The College’s Governance and Leadership structure provides strategic leadership to advance the mission and establishes and monitors strategies necessary for a relevant and thriving College while motivating and fostering a pipeline of diverse leaders.

Geoff Thompson is a former five times world karate champion and sports ambassador who has provided a legacy of social and human initiatives with specific emphasis on equality, diversity and inclusion. He is founder and executive chair of Youth Charter, a UK-based international charity, and a UN non-governmental organisation established in 1993.

Geoff has provided important leadership and significant governance within the UK Higher Education Sector for over twenty years and was a very effective and influential Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of East London and also has been a substantial and dynamic member of the Board of Governors at the University of Salford.

Geoff has also held a number of private and public board roles including, London Legacy Development Corporation, Muhammad Ali Center and is Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel of the Professional Footballers Association PFA. He has delivered strategies within the bidding, hosting and legacy of many major sports events including the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1997 FIFA World Cup, All Africa Games 1999, Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, 2010 FIFA World Cup, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In the 1995 New Years Honours List, Geoff was awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE for his services to sport. He was also been appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Geoff has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from University of Wolverhampton, Manchester Metropolitan University and Roehampton University for his charity, world peace and his life commitment to sports. The University of Lancaster awarded Geoff an Honorary Fellowship and the University of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University has made Geoff Honorary Professor and Chair of the International Business School.

Mark is a motivated, inspirational and experienced educational leader with a proven track record in successfully leading and managing within higher education settings, sixth form and further education colleges. With senior leadership and management experience across further and higher education plus sixth form environments, Mark has substantial knowledge of the education and adult training landscape. Mark has held senior executive roles at Strode's College, Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education and Hartlepool College and Six Form College. As Principal he led Hartlepool Sixth Form College and using National Achievement Rate Tables (NATs), in 2018-19 they ranked 8th in the country for overall achievement at 90.5%.

With over 20 years of HE, FE and Private Institutes Adult Learning experience across a range of sectors and geographical locations, he current leads Evoko to respond to ever increasing demands for professional advice, information and support in schools, sixth forms, further and higher education.

Mark was appointed as Consultant ECFA Committee Member for the UK’s Association of Colleges (AoC) in 2019 where he had national responsibilities, as well as covering the northern regions for AoC Sport.

Currently as Managing Director of Evoko he is working in executive posts with Bedford College Group and York College. Mark has also held several positions as Governor in Schools and Colleges. He is also dynamic in a voluntary capacity with a number of organisations, and is proud to be active with Lions Clubs International.

Louise Nally, LLB (Hons); as Barrister at Law had an illustrious legal career following her call to the bar in 1991 at Inn of Court: Lincoln's Inn.

Louise has been temporary lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University responsible for teaching criminal law (specifically Police and Criminal Evidence). Also, she was temporary lecturer at Bolton University responsible for teaching Contract Law. Additionally, she has been a mentor for students at Bolton School entering the Mock Law Trials held at Manchester Crown Court.

During her career in legal services, she has held leadership positions, been a member of chambers management committee, held the post as head of family team, as well as pupil supervisor and mentor for other pupils in chambers.

This vast legal experience, over 30 years in Legal Practice, along with being GDPR Certified Barrister means she brings a high level of competence and analytical skill and a unique perspective to the College Governance of our Higher Education Institution.

Lousie plays a pivotal role in ensuring and enhances transparency and accountability of the Board, The Directors and The Senior Management Teams.

Rabbia Arif is the OLC Student President and holds a two day a week post at OLC working very closely with the student engagement and enhancement teams, she runs a blog and social media sites that all aim to attract the student voice and reach also the student alumni of OLC. She is passionate about working with the OLC student population and is very close to the student representatives at each of the four OLC campuses. Her role at OLC is alongside her commitment to study and her commitment to continue learning as she is currently working towards her Bachelor Degree in Business Management at the OLC Oldham Campus.

Dr Chris Bamber has devoted himself to fostering the College’s unique position in academia, in the UK and across the Globe. An acknowledged expert and philosopher in the fields of Systems Thinking, Process Management, Leadership and Teamwork, Higher Education Governance and Risk Management, he earned a Doctorate from University of Salford and a Fellowship from the College of Teachers.

As founding father, Dr Chris has been committed to combining teaching, learning and research excellence with a development of the deeper purposes of excellence in higher education. While pursuing academic distinction, he has brought renewed emphasis to OLC’s distinctive mission, rooted in the tradition of every learner matters emphasised by the founding community, to educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—to do good in the world.

