NOCN Group’s team of Business Development Managers work with Colleges, training providers and employers across the UK to enable them to benefit from the future-fit skills solutions we offer, which include Regulated Qualifications, Apprenticeship End Point Assessment, Assured Courses, Competence Cards & Tests, and Short Online Courses.

The team are experts in our specialist areas where skills advancement is needed most: preparation for life & work; construction & the built environment; engineering, manufacturing & the green economy; health & social care; and education & management.

We sat down with our Business Development Manager in the South of England, Tyron Wain, who joined us earlier this year bringing his years of experience working for training providers, for a quick-fire question & answer session on his role, his experience and expertise, and why he thinks our customers choose NOCN Group as their skills solutions provider.

Tyron, tell us about your role at NOCN Group - what does a typical day look like? 

My role involves communicating with the Colleges, training providers and employers we work with across London and the South. It’s my job to keep them up to date with the latest on our skills solutions and offer them tailored support to get the most out of them. Two-way communication is the most important part of a good working relationship.

I love visiting our customers to experience first-hand the impact they have on learners on a daily basis, and seeing how they promote and celebrate their great work. I work with fantastic colleagues across our sector teams, customer services, assurance, as well as other members of the business development team to ensure our customers get a joined-up, consistent and responsive level of service. I keep myself updated and on top of the skills agenda and what is happening in our specialist sectors by attending industry events and networking. My diary is often full of meetings, events and training - no day is ever the same!

You have strong experience and expertise in Health & Social Care. What's new/important when it comes to education and skills in the sector? 

The Health & Social Care sector has always been important to me. I have worked with some fantastic social care employers and learners who deliver an outstanding service to care for adults and children. Workers within the sector deserve to be recognised for their dedication and commitment to caring for others. The new NOCN Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate, and the government funding attached to it for employers, is a great way to recognise those care workers with a fantastic qualification that is nationally recognised in the sector and will enable them to forge successful career pathways.

By working with NOCN Group, I can have a much larger impact on learners across the country, promoting and pushing for quality education and training for hardworking healthcare professionals. Working with our sector expert Cheryle Cox, we support the industry and its workforce to grow and strive forward. Watch this space for more on this!

Why do you think the customers you work with in the South of England choose NOCN Group as their skills solutions provider? 

Prior to my role at NOCN Group I worked for a training provider for a number of years – so I have first-hand experience of being a customer of an Awarding and Assessment Organisation. NOCN Group is unlike any skills solutions provider I have worked with before in the way that it shows genuine care for customers, supporting and backing them to succeed. Our wide range of services and expertise makes us a ‘one-stop shop’ as a trusted partner for many of our customers. As a charity which doesn’t have to answer to commercial shareholders and has social aims, we proactively address customer needs, supporting them with funding and qualification queries, and offer added value support. Whether they’re a tiny organisation or a national provider, every customer receives the same dedicated level of customer service from our expert team. When Colleges, training providers, employers and individuals access any of our future-fit skills solutions, they can expect a high quality, responsive, flexible, personal service every time, that is built on values around productivity, social mobility, inclusivity and sustainability.

What challenges do your customers face and how do you support them to overcome them? 

My role as the Business Development Manager is to help providers and colleges to grow and adapt to the ever-evolving education and skills sector. Changes within industry, Ofsted, funding and legislation can be daunting for providers to deal with and part of my role is to keep them abreast of the latest information, working in partnership to build a curriculum that benefits customers and provides a positive impact on learners. Customers are often looking for guidance or a helping hand to steer them in the right direction, and we are there to provide this support.

What is it like being a part of the NOCN Group team? 

Everyone at NOCN Group has a shared purpose and is striving to offer the best service possible. The different teams and departments work collaboratively, all sharing a common goal for NOCN Group to be at the forefront of education and skills innovation. Everyone is friendly, supportive and pro-active. We are able to invest in supporting niche professions that deserve recognition, whilst also staying one step ahead of new and upcoming sectors to meet the future training needs of the UK and the wider world. I feel really proud to work for an organisation that takes this approach.

Right now is an exciting time to be a part of NOCN Group as we rapidly expand internationally with a focus on advance skills globally, enabling people across the world to reach their potential and organisations to thrive. The fact that we can bring learnings from international territories back to the UK and vice versa is of huge benefit to all our customers.