Brenda McLeish, chief executive of Learning Curve Group, awarded OBE

Chief executive of Learning Curve Group, Brenda McLeish, is awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list for her services to further education. With over 20 years’ of experience within the education sector, Brenda goes above and beyond to promote positive change for the industry, fundraise for many charities, and truly embodies her vision of transforming lives through learning. The New Year Honours list recognises the achievements and service of people across the UK, from all walks of life.

Brenda has led Learning Curve Group (LCG) to become one of the largest training providers in the country, delivering to over 200,000 learners every year. Since joining LCG in 2008 she has seen the business go from 40 staff to over 800. Her passion for supporting young people to fulfil their potential through making high quality training accessible to all has been firmly rooted in the values of the business and her ‘Purple People’ who work for LCG.

Brenda McLeish OBE, said: “I feel honoured and humbled to be recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours list. This is an incredible achievement that also comes with great responsibility. I have always believed that through education, anything is possible. I will continue to ensure that we give people across the country the opportunities to gain new skills and fulfil their potential. @Learning Curve Group will continue to transform lives through learning across the country. I would like to thank the hard work and dedication of the Purple People at Learning Curve Group who have helped make this happen.”

Brenda strives to use education and training to transform the lives of anyone she has the pleasure of meeting. Be that through the Purple People Academy, LCG’s internal apprenticeship academy, to support learners who are unemployed and looking to get back into work through nation-wide pathways into employment programmes. Her knowledge of the education funding landscape enables her to broaden the support she can offer individuals, ensuring those who need the most help can access education regardless of level, ability, prior attainment or socio-economic status.

Through Brenda’s leadership, LCG is on track to become the training provider of choice by 2025 and expand their employee count to over 1,500 across the country. Through organic growth and acquisition, LCG is already one of the largest and most diverse providers in the country.

In the year of the pandemic, Brenda knew it was essential to make education accessible to those who wanted to learn during such a challenging time. LCG exceeded their funding allocation to deliver their online courses, therefore Brenda made the decision to take money out of the business to ensure these learners could gain the qualifications they needed to come out of the pandemic in a stronger position. This was important to Brenda and the business, as one of LCG’s core values is to keep the learner at the centre of everything they do. By the end of 2020, the business achieved their 5 year mission of transforming over one million lives through learning – but they aren’t stopping there.

In 2021, LCG had one of their most successful years yet as they acquired Liverpool based Antrec Limited to expand their reach to learners in the Liverpool City region. The training provider also completed the acquisition of Motivational Preparation College for Training (MPCT), which expands their skills based academy numbers to over 50 and makes LCG the second largest military training provider after the Ministry of Defence.