Penny started at Petroc last year after she moved to Devon from the Forest of Dean, she enjoys studying for A-levels in Economics, German and English Literature. Penny has been excited to get involved in Petroc and has worked with the Student Ambassadors and our Project Management team. Now as President of the SU, she is looking forward to working with the officers and creating new ideas that will help the student body feel supported. 

In her free time, Penny enjoys taking her dog for long walks on the beach and helping her younger siblings with their school work.

Neil was born and educated in North Devon undertaking an Apprenticeship in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 1984. As a Field Service Engineer, Neil worked across Europe and North America.

A firm believer in lifelong learning, Neil left industry to complete an Honours degree in Computer Science from the University of Exeter.

Joining Petroc (North Devon College) in 1994 as an IT Systems Support Technician, supporting the work of the college and community via the then, North Devon Economic Partnership. Neil took a role promoting the use of new technology including Video Conferencing, opening the Flex-IT Centre in Barnstaple, part of Petroc (North Devon College).

Subsequent roles within IT Services at Petroc have allowed Neil to progress to be the current Head of IT Services. Alongside this Neil has served Education in the South West region as part of the Management Team for the South West England Regional Network (JANET), and since 2007 has chaired the South West User group for the Jisc (JANET) Network.

Between 2014 and 2020 Neil has been a Community Governor and has also stood as Vice-Chair of Governors at Braunton Academy. A member of the IET, British Computer Society and CMI. Volunteering as part of Alumni opportunities at the University of Exeter and serving on the Alumni Annual Fund Committee.

Joanna is the Governance Advisor and Head of Executive Office at Petroc. This is a dual role which provides support and guidance to the Governing body and the college in respect of governance matters, whilst also supporting the college’s strategic agenda and major initiatives.

Joanna graduated with an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in 2016 and has worked in Higher Education for some 20 years with roles spanning the breadth of the organisation. 

She has recently moved to North Devon with her husband and loves touring in their campervan and enjoying the natural world.

Having started at Petroc in September, studying for A-levels in English Literature, History and French, Holly is keen to get involved in college life, and is now Vice President of the SU. She enjoys brainstorming ideas with the team for their next event, and believes the connection between the SU and the governing body is vital for making sure the student voice is heard.

In her spare time, Holly can often be seen diving into a good book or going for a run along our beautiful North Devon coast.

Rob currently resides in Mid Devon having recently relocated back home to the UK after spending two decades living and working as a Chief Financial Officer and Private Investor on the West Coast of the USA.  After being 'expatriated to the United States for a large global tech company prior to the dot.com boom, he decided to remain in the USA and he and his family took dual-citizenship of the UK/USA.  After deciding that 2018 might be a good time to look to return to the UK, he and his family returned to the UK, initially based in Exeter.

Being passionate about working with small and medium business in the region, Rob now assists business's in the region as an advisor, mentor, consultant and strategic finance partner, utilising his finance and business skills to help firms, survive, grow and thrive.  Rob is a Chartered Accountant and obtained an MBA from Henley Business School.  Rob worked with a number of not for profits groups whilst living in the USA including as an advisor and board member to Arizona State University W P Carey School of Business and Chandler Chamber of Commerce in addition to a number of private boards of Directors and non-profit organisations.

Deborah is a Director of Gradsouthwest Ltd., a graduate job board that provides quick, simple and effective graduate recruitment. She also works as a consultant to businesses, Universities, and economic development organisations in areas such as higher education, innovation, productivity, and graduate retention. She is a trustee of the University of Exeter Students’ Guild.

Deborah was previously Executive Director at Universities South West, the HE Association in South West England. She has also been a Non-Executive Director of SWMAS Ltd.; and a member of various committees, including the SW ERDF 2007-13 Competitiveness and Employment Local Management Committee and the SW Employment and Skills Board. Deborah also held several posts at the EPSRC, including managing research and postgraduate training portfolios and as marketing manager.

Deborah received her PhD in Quantum Interference in Semiconductor Systems in 1998 from the University of Exeter. She is a Chartered Physicist and holds a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Deborah lives in Devon with her partner and daughter.

Sean holds the position of Principal and CEO at Petroc and is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the College. 

Sean joined Petroc from Bucks New University where he held the positions of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Enterprise and External Relations) and Pro Vice Chancellor (Education). In his most recent role he was responsible for research, innovation, knowledge exchange, apprenticeships, partnerships, marketing and student recruitment, as well as the University’s Transformation Programme and business development across all aspects of the University’s work. As PVC Education he was responsible for education strategy, quality assurance, academic registry and student success. Prior to joining Bucks in January 2016, Sean was Director of Student Education and Engagement at the University of Exeter, Senior Deputy Chief Executive at the Higher Education Academy, Head of Learning and Teaching at HEFCE and Head of the HE Regional Development Association - South West.

