About Starting Off
Starting Off is a well-established business with an excellent reputation specialising in recruitment and training for apprenticeships and permanent positions across the UK. Alongside apprenticeship training we also offer private training packages for AAT and Team Leader.
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Established in Northamptonshire in 1989 we have grown significantly over the last 30 plus years and now work with companies across the UK. Our core values are at the heart of what we do – Support, Honesty, Ambition, Passion, Excellence.
Meet the team
Whether you’re an employer looking to hire the best skills, or you’re a school-leaver looking for the best start to your career, our friendly and dedicated team will be happy to help.
Senior Leadership Team
Jess Cameron
Managing Director
Jess joined the training team at Starting Off 7 years ago, within that time she was an account manager supporting our learners and employers and then went on to managing the training team. Jess is now one of our Managing Directors. Â Jess, alongside her Director duties is still heavily involved in the quality of the training we offer and ensuring our learners receive the best opportunities. She has a real passion for all things training. Jess loves spending time with her family and friends and of course with the more recent addition to the family, her cockapoo named Bobby. Â
Katie Goodall
Managing Director
Katie is one of the Managing Directors/ Owners of the business and has worked at Starting Off for 13 years. Katie joined Starting Off after she graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in History. Starting her career at Starting Off as a Recruitment Consultant, she progressed to Recruitment Manager, then Operations Manager before acquiring Starting Off with Jess Cameron in November 2020. Her favourite part of the job is talking to clients and ex apprentices who got their first job through Starting Off and seeing where they are now. In her spare time Katie loves to keep fit – running and spinning mainly. One of the most humbling experiences Katie has ever had was volunteering in Ghana for 6 months where she lived with a local family and worked in a school and orphanage.
Managers
Hannah Corby
Quality Assurance Manager
Hannah is a senior assessor and the end point assessor quality lead and has been an assessor for 6 years. She delivers Business Administrator, Customer Service and Team Leader and is passionate about supporting learners to develop and to achieve the best possible end point assessment result. Hannah is a Mental Health First Aider and is currently undertaking a Business Management Degree. Hannah loves spending time with her family and friends, watching football and listening to music.
Jordan Banks
Development Manager
Jordan is the Development Manager, looking after administration, ESFA contracts and system maintenance and development. He has been working at Starting Off for over 7 years and is proud to be part of an organisation that is helping so many young adults start their careers effectively. His interests include reading, music, arts and computing.
Helen Deacon
AAT Programme Manager
Helen manages our AAT training programme. She has been with Starting Off for 25 years (obviously she was very young when she started!) and has extensive experience of managing, assessing and verifying Apprenticeship programmes. Helen is passionate about the AAT qualification and has run the programme since we first became an AAT centre in 2001. Helen loves celebrating the success of our AAT students! She really enjoys helping our accounting learners progress through the various AAT levels and seeing their careers progress and flourish as a result. Helen is an active member of her village community, often helping out with local fundraising events and she is also treasurer of the village school PTA. In her spare time Helen enjoys running and has completed 21 half marathons and counting! She also channels her ‘inner Beyonce’ by singing with her local Rock Choir.
Training Team
Nikki Gallagher
Training Team Leader
Nikki is part of the Training team delivering Business
Administrator, Customer service and AAT Apprenticeships. She is passionate about
learning and tries to encourage all her learners to achieve the best results. She enjoys supporting her learners through to End Point Assessment, the best part of her job is delivering the EPA results.
She loves spending her spare time with her family and trail running with
Lotta the Spanish water dog.
Lisa White
Account Manager / TrainerÂ
& Deputy Safeguarding Officer
Lisa is part of the training team and delivers Business Administration and Customer Service programmes. She is passionate about encouraging the learners to enjoy their course and achieve their qualification with the best grade possible. She also loves building a close rapport with her learners to establish their individual learning requirements.
Lisa is also a fully trained Mental Health First Aider and has recently moved into the role of Deputy Safeguarding Officer.
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Lisa spends most of her free time raising her 2 year old daughter and spending time with close family and friends regularly.Â
Abby Smith
Account Manager / Trainer
Abby (..it’s not short to Abigail) is a member of the training team and delivers ICT, Business Administrator, Customer Service and AAT. Her favourite part of the job is seeing learners develop from the start to the end of their programme and grow in confidence. She likes music and going to gigs, and she can play the guitar, bass and keyboard but has always wanted her own drum kit!
Molly NobleÂ
Trainee Assessor/RecruitmentÂ
Molly is a member of our training team and contributes to our marketing, training and recruitment departments. Molly creates social media content to publicise new apprenticeship and permanent job opportunities, as well as upcoming events. Molly completed her business admin level 3 apprenticeship and functional skills training with us at Starting Off, and she is now enthusiastic about helping others with their apprenticeships and getting to know her learners. She enjoys learning about both the training aspects and enjoys doing things behind the scenes such as marketing and recruitment. Molly enjoys travelling with her friends and family and all things beauty!
Sarah Robinson
Account Manager / Trainer
Sarah delivers AAT, Customer Service and Business Administration. She is very much enjoying her time at Starting Off and getting to know all of her wonderful learners. Sarah has an assessing background and used to deliver Childcare qualifications before spending the last few years working in a local primary school. In her free time, she enjoys days out with her husband and 2 children along with their dog, Alfie.
Mikaela Groves
Account Manager / Trainer
Mikaela delivers Customer Service, Business Administrator and AAT. She likes spending her free time walking her dog Walt, reading and going to the gym. Last year, Mikaela completed her first half marathon!
Ellis Harris
AAT Tutor
Ellis Harris is an AAT Level 3 tutor, who has a passion for
helping students navigate the complexities of bookkeeping. Ellis likes
breaking down difficult concepts into easily understandable parts and helping
students to succeed in their studies. Outside of work, he enjoys practising
martial arts, going for walks with his partner and cockerpoo, and spending
quality time with family and friends.
Recruitment Team
Charlotte Berridge
Recruitment Team Leader
Charlotte is the recruitment team leader and also leads our S.O. Permanent Recruitment division. Her favourite part of the job is speaking to new clients about the benefits of hiring a new apprentice, then watching the apprentice grow and develop within the role. She has a dog called Winnie, who she adores, and loves all things Disney.
Sophie Charalambous
Recruitment Consultant
Sophie became a Recruitment Consultant at Starting Off after completing her A-levels, and her favourite part of the role is being able to help aspiring apprentices to kick-start their careers. Sophie is a qualified St Johns Ambulance First Aider and in her spare time, she enjoys travelling and socialising with her friends.
Lucy Harris
Recruitment Consultant
Lucy is part of the recruitment team, her favourite part of being a recruiter is building relationships with both the candidates and clients. She has a higher national diploma in dance, lives on a farm and enjoys a night out at Bongo Bingo’s.Â
Deb Mapson
Recruitment Administrator
Deb is our new Administrator, and the thing she likes most about her job is talking daily to the students, booking them in for their virtual registrations, and listening to all their hopes and dreams!
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In her spare time Deb loves to dance, Latin American, rock in roll and the Tango – riding her bike, and walking her gorgeous cockerpoo who is named after her favourite dance – Tango !
Very good service for potential employers and the training is also excellent for those who apply
Martin Ryan
