WorldSkills UK, the education and skills charity, has announced that Brian Doran, Principal and Chief Executive of Southern Regional College, with campuses in counties Armagh and Down in Northern Ireland, has joined its Board of Trustees.
The announcement comes as WorldSkills UK celebrated the unveiling of Squad UK for WorldSkills Shanghai 2021, 16 of whom are from Northern Ireland. The members of Squad UK have now joined the WorldSkills UK Talent Development Programme with the aim of representing the UK at the WorldSkills event, known as the ‘Skills Olympics’, next year in China.
Mr Doran has been Principal and Chief Executive at Southern Regional College since the formation of the College in 2008. He previously held the position of Deputy Director for Teaching and Learning at the Newry and Kilkeel Institute. Under his leadership, Southern Regional College has consistently been the top performing Northern Irish college in the WorldSkills UK Competitions.
Rooney Anand, Chair, WorldSkills UK Board said: “I am delighted to welcome Brian to the board. He brings a wealth of experience having worked closely with the business, education and training sectors across Northern Ireland and I look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the work of WorldSkills UK as we look to use our international insights to mainstream excellence and drive up standards in training so more young people, employers and the economy succeed.”
In addition to his role as a Trustee for WorldSkills UK, Mr Doran will chair the Northern Ireland Skills Champions Group which has responsibility to engage and co-ordinate the involvement of colleges and training providers across Northern Ireland in WorldSkills UK Competitions.
Brian Doran, Principal and Chief Executive said: “Northern Ireland Colleges and training providers are constantly amongst the top performers in WorldSkills UK’s Competitions and young people from Northern Ireland consistently achieve the world-class benchmark when they compete at the international WorldSkills Competitions. I look forward to help building on this success in my role as trustee and supporting the organisation as it looks to further harness the impact of its work to help deliver more world-class outcomes across the UK skills systems.”
Mr Doran’s appointment comes as Marie-Thérèse McGivern, who is due to retire from her role as Principal and Chief Executive of Belfast Metropolitan College in March this year, steps down as a WorldSkills UK trustee.