Dr Chris has developed a formula for improving the college’s Impact on Society; Is = ∑E1 x ∑E2 x ∑E3 x Cp and; is keen to help the communities that the learners and the collegiate serve.

If we focus on our impact on society, we will excel in our values. Our impact on society increases each year and the communities we serve are seeing the benefit of our Excellence in Higher Education.

Dr Chris’s speech at the 2022 OLC Annual Strategic Retreat

As Principal at OLC College, Sally provides strategic direction and to help deliver the college’s vision to provide excellence in higher education. Sally has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Huddersfield as well as a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Hull. She has worked in education for over twenty years and has a passion in supporting adults returning to education.

Sally has previously worked at a number of large further and higher education colleges including Education Partnership North East providing leadership for the quality and standards for their higher education provision. She is also a higher education reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency and has undertaken reviews of colleges for nearly 10 years.

Craig supports the Senior Leadership and Senior Management Teams of the College and is responsible for preparation of monthly management accounts for the College and for the Annual declaration of the College’s financial situation. Other roles include providing financial analysis, financial risk assessment and budgetary information for the Directorate and the Managing Director related to the strategic intent, operations and success of the College activities.

Ernest is a senior director experienced in coordination of multidisciplinary teams within education and consultancy institutions. He is a well-rounded professional with excellent interpersonal skills, a willingness to work hard and mobilise teams to deliver business objectives. Ernest has supported OLC for over ten years with strong collaborative working ethics and relationship management skills with a student-centred approach. He has been awarded an MBA in Higher Education Management and a BA (Hons) in Economics and is tasked with ensuring the resilience, sustainability and strategic management of our London, UK campuses.

Our students are living embodiments of OLC’s Impact on Society through daily demonstrations of the value of Engagement, Enhancement, Evaluation and Consistency of Purpose. In a time when, for obvious reasons (COVID-19 lockdowns), many have sought entrenchment, I have immense admiration for those who have embraced the challenge of self development. At OLC, we promise to do our best to offer maximum support, understanding and conducive on and offline learning spaces, through which these aims can be realised.

2020 OLC Annual Report, Ernest Kwateng Welcome Address

As Director of Teaching, Learning and Assessment Enhancements, Enock is the OLC responsible director for all aspects of the academic journey of our learners and takes responsibility for directing all academic staff that teach across all programmes of study. Over the years at OLC he has shown, a strong leadership drive in exploring with learners, how best to make learning effective and enjoyable at the same time. His leadership journey has followed steps from senior tutor to programme manager and head of school respectively, before his current role. He brings passion and dedication in assisting learners and staff members, especially those with additional needs to be confident, independent and realise their potential. He holds an MA in Inclusive Education, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Level 7 Teaching Learners with Additional Needs (TLAN) and achieved Youth and Community Work B.A. (Hons) 2:1. He is a dedicated educator with a QTLS Professional Formation Certification and is currently reading Educational Leadership towards achieving a PhD, Doctorate at Lancaster University.

Yunus was there at the inception of OLC in 1998, as student of Professor John Sharp, one of the OLC founding fathers, he was at the first Annual Strategic Retreat, where the ideas, vision and ethos of the College were set. He holds an MSc in Advanced Business and Manufacturing Management and gained an Honours Degree in Business. With a wealth of experience in systems and process development and a history of working in the charity sector, Yunus brings highly tuned organisational skills, leadership and compassion to the role of Director. He is responsible for ensuring the support mechanisms, data management and policies are in place for teaching and learning.

Dr Allan Lawrence, PhD, BSc is founder and Director at Projects Beyond Borders Ltd, also Director at the Enterprise Centre, where he has been responsible for setting up ethical international partnerships within Europe and in many other countries such as China, Russia, South Korea, Germany and Romania to name just a few! He has a scientific background with a PhD from Greenwich University and he holds a BSc form North East London Polytechnic. He has held senior roles at the University of Salford and also Blackburn College where he was responsible for International Students, Academic Enterprise and Professional Training and Staff Development. He is an active member of BUSINET a membership organisation with over 200 Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), where he has partaken in research activities, professional course development, student engagement activities and leadership roles and has published many peer reviewed articles.

