Former WRU chief exec joins ambitious firm Educ8
FORMER chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union Steven Lewis has been appointed chief financial officer and board member of vocational training to apprenticeship and work placement specialist Educ8.
Mr Lewis brings with him more than 30 years’ experience of senior business management, having held chief executive roles which as well as with the UK include Bergstrom (Europe) Ltd and WRU.
He will support Educ8 Group’s ongoing strategy of growth and diversification.
His appointment comes as Grant Santos is promoted to chief executive and current CEO Colin Tucker moves into the position of chairman of the board.
The new structure has been established to support the Educ8 Group’s ambitious plans as they evolve and expand from being one of Wales’ leading providers of apprenticeships, vocational training programmes and Jobs Growth Wales placements to a newly registered provider for levy (apprenticeship) paying organisations in England.
They have also recently established a fully functional commercial department offering bespoke training and recruitment solutions to organisations nationally.
Mr Lewis said: “I’m delighted to accept the position of the Educ8’s Group’s first CFO. The education sector is highly complex but despite all the challenges, the team at Educ8 has managed to double rates of revenue in the last three years and diversify its portfolio of training in-line with the evolving needs of the local labour market.
“Furthermore, they’ve achieved this whilst maintaining their strong ethos and values-base which provides them with a very unique selling point. I’m looking forward to being a part of a very bright future with the Group and helping it achieve its exciting vision for 2020.”
Mr Tucker said: “We are very pleased to welcome Steve Lewis to the Educ8 team; his core values dovetail perfectly with the culture that we’ve created across the group. We’ve got exciting and ambitious plans for the future and I’m confident that Steve’s skills will add a lot of value to our successful senior team.
“I’d also like to congratulate Grant Santos on his promotion to CEO, a well-deserved appointment following 10 years of dedication to the group’s success. As the sixth Best Small Company to Work For (according to the 2017 Sunday Times Top 100 list) our people mean absolutely everything to us and I’m proud of the team we’ve built around us.”
Educ8 employs 134 staff members with premises in Tredomen (Caerphilly) and Port Talbot.