Jo Small - Education Director

Jo has been teaching languages for over 18 years in both the business and academic sectors, and has delivered teacher training and support to a wide variety of education organisations. She is currently an Improvement Adviser with the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and also works as a consultant for the Skills for Life Improvement Programme. Her specialist fields are offender learning, Skills for Life, and modern foreign languages.

She is a member of the Institute of Linguists and has a strong commitment to the promotion of language learning in the UK. Jo was Head of German at Bilborough College, Nottingham, Head of English at HMP Morton Hall and has trained several prestigious business clients including BASF PLC, BASF Biocides Ltd and Swiss Tulle.

Jo is strongly involved in Skills for Life, providing training and professional development for teachers of literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

She is also an experienced writer, having worked as the News Editor for the International Journal for Language and Documentation and a reporter for Language Today and Language International. More recently she has worked on Skills for Life materials and offender education materials on behalf of the DfES.

Mark Small - Business Director

Mark joined Optima as a business consultant in 2004, responsible for product and business development. He has over 14 years experience in customer services and consultancy working with Metropolitan Group, Black Horse Estate Agencies and British Airways.

He now focuses on project management within the Further and Higher Education sectors, as well as consulting and training work within the commercial sector. He is currently managing the delivery of the Global Industrial Coatings Market 2010-2020 study - a two year's research project undertaken on behalf of the Paint Research Association.

Prior to joining Optima, Mark was the Product Delivery Manager for a well known technology development company. As well as delivering commercial market research reports, he was responsible for setting quality standards and ensuring that work undertaken represented client value.

Mark has also worked as a copy writer and editor. He has written a number of vocational learning materials (including Level 2 NVQ literature for Business Improvement Techniques, Performing Manufacturing Operations and Sign Making), college promotional materials and technical papers for use by various government departments.