Neil completed a craft apprenticeship at NEI International Combustion in 1990 and worked within the Manufacturing Department before transferring to Rolls-Royce in 1997 following Rolls-Royce’s acquisition of the NEI Group.

During his time at Rolls-Royce, Neil held a wide range of training, coaching and leadership roles within the Learning and Development function, with accountability across a number of UK sites. His last role as Learning & Development Manager – UK Apprenticeships, involved leading the centralisation and development of the Apprentice Programme for the company. On leaving Rolls-Royce, Neil was accountable for delivering programmes to over 900 apprentices across 23 sites in the UK, Germany and Norway. The programme was accredited by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ in all areas of delivery across its UK sites.

After a short period at Derby College to take on a newly created role as Group Director Apprenticeships and Engineering, Neil moved to JCB as the Apprenticeship Manager with accountability for all Intermediate, Advanced and Higher Apprenticeship Programmes across its UK sites.

Neil joined the Manufacturing and Technology Centre (MTC) in July 2016 as Head of Training and was accountable for the development and expansion of its Apprenticeship programmes and facilities but in January 2018 returned to JCB to take on his current role leading JCB’s development of its Early Career Programmes.