Interim Leadership and Management

The leading provider of specialist interim leadership and management solutions to the FE and Skills sector

As the leading provider of specialist interim leadership and management solutions to the FE and Skills sector, we have the most comprehensive network of professionals to support our clients with their leadership challenges and opportunities.

We provide high quality and flexible interim solutions at middle and senior leadership levels and ensure that FEA interims can hit the ground running, immediately impacting on your organisation while adding significant value.

Our service offering is unique because we have a well-established, employed consultant base complemented by an extensive network of associates that can respond quickly to meet your needs. When you engage an FEA employed consultant there are no additional IR35 costs to be met.

We provide interim leaders and managers for the widest range of roles including:

  • CEO/Principal
  • Deputy/Vice Principal
  • CFO/Finance Director
  • HR Director/Manager
  • MIS/IT Director
  • Director of Curriculum and Quality
  • Head of Department

Connect With us 

Contact our Operations Director, Judith Richardson, today to discuss your interim requirements.

Judith Richardson

Judith Richardson

Director of Operations

  • Placing
  • Recruiting
  • Developing
  • Advising
  • Training
  • Placing
  • Recruiting
  • Developing
  • Advising
  • Training

Our employed consultants combine deep sector knowledge with practical experience, ensuring rapid and effective support for your organisation. Alongside our in-house team, we also work with an extensive network of trusted associates. This combined capacity means we can respond quickly and flexibly to your needs, whatever the scale or scope of the challenge.

FE Associates

Richard Pleavin

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Nigel Smalley

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Dereck Rands

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Christophe Baffos

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Karen Humphreys

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Donna Hollick

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

Rob Jones

Rob Jones

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Peter Wood

Curriculum & Quality Consultant

FE Associates

Ushma Patel

Finance Consultant

FE Associates

Stephen Wagstaff

Finance Consultant

FE Associates
FE Associates
FE Associates
FE Associates
FE Associates
FE Associates

Furkan Uddin – Assistant Principal Skills Young People & SEND – Bradford College

“Donna’s expertise in supporting managers with curriculum development and Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) processes has been invaluable. She consistently adopts a proactive and solution-focused approach, thoroughly investigating and addressing issues until they are successfully resolved. Donna is deeply committed to improving outcomes for students and demonstrates a genuine passion for making a positive difference in their educational experience.”  

Maxine Deslandes – Deputy Chief Operating Officer – West London College

“Over the past few years, Stephen has been exceptional. His professionalism, dedication and consistently high standard of work have made a significant contribution to our team. He has been highly valued and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for the support provided by FEA throughout this engagement.”

Martin Silverwood – Principal – Coulsdon Sixth Form College

“Nigel joined the campus in August to initially provide some management resilience as we needed to implement change at pace to improve the quality of teaching & learning under a leadership team. His immediate impact was seen as Nigel met the challenge head-on to bring in new members of staff as well as develop established staff members to become experts in their pedagogical practices. He helped establish a cultural shift, building new processes and new ways of working, all to benefit our students. He was able to quickly build positive relationships with all key stakeholders and helped raise aspirations with the campus, which is now projecting significantly higher achievements, having much higher levels of student satisfaction and greater links to employers. Nigel has shown himself to be an inspirational leader and we wish him every success in the future.”

Sarah Towan – Vice Principal – Bradford College

“Karen came to Bradford College to act as Interim Head of Department for our Apprenticeships & Business Development team while we recruited a new permanent member of staff. Karen has been exceptional. She hit the ground running, worked hard to understand the team and priorities, mentored and coached the leadership team, and provided a fantastic warm welcome for the new Head of Department. Her business development acumen and drive have been outstanding, to the point that we retained Karen’s services for an additional three months to continue to develop and grow our business. She will be missed.”

Sarah Baxter – Executive Director of Strategy & External Affairs – The Bedford College Group

“Karen joined us as Interim Head of Apprenticeships whilst we recruited to the position. She hit the ground running and has done a fantastic job for us over the past four months. Not only is Karen’s knowledge of ‘all-things apprenticeships’ phenomenal, she has quickly implemented new ways of working to improve performance and motivate the team to achieve set goals. We will really miss her – in such a short time, she has become part of The Bedford College Group family. I would highly recommend Karen to others.”

Andy Cown – Deputy Principal – NESCOT College

“Nigel has made an exceptionally positive contribution during his time as Interim Director of Quality. Not only did he join us at short notice and keep the business as usual on track, but his leadership in redrafting our Quality Framework has been both thoughtful and comprehensive. He also successfully led the planning group for the Surrey Teaching and Learning Conference 2025, delivering an engaging and well-received conference for over 250 staff across the colleges in Surrey, hosted here at the College.”