With a career in industry starting in 1982 as a graduate engineer with BP and  most recently as Operations Director for  Albion  Inorganic Chemicals, Joanna Woolf brings business management and hands-on industrial expertise to  Cogent at a critical time for  the Skills for Business Network.

“ I have worked in the challenging and exciting environment of performance-driven organisations, where understanding what makes the difference to your performance is key.  My  experience  has  proved that having people with the right skills is fundamental to business success

I am, however, acutely aware of the difficulty of motivating businesses, and individuals,  to invest time and resources into developing skills.”

“The challenge for Sector Skills Councils like Cogent  is to show that we can make a difference for employers if they  engage with us now  and act collectively for the long term health of their businesses and the UK.”

“It will be no surprise, therefore, that I believe Cogent must practise what we preach so that we are valued by the industries we represent.”

“I will be steering Cogent to be more  industry-focused,  more results-orientated, more  intelligent  and leaner and more  business-like in our operations.”

“Our Sector Skills Agreement process is designed to reveal for our sector  the strengths and weaknesses in skills and skills provision, so that we can inform and advise employers about their  necessary interventions and investments.”

“For our advice to be accepted and acted upon by businesses we need to shape   a dedicated and focused  team with the credibility that comes  from understanding and experience of employers’ individual and collective needs.”

Notes for editors:

Joanna Woolf starts as Cogent SSC Chief Executive on 8th August 2005, based in Cogent’s new Warrington office.

Biographical details:

Joanna Woolf was born in Bollington and  went to Macclesfield High School for girls  in Cheshire. She studied for an OND and an engineering apprenticeship at  Simon Engineering in Cheadle.

She graduated with a First in Mechanical Engineering from UMIST in  1982,  and entered BP’s graduate programme, spending  12 months  establishing the oil terminal at Sullom Voe in the  Shetlands.

Joanna’s career at BP  culminated in a head office role working on speculative oil finds for potential sites around the globe. She then moved to the  ICI Wilton site as plant manager within the Advanced Business Materials Business.

Joanna moved to ICI’s  Runcorn site  to set up turnaround programmes and at the age of 29 was promoted to Engineering Manager responsible for  600 people across all trades and disciplines.

She was also responsible for establishing a site training organisation and training to NVQ standards for TTE  at Ellesmere Port.

She  switched to a   global business management role within the   ICI Chlor chemicals  downstream business and then moved into strategic  supply chain global logistics for ICI..

Joanna studied for an  MBA at Manchester Business School, before joining Hays Chemicals  as Manufacturing Director in 2000. The Hays business has since been aquired by Albion Chemicals where Joanna has continued to be involved in Albion's operations to date.

Joanna’s  interests  include skiing and keeping fit. She lives in Knutsford, Cheshire with her husband Tony and two children  Edward eight, and |Georgina six.