Skills for justice - developing skills for safer communities

Sir Duncan Nichol CBE - Chair


Sir Duncan Nichol CBE became Chair of Skills for Justice in April 2010. His career as a senior executive was spent predominantly with the NHS in the north-west of England, where he was knighted for his work.

He has served on the Correctional Services Strategy Board, chaired the Offender Behaviour Programmes Accreditation Panel and the Parole Board for England and Wales. He continues to serve as chair of the Board of Her Majesty's Court Service.

Alan Woods OBE - Chief Executive


In October 2007 Alan was appointed Chief Executive of Skills for Justice. Prior to this, Alan was Chief Executive of a charity tackling anti-social behaviour and environmental degradation, leading it to become a Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies to Work For.

Alan has an MBA from Henley College and graduated from the Open University in 1996 with a BA (Hons) degree. His OBE was awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2004 for services to sustainable development.

Amanda Ryalls - Operations Director

Amanda previously worked for the Sector Skills Development Agency as head of regional and national operations before working as the Chief Operating Officer to oversee closure in readiness for the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Her background is in the arts, having studied Interior Design at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham. Her employment, education and training since then has focused on various business finance, administration, leadership and management roles and programmes to develop effective operations at work.

Amanda has extensive experience of the development and delivery of learning provision and has worked for a range of organisations including Rotherham Training and Enterprise Council, the Learning and Skills Council and Yorkshire Forward.

Nick Skeet - Key Account Director

Nick has responsibility for leading the management of relationships across our UK employer network. He joined Skills for Justice in 2004, performing a variety of roles before his current appointment in May 2011. He negotiated our Train to Gain Compact on behalf of employers resulting in significant take up of development opportunities across the sector.

Nick's background is in the Civil Service and learning, working for a number of years in the law enforcement and training areas of HM Customs where he developed an extensive knowledge of work-based learning and running strategic training projects.

A graduate of Newcastle University with a BA (Hons), Nick is currently undertaking an MBA at the University of Warwick.

Adrian Jackson - Business Development Director

Prior to his current role Adrian was Sector Manager for our work with Policing and Law Enforcement and Fire and Rescue. He managed the development of the first suite of National Occupational Standards for Policing and was responsible for overseeing the development of the ICF and Skills Foresight Programme.

Adrian has spent his entire career in learning and development in the public and private sector. He started with the London Fire Brigade where he helped develop a competency framework for the organisation, the first in the Fire Service. In 1998 he joined Lantra and was responsible for the development of 13 Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks.

Adrian is a history graduate from Birkbeck College, University of London and in 2006 achieved an MBA through the Open University.

Steve Clark - Chief Operating Officer & Finance Director

With over twenty years’ experience in the private sector Steve joined Skills for Justice in 2010 initially as Director of Finance & Resources before being appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2011. With strong retail experience he has also worked in the food, leisure, property and technology sectors. Prior to joining Skills for Justice, Steve worked as an independent consultant for six years, focusing on business improvement, turnaround and business change projects.

Graduating from Huddersfield University with a BA (Hons) Accountancy Studies, Steve is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

To contact us please call us on 0114 261 1499 or email info@skillsforjustice.com