Stewart Lawrence joined Merit Skills at the beginning of 2020 but we've kept him too busy to write a news article for the website!
Stewart joins with nearly 15 years experience in the secondary education sector, he has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to government funding & quality practices.
After starting my working life in the construction industry as an apprentice Plumber I worked in the construction industry for 9 years before joining Anglian Water where I started as Network Technician. Due to the opportunities available in the company I was lucky enough to spend some time in the Innovation department before gaining a role with the purchasing team in the Supply Chain Management department where I stayed until leaving the company to take up a training position with Develop based at Whitwell Training Centre. It was here that I became inspired to progress my teaching career so after gaining the Certificate in Education at De Montfort University I became the Head of Business Studies in a Peterborough Secondary School where I achieved QTLS status. I continued to teach and manage in a variety of roles in Secondary Education for a total of 13 years, teaching both GCSE and A level qualifications, such as Business, Finance, Design Technology and Construction. My final role was Head of Vocational Qualifications for the whole trust of seven schools which was very rewarding. After deciding to return to the private sector and having previously worked with some of the team at Merit Skills I was pleased to join the organisation in 2020 and use all my skills and experience to support both the business and its learners at what is an exciting time of growth for the Shorterm group.