06 Aug 2010
Paul Coffey has joined Cogent, the Sector Skills Council for the science-based industries, as Scotland Manager
Paul Coffey was educated in the Midlands and left school to follow Electrical Engineering training, originally with a College and then with the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
After a number of roles within the MOD both in the UK and abroad, Paul moved to Scotland in the 80s, initially as a Production Manager then into training. He qualified as a teacher in Further Education (FE) and was employed as an assessor, internal and external verifier with a number of training providers including an Industry Training Board (ITB). In this role he worked around the UK across a number of industry sectors.
Paul went on to manage the Scottish Division of a UK Awarding Body before moving to the SQA Accreditation Unit working in partnership with QCA looking after a number of sectors in relation to Standards and Qualification development, ensuring standards developed were fit for purpose for employers, he also worked with awarding bodies on quality assurance.
In 2005 Paul accepted the position of Scottish and Northern Ireland Manager for the Sector Skills Council responsible for manufacturing and processing industries. His progress in this role, on behalf of employers, led to an increase in workload and the recruitment of a Manager to support this work in Scotland.
Paul went on to manage this agenda for over 3 years in Northern Ireland and made a positive impact on the skills environment for employers. He developed a number of qualifications in partnership with Further Education and made training accessible to industries previously starved of support. Employer support and involvement were crucial to this success.
During this time, Paul remained a resident of Scotland and recently accepted the position with Cogent Sector Skills Council as Scotland Manager. He said, “I’m looking forward to working with the energetic Cogent team in continuing the success in supporting the vibrant Scottish chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nuclear, oil & gas, petroleum and polymers Industries”.
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