CONEL hires John Lewis education boss to drive forward its first retail management apprenticeships

The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) has appointed Helen Camilleri as its new Business Development Project Manager.

Helen has 18 years’ experience in developing apprenticeships and courses for the John Lewis Partnership and been a consultant on the Department for Education’s Retail Trailblazer Steering Group.

She will take the lead in developing CONEL’s first retail management apprenticeships, with the College already offering Level 3 and 5 management apprenticeships and Level 2 and 3 in customer service.

Helen said: “I am really excited about joining CONEL and using my expertise within the retail industry to create a retail apprenticeship offer that is innovative, flexible and reflective of both learner and businesses’ needs.

“I will be meeting with end-point assessment organisations and will work back from there, and also work closely with the Head of Apprenticeships to ensure good systems are in place. 

“My aim is to create good quality apprenticeship programmes with satisfied employers who retain their apprentices as permanent employees.”

Helen joined John Lewis as sales assistant in Brent Cross in 1998 before moving to Head Office in Westminster a year later where she managed and developed NVQ programmes and a team of assessors and verifiers.

She went on to develop the new Retailer and Retail Manager Apprenticeship Standards for branches of John Lewis and Waitrose, alongside IT, pensions, driving goods vehicles, hospitality, warehousing and logistics, sewing machinist and infrastructure technician apprenticeships.

Jackie Chapman, Director of Employability and Employability, said: “CONEL’s apprenticeship provision is constantly evolving to meet changing employer needs.  

“As part of our strategic plan to continue to grow apprentices we ‘ve been seeking feedback from employers about current and emerging needs and received a lot of interest in management apprenticeships following the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.

“When we met Helen, we knew instantly from her wealth of experience, her positive attitude and her involvement in the Trailblazers, she would be a great asset to the team.”