Key Members of NFEC
JONATHAN GILL - NFEC Director & Chair
Email: gillj@hlcollege.ac.uk
Telephone: 01432 365 324
Jon qualified as a Civil and Structural Engineer from Plymouth University in 1991 and followed this with a PhD in Materials Science at Dundee University. Following a short stint as a design / maintenance engineer in the rail industry, Jon re-trained as a teacher and taught Maths, Science and Design Technology subjects in secondary schools in Southampton and Oxfordshire before seeing the light and discovering that his real home was in the Further Education sector.
Joining Gloucestershire College (then GLOSCAT) in 1999 as a lecturer in Instrumentation and Control, he quickly moved through the ranks and became head of the Engineering and Motor Vehicle Department at the college. In 2003 he joined Bridgwater College in Somerset as the head of the Automotive Section before moving on to head up the Engineering and ICT Section at the college. During this time, Jon grew the Full Time and Engineering Apprenticeship programme at the college and successfully bid to deliver the Rolls Royce Apprenticeship programme in 2009. In 2011, Bridgwater College opened a brand new £8M Engineering Training Facility with state of the art workshops, labs and classrooms.
Later on that same year, Jon joined Herefordshire College of Technology as the Assistant Principal for the Faculty of Technology, responsible for all Engineering, Motor Vehicle, Construction, Building Services and ICT provision. He also manages the college’s apprenticeship provision and is on the board of the Marches Skills Provider Network.
Jon has been an active member of NFEC for over 12 years and acted as regional NFEC co-ordinator for the South West for a couple of years before being appointed to the Board of Directors of NFEC in 2012 and subsequently being appointed as Chair of NFEC.
Jon dabbles in pantomime, music and the dark arts in his spare time and is married with two children
WARWICK HALL - NFEC Director & Secretary to the Board
Email: warwick.hall@nfec.org.uk
Telephone: 07785 543 273
Warwick trained as a Mechanical Engineer and worked in the civil, construction and access equipment industries before moving into the automotive sector. There he had a career in Human Resource Management, in which he focused on employee relations, organisational development and people resourcing, development and training.
Warwick has a particular interest in preparing individuals for the ever changing competitive challenges of our global workplace, developing flexible work practices and increasing people’s skills, experience and capability - especially the importance of the continuous development of people in work.
During his career he has had close involvement with Further and Higher Education, linked to industrial strategic planning on national and regional skills needs. As part of this he has been closely involved in the development of Foundation degrees since their inception.
Now Director of Regional Strategy for Foundation Degree Forward (fdf), Warwick works closely with further and higher education institutions, employers and regional bodies in the development and promotion of vocational routes to higher education.
Prior to joining fdf, Warwick was an HR Manager with Land Rover, Rover and BMW and Programme Manager with the Automotive Academy . He has worked in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
IAN GASKILL - NFEC Director
Email: Ian.Gaskill@ncl-coll.ac.uk
Telephone: 07561 445 832
Ian's background is in Engineering; he served an apprenticeship and worked in the Engineering industry for 16 years, prior to starting his lecturing career at Northumberland College where he worked for six years.
Ian has continued to work in the further and higher education sector and has held various posts such as section leader/curriculum manager for ten years at Derwentside College, before moving onto Newcastle College for 3 years. Ian then moved onto New College Durham where he was Head of School for Technology which encompassed Engineering, Automotive and Construction curriculum areas. In September 2021 Ian returned to Newcastle College where he is Director of Industry Partnerships and Operations.
Ian has attended regional and national NFEC conferences since 1993 and has found the networking with colleagues, along with the opportunity to gain vital information from awarding bodies and experts from industry invaluable in helping to teach and manage within the FE sector, along with supporting the higher education aspects associated with working in a mixed economy college.
Ian sees his role as a Director of NFEC as ensuring that the response to Government, awarding bodies and others continues to be pro-active and a key force to help drive through responses and new initiatives. This along with ensuring that the voice of NFEC continues to be prevalent; and to encourage current and future members to raise awareness of the organisation in their colleges and centres.
JOHN LOCKEY - NFEC Director
Email: john.lockey@ucq.ac.uk
Telephone: 07753 902 729
John is an Electrical and Electronic Engineer with experience in a range of Industrial and Academic roles. Within industry he has worked across a number of sectors including Marine, Electronics and Microelectronics. During his career he has had close involvement with various bodies linked to industrial strategic planning on national and regional skills needs.
Within Further Education he was head of Engineering and Science for North Tyneside College (Tyne Met) and within Higher Education at Newcastle University held the post of Industrial Liaison Manager and Tutor initially for Mechanical and then for the faculty.
John works closely with Industrial partners with regards to student projects, mock interviews, recruitment, and visits. His current role as Student Engagement with Industry Facilitator within the learning and teaching team is to look at initiatives to continue to improve the student’s experience and employability opportunities within Maths, Stats, Physics and Computing.