Meet the Team

John W Baker – Managing Director

John is by profession an Investment Banker, but not in the traditional sense that one would normally think of a Banker. Until the summer of 1997 he ran international trading floors for some of the most prestigious banking names, in both the City of London and New York. John spent six years living in New York gaining international experience.

In 2007, John had the vision of introducing a range of Apprenticeship training programmes accompanied by specific practical training that gives the individual a unique set of skills. This programme would be for employed 16-18 year olds and extended to those categorised within the NEET group for whom we provide additional employment.

David Baitrum – Director of Training

David gained a Bachelor's Degree in Science (BSc) with honours in 1999 and has also achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). In his teaching career David has worked at some of the most challenging Secondary Schools in Essex. After working in the mainstream education system, he decided to focus all his effort on working with young people with special educational needs and emotional and behaviour difficulties. His responsibilities included managing Science, Mathematics and PSHE and actively taking part in the curriculum development team.

In September 2008, David jumped at the opportunity to take on the role of Head of Training for such a young, dynamic team. This has given him the opportunity to use his wealth of experience to help build a business model that would introduce new and innovative ways of improving the prospects and future of NEET 16-18 year olds within the local community.

Sarah Hamilton – Head of Business Development

Sarah joined Essex Apprenticeships early 2010 as Head of Business Development. Having worked in education for the past 14 years, she has built up a vast knowledge in the Work Based Learning arena surrounding Apprenticeships, Train to Gain and more recently Entry to Employment. During this time Sarah has worked in both public and private sectors where she has had a variety of roles from Assessing Customer Service and Management Qualifications to Manage a WBL team for a national provider early on in her career. More recently she was head of Division - Partnerships and Contracts at a local college. This entailed looking after a mixture of government/ESF funded projects and assisting in the management of Apex the WBL consortium for Mid and West Essex.

Nicola Pittman – Centre Manager Chelmsford

Information to follow shortly.

Rob Parker – Operations Manager

Working with Essex Apprenticeships since 2005, some people say that he's now like part of the furniture. His passion has always been computers and being at the forefront of technology. Working in Essex Apprenticeships is a challenging environment, but it has given him the opportunity to apply his knowledge and skills to the benefit of others.

Rob has recently completed his A1 assessor's award and is a fully qualified NVQ assessor.

Keeley Clements – Centre Manager Rayleigh

Keeley joined Essex Apprenticeships in June 2009, having previously worked in the Business Equipment sector for 6 years. During that time she completed her CIPD In training qualification. Since joining Essex Apprenticeships she has gained a vast amount of experience, contributing towards the Apprentice's development.

Keeley believes that "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and gaining your qualifications will enable to plan for your future.