‘My bread and butter jobs have been in construction, the automotive industry and manufacturing’

Mitchell has always ‘been in HR.’ His degree at the University of South Wales saw him achieve a BA Hons in Human Resource Management, graduating in 2000 only to go and then undertake a further two years completing a Masters in Law. His first job was with a field sales marketing company. “It was one of those businesses that don’t really exist anymore where people knock on doors asking if you want BT or SkyTV,” he explains. Mitchell’s role was generic HR administration. A role he describes as allowing him to ‘cut his teeth.’

He stayed close to his Welsh University roots where he had a ready supply of friends and contacts and continued with his career in that location with his next move being to Yusung Electronics – a job he stayed in for three years. This was followed by HR Manager for Reliance Security Services in 2005 and then onto Wincanton, a logistics and supply chain organisation where Mitchell was part of the senior management team working as an HR business partner across various transport contracts spanning 16 sites. He stayed there until the year that London hosted the Olympics, 2012 working across various roles in retail, defence, and the petroleum tanker business. “It was my first really big job because it was the one that I stayed in for a prolonged period of time and allowed me to progress and learn in a stable environment.” They were a FTSE 250 business, and it was a great step.

Next up was Arjo, a Swedish global manufacturer supplying and distributing medical devices and technology serving the needs of acute and long-term care to over 100 countries globally. It had over 6000 employees and a turnover of around 700 million euros. It was Mitchell’s first truly global role. He stayed there until 2015 when his son was born and wanting to be closer to family he entered the interim market. Roles included working in a family-owned construction business, an automotive parts supplier and then a curve ball from his ‘bread and butter’ regular industries – moving to the charity, Friends of the Earth before returning once more to some familiarity with Quick Lane Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and then onto Milbrook, vehicle test and validation services business. In both interim roles he worked as Chief People Officer.

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The last four years has seen Mitchell employed in Higher Education, notably at St John’s College, Oxford University to London South Bank, an education charity for young people. In June of last year, the call came through from Oxford Business College (OBC).

‘We can’t always compete on pay or pensions, but we do offer casual working and other flexible options’

OBC is a private higher education provider, partnering with other HE establishments to deliver business management degrees which widen access participation. It leans into a demographic of mature students with 70% over the age of 35. “Most come to us while working alongside their studies, in many cases their employers pay for their course. We are not a publicly funded HE institution.” As well as the core business management courses OBC also offers courses in travel and tourism as well as a healthcare course in the pipeline. In addition to the flagship Oxford centre there are colleges in, Brentford, Slough, Park Royal and Nottingham.

“Part of the ethos is to widen access to education to allow communities that may not ordinarily access higher education to do so,” smiles Mitchell. It’s a value that he holds dear. Many of their mature students attend their courses in the evenings and weekends to allow them to keep their day job going, it requires commitment and a strive for learning to improve life chances. There are 7,500 students looked after by a 400-strong workforce made up predominantly of teaching staff.