Now in her fourth year of working at The Tess Group, Shannon brings a wide knowledge of paperwork and contracts to her team, in her role as Business Support Manager and is an essential part of the team. She leads by example and will always go the extra mile to ensure learners are enrolled successfully on to their chosen programme. She monitors the relevant paperwork throughout a learners' journey and is able to build great relationships with learners and employers alike. After completing 3 apprenticeships with The Tess Group in Business Administration, Customer Service and Management, she has progressed from a business support co-ordinator, to project leader, team leader and now Manager. She is hugely qualified which has helped tune her skills and in fact win a number of company and national awards including Apprentice of the Year in 2016. She maintains excellent contact with our funders, learners, employers and cross-company staff to ensure a smooth learning journey for all. She enthuses persistence until a task is achieved and enjoys nothing more than meeting and surpassing targets and driving the team to success.

Catherine has been with The Tess Group for almost 3 years now and has worked in a number of departments from Recruitment (being The Tess Group's first ever successful Recruitment Apprentice) to Management Assistant to her current role of Contracts Compliance Officer. As a result of her varied roles, Catherine has a vast skill set that enables her to interact well with clients, employers, funders and learners. She is part of a vibrant and busy Business Support Team, helping to process learner data and paperwork to ensure we have clear, consistent audit trails and accurate information, helping to ensure that learners are completed timely for their relevant qualification. Whilst being a key member of the team with a good eye for details, she was recently voted the Clumsiest employee of the year, at The Tess Group's annual Christmas awards event!

Taz has been with The Tess Group for over 2 years now. Joining us when she had just completed her GCSE's, Taz took her first step on the career ladder as a trainee recruiter. Placing several candidates in her time as a recruiter, Taz has refined her skills and progressed to the Business Support Team, where her attention to detail and dedication to her role are an asset to the team. She always has a smile for everyone and likes to work in a tidy environment to ensure all learner data is processed accurately and safely. She brings a great quality to the team with her bubbly personality and enjoys a sing-song with her teammates to keep up the vibrant atmosphere that Tess are proud of.

I have worked for the TESS Group for over 4 and a half years. I am the Bid & Tender Project Manager. I love that my role can be so different, from one day to the next, which keeps it interesting and means I'm constantly developing new skills. I have a degree in European Business with French and lived in France for a year, as part of my degree. I love going back to visit, although I don't get the chance very often. One day a week, after work, I teach French to pre-schoolers at a local nursery.

Annie has worked for the TESS Group since 2010 and manages the Advanced Learner Loan contract and Compliance courses. Annie has extensive administrative and managerial experience in both the public and private sectors. Out of work time Annie is studying for a degree with the Open University and is researching into her family tree. Annie once appeared on The Weakest Link and won an IPOD in a quiz on Radio 2. Don’t ask her about 80s music!

Ben has been with The Tess Group family for almost a year now. He has a number of talents and has a cross-team role here at Tess. He is a Customer Liaison Officer and Recruiter. He has an excellent natural rapport with clients, customers, learners and employers. He is able to source vacancies, find ideal candidates, arrange interviews and provide telephone support for both the learner and employer whilst on their chosen qualification. He is always a friendly voice on the end of the phone to ensure our employers and learners are matched well, and that they are progressing a doing well on their courses, completing with accredited qualifications that can help take them on to the next step in their career ladder. Ben's idol is the Arsenal legend Ian Wright and he likes to work hard for his team mates just like his hero!

Jo’s background is predominately retail previously working as a Store Manager. Using this experience, Jo qualified as an Assessor in 2008 and has been working in the Education sector for just over 10 years. Jo started working with The Tess Group just over 4 years ago as an Apprenticeship Assessor, she has advanced her profession by completing her Internal Quality Assurance Level 4 qualification with The Tess Group and is now a Senior Internal Quality Assurer. Jo’s main hobby is cake decorating, which always goes down well in the office.

Amy has been with The Tess Group for 6 months now, as our lead IQA. She is responsible for ensuring the quality assurance process for all learner delivery and streamlining best practice to enable our learners to achieve high quality qualifications across a range of subjects and sectors. She leads a team of qualified internal verifiers that work together to approve learner work, claim certificates and check that learners are progressing timely and in line with national standards. Amy enjoys travelling and seeing the world.

I have worked for The Tess Group as an Assessor working in the West Midlands area for around 15 months. My favourite thing about working for The Tess Group is the support and encouragement provided by Management So a little bit about me, I recently got married and I enjoy traveling, the perks of being Married to an American is all the free holidays to the USA and the home-cooked "Biscuits and Gravy" (you may have to Google that one).

Ive been with Tess a year now as a trainer/coach and I've have had such a wonderful experience. Every day is different, the support provided from Tess is amazing and I feel like I've been part of the Tess team for years. I enjoy keeping fit, health and tattoos.

I have developed my passion for training over the last 15 years and became a qualified assessor in 2008. My role with Tess began 3 years ago, assessing Business Admin, Customer Service, Team Leading, Management and ICT. I also love to learn new things myself so have recently achieved qualifications in Lean Organisation Management and am currently working towards my IQA award. My assessing has taken me to many different places from recording studios, to air traffic control and I would say the most interesting place I have ever conducted an assessment was in a cemetery using a 19th century mortuary slab as a desk!