Neil Fowkes

Apprentice Manager, JCB

Neil completed his apprenticeship at NEI International Combustion in 1990 and worked within the Manufacturing Department before transferring to Rolls-Royce in 1997.

During his time at Rolls-Royce he held a wide range of training, coaching and leadership roles within the Resourcing and Development function, with accountability across a number of UK Sites.  His last role as Learning & Development Manager – UK Apprenticeships Engineering Skills, involved leading centralisation and development of the Apprentice Programme functionally for the company.  On leaving Rolls-Royce in March 2014 he was accountable for delivering programmes to over 900 apprentices across 23 sites in the UK, Germany and Norway. The programme was accredited by Ofsted as Grade 1 in all areas of delivery across its English Sites.

Neil joined Derby College in March 2014 to take on a newly created role as Group Director Apprenticeships and Engineering. The role was created to standardise and centralise the College’s apprenticeship offerings across all sectors as well as leading the development of the Engineering Department.

Neil’s passion for working in industry led him to join JCB in August 2015 as the Manager of their apprenticeship programmes for its UK Sites. JCB currently employs around 200 intermediate, advanced and higher apprentices.