About Us
Across the UK, Aptem is delighting training and employability providers, universities, colleges, tutors, assessors, employers and, most importantly, learners and jobseekers.
What we do
Aptem specialises in developing pioneering technology solutions for the vocational training, further education and employment services sectors. Aptem products are developed by MWS Technology Ltd.
Awards & Accreditations
Our commitment to quality has been recognised time and again by our customers, award wins, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications.
Our mission is to create innovations that unleash new levels of efficiency, productivity and personal growth.
Our values
We are knowledgeable and have the expertise to carry out our roles effectively. We are committed to life-long learning to develop the skills required to work at the highest level.
We take personal responsibility and ownership. We are professionals who act with full appreciation of the wider context. We act with integrity and always follow things up.
Quality underpins everything we do – from our products and materials, to everyday processes and communications. We strive for operational excellence.
We see things from our customers’ perspective, we care about their success and we ensure that every interaction has a positive intent.
Meet the team
Our team brings together expert, approachable professionals who understand training providers, learners and industry wide trends.
Management
Founder & Chief Executive
Richard Alberg
Richard is the founder and CEO of Aptem. Prior to Aptem, Richard founded Psychometric Services Ltd (PSL). PSL developed and published psychometric tests and was a pioneer in the field of online recruitment, integrating assessment with recruitment workflow software. The company was purchased by Kenexa, that was in turn acquired by IBM. Richard co-founded Corndel, a highly successful apprenticeship training provider, and is non-executive director of Protocol Holdings Ltd.
Sales Director
David Devine
David joined Aptem in 2018, bringing with him a wealth of experience, leading business development teams in large corporates and startups selling HR technology. In addition, David has over 10 years working in professional bodies implementing Frameworks and Standards in large multinationals and central government.
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Isla Lightfoot
Isla joined Aptem in 2020, having previously consulted for brands including Nissan, Diageo, and HSBC. She developed and executed the marketing strategy for the largest change programme at Barclays, worked with Worldpay to set up their communications function and deliver their rebrand, and most recently set up the marketing function and rebranded Corndel. Isla holds a post-graduate with Distinction in Digital Marketing and is a member of the IDM. She is responsible for oversight and delivery of all marketing activities.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Sarah Owens
Sarah joined Aptem in 2018. She is a chartered accountant and has extensive experience managing the finances of organisations in both educational and technology sectors, including VC-backed start-ups. Sarah heads our finance team and is also the company secretary. With a PhD in organisational psychology and previous HR management experience, Sarah is also responsible for HR issues.
CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER
Mike Sims
Mike joined Aptem in 2020. He has over 20 years of experience in product design and development roles and is passionate about ensuring that technology helps providers deliver meaningful transformation. Mike has spent the last 8 years of his career advising the largest training providers in the UK on technology adoption and transformation projects.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Christine Weddell
Christine joined Aptem in 2020. She is a chartered accountant and has extensive experience in process improvement and providing outstanding client service. Christine spent 10 years at PwC and prior to Aptem worked at a high growth technology start up leading the implementation function and client onboarding process. Christine is responsible for overseeing all business operations at Aptem.
Interim Chief Technology Officer
Henry Cohen
Henry joined Aptem in 2021, to head up the Engineering function. He is an experienced and successful CTO with over 21 years’ experience of managing large-scale business and technology programmes (£5m to £800m), especially in the digital space and in implementing Agile techniques at a corporate level through the use of the Scaled Agile Framework. He has worked for a wide variety of UK and European-based Insurance and Media companies and Central Government departments.
CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER
Mike Sims
Mike joined Aptem in 2020. He has over 20 years of experience in product design and development roles and is passionate about ensuring that technology helps providers deliver meaningful transformation. Mike has spent the last 8 years of his career advising the largest training providers in the UK on technology adoption and transformation projects.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Christine Weddell
Christine joined Aptem in 2020. She is a chartered accountant and has extensive experience in process improvement and providing outstanding client service. Christine spent 10 years at PwC and prior to Aptem worked at a high growth technology start up leading the implementation function and client onboarding process. Christine is responsible for overseeing all business operations at Aptem.
Board Members
Chris Bell
Chris Bell is Chair of the board. He has held several senior roles within the private equity firm Bridgepoint, including head of education and head of advanced industries, helping grow the business into a FTSE 250 company. He has led 17 successful buyouts over 22 years, five of which became €1bn plus companies. Chris is also non-executive director of Cambridge Education, the leading UK online education business, and EVAC, a Nordic clean-technology business. He has held several other board positions including the life science business LGC and SPTS Technologies, the semiconductor business.
Shane Gallwey
Shane joined our board in 2018. Shane set up the EIS funds at Guinness Asset Management in 2010. Since then the team has invested over £120 million into EIS businesses. He was previously a director at Northland Capital Partners, where his focus was on advising growth companies. Prior to that, Shane worked in corporate finance at HSBC Investment Bank. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Michael Jackson
Michael joined our board in 2018. Michael founded Elderstreet Investments Limited in 1990 and is its executive chairman and director of several companies Elderstreet has invested in. For the past 24 years, he has specialised in raising finance and investing in the smaller companies quoted and unquoted sector. Michael has also been chairman of two FTSE 100 companies.
Julian Pickstone
Julian joined our board in 2018. Julian has developed the social impact investment business at Triple Point over the last three years. He established the first Social Investment funding provided by a mainstream fund manager that qualified for Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) and has led Triple Point’s work on social impact evaluation and the Social Impact Bond market. He worked for 17 years with UBS Investment Bank, latterly as a Managing Director and Head of Research for Asia.
Paul Mullins OBE
Paul joined our board in 2018 and is our non-executive chairman. Paul has been a mergers and acquisitions adviser for 25 years at Schroders, Citigroup, Bank of America and DC Advisory. Paul was chairman of the Education and Training Foundation, the national professional development body for Further Education and Training supported by the Department for Education from 2013 to 2019 and has also chaired boards for BEIS and DfE. In addition to MWS, Paul is chairman of The Unilink Group, supplying expert secure environment systems used in prisons and other justice facilities. Paul received an OBE in 2017 for services to business and industry.
Want to find out more?
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