Executive Group

We have an Executive team made up of the Chief Executive, Sarah Jones, and four other Directors heading up each area of the organisation.

Sarah Jones, Chief Executive

Sarah Jones became Chief Executive of learndirect in January 2005 after an extensive career at BAE Systems. She joined BAE in 1990 as a graduate trainee with a degree in economics from Leeds University. She was responsible for the project management of major military programmes and for contract management and negotiation with governments in the UK and the US. In 2002 she was appointed business unit director of a division of RO Defence with a turnover of £34 million.

Sarah graduated with an MBA from Leeds University in 1995 with a degree in business and economics. She has served as a volunteer counsellor in the prison service and as a school governor and is also a non exec director of Sheffield Children's Hospital Foundation Trust. Sarah is married with a son and a daughter.

Roger Peace, Chief Financial Officer

Roger Peace joined learndirect in April 2005 as Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for finance, funding, procurement, quality and risk management.

Roger, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, began his career at the Birmingham office of KPMG where he worked on a wide range of listed company and private client assignments. His subsequent experience includes leading an international business unit, as well as strategic planning. Roger joined learndirect from Severn Trent Plc where he was a director with responsibility for Sustainable Development and Risk Assurance. Roger brings to the role extensive experience in dealing with both private and regulated funding, the development of internet-based services, and building relationships with external stakeholders, government departments and other agencies.

Alastair Dick, Chief Operating Officer

Alastair joined learndirect in 2012 as Chief Operating Officer

Alastair brings a wealth of experience in organisational transformation and growth to learndirect. He joins from his position as Managing Director, Serco Health, where he oversaw significant growth of the business unit. At Serco and in previous roles, Alastair was responsible for initiating developing new services, strategy development and overseeing entry into new markets.

On his appointment, Alastair said: "I'm joining learndirect at a really exciting time and look forward to building upon my previous experiences across public services in the public and private sectors.  My focus will be on ensuring learndirect services are of high quality and, most importantly, evolve to meet the changing needs of the people and businesses we work with." 

Gill Craven, Director of Service Operations

Gill Craven is responsible  for our learner support centre in Leicester, where tutor support is provided to learners via phone and the web and our technology delivery.

Gill has been part of the team since the early days, joining as HR director in 2000 and establishing learndirect as an employer of choice. She led learndirect Careers Advice from 2007 and managed its transfer to the Skills Funding Agency in 2008.  Building on this experience and passion of delivering innovative public services over the phone and web, she became Director of Service Operations, establishing our own delivery to learners and opening our first dedicated support centre in 2010.

Gill has extensive experience of the education and training sector with previous roles at Sheffield Local Education Authority and Sheffield College.  Gill is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and has a BA Hons in Organisational Studies.

Dereth Wood, Director of Operations

Dereth Wood is responsible for our operations in England and Wales, delivered in partnership with our network of centres.  These services include skills for individuals and employers as well as Life in the UK citizenship testing.  Dereth is also responsible for quality and service standards across the whole company.

Dereth first joined us in 2003 as Head of the South West region but has been involved with learndirect since its inception as a manager of learning delivery in the West of England and Gloucestershire area.   On finishing her degree, Dereth started her career as a secondary teacher in Kenya, with VSO, and in London before moving into adult skills and community economic development in the voluntary sector.  She later became involved in planning and policy in the FE sector as Head of Education at a Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) and within a Connexions company implementing programmes to support lifelong learning.  Whilst working, Dereth completed a part-time masters degree in public policy and has retained her involvement in the voluntary sector as co-founder of a housing charity for recovering addicts and as a Trustee of a Community Trust.

In 2012 Dereth was appointed as a commissioner to the independent Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning. It was set up to explore how to raise the quality, and improve the outcomes and impact, of adult vocational teaching and learning in the further education and skills sector for learners and employers. For more information visit www.excellencegateway.org.uk/cavtl

Suzana Lopes, Senior Vice President – Sales

Suzana Lopes joined learndirect in 2012 and has responsibility for business development activity to help learndirect make the most of growth opportunities both at home and abroad.

Suzana brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked in sales and marketing in the e-learning and education arena for more than 15 years. She joins learndirect from her position as Managing Director - New Markets at Pearson Vue, where she helped establish and grow international programmes in places such as Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. She has also worked for other large organisations such as Oracle and Docent Corporation.

On her appointment, Suzana said: "I'm really excited to be joining learndirect as it has a great heritage in using technology for learning. I'm looking forward to maximising the opportunities presented to the business including developing relationships with employers, increasing retail sales and building a strong and successful learning solutions business."