Sean holds a degree in politics and modern history and a postgraduate qualification in education from the University of Manchester. He is currently completing his doctorate at the University of Bath. His research interests include learning analytics, policy making, power and discourse.

Sean was born in Devon, where he lives with his wife and teenage daughter.

Lena, a scientist by profession, started her working life in the pharmaceutical industry where she spent ten years working in various management roles, including Research & Development, Validation, Systems Implementation, Regulatory Affairs, and the commercial start-up and running of a small-scale High Performance Liquid Chromatography production plant.

In 1996, the family relocated to Devon and Lena took the opportunity to retrain as an educationalist, spending eighteen years working in Further Education and Higher Education Colleges, where she held various positions such as Senior Tutor, Head of Chemistry / Curriculum Team Leader, Designated Safeguarding Officer and STEM Coordinator. Lena is committed to ‘Personalised Learning’ tailoring pedagogy, curriculum and learning support to meet the needs and aspirations of individual learners. She is passionate about finding ways of removing the barriers which currently block the learning of far too many students, such as race, gender, disability, social and economic background.

More recently, her career has progressed to the third sector where she has gained experience as Operations Manager for a local Community Health & Wellbeing Centre and Hospital Hub, managing the day to day running of five departments. She was also the Centre Manager for a local Trust and currently works for the County Council.

Lena’s interests mostly revolve around education, sport and music. She supported her local community as a volunteer for Oxfam, Relate and Make Lunch charities. Lena was Chair of Governors at a local 4 to 16 years all-through school and a Director of the Devon Association of Governors. She enjoys weekly Spinning, Urban Funk, Dance Mix and Pilates classes and likes holidays involving Skiing and Kayaking. Lena also sings in a local choir, plays piano, classical and folk guitar.

Andrew is a former Petroc student. Whilst working for a local architectural practice in Barnstaple, Andrew attended college on a day release basis, to study BTEC ONC in Building and Architecture. This opportunity lead Andrew to attended Exeter Technical College to undertake a BTEC HNC in Building and Architecture.

Andrew left North Devon in 1995 to return to full-time education, where he read for a degree at Oxford Brookes University. He graduated in 1998 with an Honours Degree in Estate Management. Having completed a post graduate diploma in Surveying in 2002, he received his Chartership from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, becoming a full professional member.

Andrew has been a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor for the past 17 years, gaining experience in private practice, consultancy and working for large housing organisations initially around the Thames Valley area, whilst living in Oxford.

He moved back to North Devon in 2007, gaining further experience in both the public and private sectors. In 2011 he became a Registered RICS Valuer and is currently working as an Associate for a large national surveying practice, covering the North Devon area.

On returning to Devon, Andrew met his now wife and lives locally. Outside of work he spends most of his spare time attending rugby matches at Sandy Park in support of Exeter Chiefs, clay pigeon shooting at local North Devon grounds, and with his wife walking their boxer dog on a number of our lovely local beaches.

With the aim of ‘escaping to the country’ Maxine recently moved from the South East to North Devon. She is thoroughly enjoying settling into her new life and exploring all that the county has to offer.  Maxine started her working life in investment banking in the City of London before moving on to working in the education sector. 

For the past 15 years Maxine worked for a large Academy in Hertfordshire and in recent years was the Head of Year 13, a role she was very proud to hold and is keen to continue to contribute to education.  At the Academy Maxine was a Designated Safeguarding Officer and, in particular, supported the learner mentoring and mental health provision.  Also, she developed the Post-18 Information, Advice and Guidance opportunities on offer to support the Young People with making aspirational destination choices.  Maxine now works for the Education Centre at RMB Chivenor.

Married with two sons, in her spare time Maxine enjoys walking, reading and researching her ancestry. She also loves to travel especially touring with her caravan many areas of the UK and Europe.  

Mark was born and educated in the South West before joining the British Army in 1985. Mark served 24 years in the regular Army, spending the first ten years in Aldershot as an operational detachment commander. He then transferred into the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, working as an outdoor education instructor in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Norway, Canada and North Devon.

On leaving the regular Army Mark moved to the Middle East with his family, working for the Ministry of Education as a regional training manager in the United Arab Emirates. After several years working abroad Mark returned to North Devon and a position with the Reserve Army as a recruitment officer.

