standards from Sixth-Forms, Further Education and then HE in one room is often, breathtaking. We should embrace Educate North more and drive it forward beyond this special 10th ceremony.SIR JOHN JONES EDUCATIONALIST
The idea sounded complex but exciting in 2015. Could the North create a showpiece which would harness the best of the talents we have in our educational sector? Would anyone even enter? Would we create a respected and highly motivated judging panel and find expert leadership for it? Would we also find room, as we did in the first 3 years, to debate the future direction and resources needed to increase social mobility and opportunities for all? Would we find new business ideas and young entrepreneurs as well with a willingness to test their ideas? The answer was yes, and the result is a wonderful parade of superb nominees who are helping shape and change the worlds they occupy. Long may Educate North continue.DR JOHN KENNEDY CBE, KSG, KMCO, DL. PATRON OF EDUCATE NORTH AWARDS
