Brenda McLeish, CEO of County Durham-based training provider Learning Curve Group, won the award at North East Business Executive of the Year awards ceremony at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle on November 13.
The awards celebrate inspirational business leaders from across the region, promoting the best in business from across the North East. McLeish joined Learning Curve Group over 10 years ago, at a time when the business had just 40 members of staff and a turnover of £1m per year. Fast-forward to 2019, they have grown massively in numbers, boasting 450 staff and 500 associates, with a reported turnover in excess of £40m.
Due to rapid business expansion, LCG moved into a brand-new head office at DurhamGate, Spennymoor earlier this year. The new development provides a home for their 250 office-based staff, with the rest of their staff working across the UK engaging with learners and employers to deliver first class teaching and learning.
McLeish has been CEO at Learning Curve Group since the founders of the business exited in 2015. She has successfully led on several high-profile acquisition projects within the education sector which has supported the growth of the business, including the recent acquisition of Peterlee-based training provider Profound Group in 2018.
McLeish said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won North East Business Executive for Sunderland, Durham and South Tyneside. I’m really passionate about our region and particularly the impact that Learning Curve Group has on the lives of individuals to give them access to a better future.
“It goes without saying that the staff at Learning Curve Group are behind this award. We’ve grown massively over the last few years, and without our staff – who we call Purple People – I wouldn’t have won this accolade. I’m really fortunate to have a great team behind me; the education landscape can be a hard world to navigate, but I can’t wait to see what is in store for us at Learning Curve Group and I’m really proud of our achievements to date.”
Learning Curve Group provides education and training to around 100,000 learners every year through their range of training courses, including apprenticeships, flexible learning, advanced learning and employability and social mobility programmes. They have a number of skills academies in Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, as well as in Manchester and Yorkshire, with specialisms including construction, pre-uniformed services and beauty.
LCG has high ambitions and a strategic growth plan to allow them to continually expand and almost double in size by 2025, which will create opportunity for jobs both within South Durham and nationally.
Listed as one of the ‘UK’s Top 100 Employers’ by the Sunday Times earlier this year, the business has gone from strength to strength, and is one of the largest training providers in the UK, striving to meet their vision of transforming lives through learning every day.