Dr David Bamber, PhD, PGCE, MEd (Psych) BSc (Dunhlem) is an acknowledged expert in the fields of organisational learning and learning organisations. He is director of studies for PhD students and research at the University of Greater Manchester (formally Bolton). He is also director of research at the University of Central Lancashire for PhD students in Business, Management and Marketing. He is appointed as Associate Lecturer at UCLAN and University of Cumbria. He has written ten book chapters, numerous academic peer reviewed journal articles and travelled the world to conferences presenting his research. He is an esteemed academic with two Literati Awards to his credit and is chief advisor on growth, expansion and partnerships for the Zaimi Foundation.

Dr Enis Elezi, completed his PhD in Knowledge Management at The University of Bolton, Greater Manchester, looking at the role of Knowledge Management in developing Higher Education partnerships touching on a range of Management and Organisational Behaviour aspects in the context of collaborative initiatives.

Prior to joining Westminster Business School, Enis was a senior lecturer in Business Management at Teesside University International Business School where he held course leadership responsibilities for Undergraduate Business Management framework courses. During this time Enis was also involved in designing and assisting the delivery of courses and modules designated for on campus and online audiences working with a range of industry stakeholders. At Teesside University International Business School Enis supervised three DBA students conducting research on Knowledge Management, Knowledge Transfer, and Organisational Culture and Partnership Development.

Earlier on, Enis worked for Organisational Learning Centre in Manchester and Bolton, between 2013-2019 where he held course leadership responsibilities for the Top-up degree offered by University of East London and was part of the blended learning HND programmes delivered to educational partners in China, Russia, and Azerbaijan. Enis was involved in the design and implementation of Change Management initiatives and Corporate Strategy, assisting senior management team in the development of Higher Education partnerships with UK Higher Education Institutions. Furthermore, Enis was actively involved in establishing commercial relationships with local and international Higher Education partners, contributing to due diligence processes, quality assurance standards, curricula and programme design as well as training and development of staff.

Enis has a research interest in organisational studies with a particular focus on Knowledge Management, Organisational Culture, Change Management and Collaborative Work in Higher Education Institutions. Currently, Enis serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy and is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (HEA), member of International Association of Knowledge Management, British Academy of Management and regularly reviews for peer-reviewed Journals.

Leslie Harvey LL B (Hons) MBA FRICS C Dip AF is qualified as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1970. He is now a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and has an honours degree in Law from London University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Durham. He also has a Diploma in finance and accountancy awarded by the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. He is a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

He has extensive experience in the construction and engineering industry having worked for professional consultancies, client organisations and contractors. After an early career in the UK he worked on projects for a number of the oil majors including Shell, Chevron, Elf and Esso in a number of overseas locations. Additionally he spent time in Norway, Germany and Holland working for contractors on North Sea offshore projects.

He spent nearly 10 years as commercial director of a multi-million pound turnover engineering company before leaving to form his own consultancy 12 years ago specialising in the solving of commercial problems and the analysis and provision of commercial systems for organisations in the engineering and construction industry and the delivery of specialised training.

He has taught at University level in the UK and has been involved in the development of specialist engineering degree courses. Over 40 years experience in the industry together with qualifications in surveying, law, finance and management have given him a unique perspective on the many problems occurring in the industry and the methods of solving them.

Mick Mann is a Senior Health, Safety and Environmental Specialist and has carried out a range of Health, Safety and Environmental audits including IPPC site surveys, initial audits for ISO 14001 and baseline regulatory compliance audits. He is competent in conducting surveys under the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 and PAT Testing. Registered environmental auditor with IEMA and has been a production engineering and quality systems engineer with management experience. He has a comprehensive knowledge of current HS&E legislation and is associate member of Institute of Environmental Management (IEM) and TechSP level membership of IOSH, he also is a Qualified Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor (all classes/road). With a long history of working in senior roles in health, safety and environmental management positions is well qualified to advise the governors and leadership teams at OLC in things related to health and safety.

Ronnie Todd has significantly valuable experience in teaching and leadership roles in High Schools, Colleges and University settings. He held a senior leadership role at Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale before moving to Bradford College to lead the International Team and then turned to OLC to become an executive director advising the College Directorate. Ronnie now holds the post of Director of Strategic Growth and passionately drives the OLC senior teams to ensure that a growth mindset is embedded in the culture of the College. He is responsible for identifying and analysing opportunities that support the OLC strategy of five growth visions; Growth in Joy in Work; Growth in Knowledge; Growth in Partnerships; Growth in Capital and; Growth in Stakeholder Satisfaction.