Mark is a great believer and supporter of life-long learning. Over the years Mark has attended several courses at Petroc including Plumbing and Building. Academically, Mark Studied Sports Science at Manchester University in the mid 90s, and since returning to the UK has completed an MSc in Human Resource Management and is currently studying for an MA in Educational Leadership and Management with the University of Nottingham.

Originally from Maidstone, Kent, Chris attended St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol and Plymouth University where he studied Computing and Informatics.

Chris has worked in the Financial Service and Telecoms industries and is currently Director of Customer Experience at BT.  Chris has worked at Orange, EE and BT for 17 years and has held a number of senior positions including Director of Service Management, Senior Business Partner and Head of Tools and Technology, all with a Technology focus.  Chris is also a member of the BT Board for the South West of England.

Outside EE / BT, Chris is a board member of the Open Roads Community fostering Digital Transformation across the telecoms industry and until recently was a board member of ITSMF, the industry body for IT Service Management.

Chris and his family have lived in North Devon for 5 years.  

David has spent most of his life working in media, starting with selling advertising space and ending up running commercial operations across Asia Pacific for the Economist Group. He studied German and Law at Edinburgh University and used that grounding to move into business – this is why he is passionate about education. David co-founded The Kaleidoscope Trust – a charity which lobbies for LGBT rights – and is a trustee of North Devon Sunrise and sits on Fremington Parish Council. In his spare time he loves walking his dog, Archie, on the beach.

Iain lives in Braunton, is married and has two sons. He currently leads the Strategy and Performance Team at North Devon Homes, and before that he worked for the University of Exeter and the National Foundation for Educational Research. He is a passionate believer in the transformative power of education and is keen to continue to contribute to education in the place he lives. Iain is also a musician who has released a couple of albums, and gigs regularly in a band. He enjoys surfing and cycling and is also a member of Croyde Baptist Church.

Kevin moved to Devon from the South East in 1986 to work with Mid Devon District Council. A Cockney by birth, the move to the West Country was the 7^th council Kevin had worked for. During 30 years with Mid Devon Kevin carried out a number of different organisational and management roles, culminating with 5 years as Chief Executive.

Other roles and interests include trustee and treasurer for Devon Communities Together, Tiverton Rotary Club, travelling and walking. Kevin is married with 6 grown up children and one grandchild.

Lee started his working life in the Royal Signals serving in both the UK and Germany before moving back to North Devon. He then worked in various employment such as Jewellery repairs and Beach Lifeguarding before completing a level 3 Music Technology Diploma at North Devon College and a BA (Hons) Degree in Music Production at Leeds College of Music. He then went on to work as a sound engineer before becoming a Lecturer at the college and has now been employed at Petroc for the past 10 years.

His current role sees him teaching Music Technology and Performance related subjects between Level 2 and Level 6 as well as being involved as a school liaison with all the feeder schools' Music Departments. He has a strong passion for music and has been an active musician playing in various bands throughout his adult life and enjoys seeing student’s progress through the college and into the working world of which some have now become successful musicians, technicians and music managers. He has also enjoyed watching the progression of the Factory from its humble beginnings to become an 800 capacity venue, which is not only one of the biggest working venues in the South West giving students a unique working experience, it is also a facility where young people in a remote area can access and learn all about the industry they want to progress in without having to move to a City.

Lee’s interests include producing music, playing gigs, surfing and surf life saving and he maintains his Beach lifeguard qualification so he can help out with coaching on surf ski’s whenever possible. He currently lives in Barnstaple, is married, and has three boys that will soon be applying for courses at Petroc.

Born in Buckinghamshire, Lindy moved to Bideford as a child, attending local schools. After leaving school, she joined TE Connectivity formally known as Tyco Electronics and AMP of Great Britain where she progressed, over a 20 year period, from shop floor to Plant Manager. 

A former student of the college, Lindy gained her qualifications whilst working full time. 

In 2013, Lindy joined Condition Monitoring Group (CMG) based in Torrington as Operations Manager. Through both TE Connectivity and CMG Lindy has a long relationship with the College with both firms using the College for Engineering Apprenticeships, Business and Leadership Development.

Lindy is an active member of the North Devon Manufacturers Association and is a local STEM Ambassador. Married with two boys aged 13 and 10 she enjoys supporting them in their chosen sports and volunteers as a race Commissaire with British Cycling. Other interests include a lifelong love of horsemanship and skiing holidays with the family.