The Commissioners
The Princess Royal Training Awards Commission is composed of HRH The Princess Royal and leading figures in the business and learning & development community.
Pat Stringfellow MBE HonFCGI
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Pat now works on a freelance basis with business leaders and management teams to ensure organisations are high performing. Her work ranges from business start-ups, mergers and acquisitions to organisational change and leadership development including coaching and mentoring for high performance. She works with a range of clients across a wide number of sectors including service companies, distribution, charities, education, pharmaceuticals and oil exploration. Her professional style is highly positive and motivational with an ability to get to the heart of a situation quickly and pragmatically. She has high personal credibility and is well respected by business leaders who work with her as a sounding board and confidant.
She has a degree in Business Studies and an MBA as well as being a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). In 2003 she was awarded an MBE for her services to training through her many years of working with the National Training Awards (NTA) which she chaired and was a great advocate for. She is also a Councillor and Honorary Fellow of The City and Guilds of London Institute and a Non-Executive Director of Corps Security.
Pat enjoys her spare time taking in the outdoors, walking, sailing, and achieving self- sufficiency in the garden. She is married to David and lives in Gloucestershire, working across the country as well as further afield.

Ann Brown
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Peter Cheese
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Peter is also a member of the Board of BPP University and of the Advisory Board for the Open University Business School. He holds an honorary doctorate from Kingston University, is a Fellow of the CIPD and a Fellow of AHRI, the Australian HR Institute, a Companion of the Institute of Leadership and Management, and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.

Kirstie Donnelly MBE
Kirstie Donnelly MBE is Group Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group, a leader in global skills development. The Group includes City & Guilds, ILM, The Oxford Group, Gen2 and Kineo.
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In 2014 she set up the City & Guilds Group’s Industry Skills Board, bringing together a range of employers and sectors to inform the development of a quality model for apprenticeship reforms.

Martin Jones
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Alongside his passion to support families to enable their loved ones live independently at home he is dedicated to providing job opportunities that are fulfilling and which make best use of people’s skills and experience.
Martin is also a member of Business in the Community’s Age at Work leadership team, championing the role of older workers. He is committed to recruiting older people, not only because they have so much in common with Home Instead clients but have a wealth of skills and experience to offer.

Sharon Saxton
Sharon Saxton worked for over 10 years as Group HR Director for the City & Guilds Group, retiring from that role in March 2019. Sharon has been involved with the Princess Royal Training Awards since their inception.
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Sharon also started her own Coaching and Leadership Development business 11 years ago having qualified as a Coach at Henley Management College. Her clients have included large multi-national corporates as well as smaller, not for profit, businesses. She works with their Boards, translating visions and business goals into practical people and talent strategies.
She works as a mentor with young people, often aspiring entrepreneurs, using her coaching skills and knowledge of entrepreneurial businesses to enable individuals to build their careers. Sharon has also held various Trustee roles.

Jenny Taylor
Jenny Taylor is responsible for IBM UK’s Graduate, Apprenticeship and Intern programmes; managing recruitment, career management, development of education programmes and finance and operations for the schemes.
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Jenny is Chair of the Digital and Technology Solutions Trailblazer group and was named Apprentice Champion of the Year in the National Apprenticeship awards 2020. She actively supports initiatives to create skills for the digital economy including girls’ schools outreach, STEM and employability skills for young people. Jenny has received industry recognition for her mentoring and inspirational leadership.
Jenny has appeared on national TV and radio to discuss career and education opportunities for young people. She is a graduate of the University of Liverpool where she read History.

Carmen Watson
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Recognising her talent for generating big profits and fostering rewarding client relationships, in the year 2000 Carmen was promoted to the position of Managing Director and then Chairperson in 2012. In 2015 she was named one of the most powerful female figures in the Global Staffing Industry.
Her passion and commitment is not only reserved for recruitment. A long-term supporter of diversity in the workplace, Carmen is now one of the foremost speakers on women in the boardroom and has been a prominent figure in the ground-breaking campaign by Lord Davies to increase the number of women who are in decision-making roles.

Jane Wurwand
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In 2016, President Obama appointed Jane as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, one of a prestigious group of America’s top entrepreneurs who work with the Federal Government to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. Her expertise on entrepreneurship has been frequently sought out by the media, including Bloomberg, MSNBC, Inc.’s ‘The Playbook’ online video series, Entrepreneur magazine’s ‘Trep Talk’, People magazine, and NPR’s ‘How I Built This’ podcast. In 2012, she was named CEO/Business Owner of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Jane is also a Huffington Post blog contributor where she writes on her passion for women in business and entrepreneurship.