Andrea supports institutions build capability across four areas:

Educational partnerships: creating the governance structures, assurance mechanisms and business development frameworks that enable sustainable partnership growth while protecting institutional reputation.

Industry engagement: developing employer engagement strategies, and civic partnerships that generate income, build long term engagement and enhance graduate employability.

Academic quality: designing evidence-led approaches to curriculum, assessment and student support that deliver sustained improvements in outcomes, particularly for underrepresented groups.

Governance & assurance: strengthening board effectiveness, committee structures and institutional governance that balance oversight with agility. Her approach: pragmatic, evidence-informed, focused on what actually works in complex HE environments.

A Former Dean (University of Derby), Andrea lead a £34m College with responsibility for partnerships, quality, and performance. She transformed a failing partnership portfolio, built an industry infrastructure generating income, and delivered sustained substantial improvements in student outcomes. As Associate Dean (Education) at the University of Sheffield, she co-authored institutional accreditation submissions (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA), created robust governance systems assuring quality and student experience through crisis (strike actions & COVID), advanced faculty-wide academic development, and designed automated assessment and examination boards embedding robust assurance of learning systems. Her career across FTSE-listed organisations includes senior commercial and HR leadership managing £20m+ revenue portfolios.

How has Andrea recently supported institutions?

  • Caspian School of Academics: Employer Engagement Strategy
  • University of Derby: Led the academic strategy to reimagine business education and diversify income streams in support of the £75m Cavendish Building investment.
  • University of Sheffield: Automated examination boards, toolkit for crisis management (Strike and Covid) and an assurance of learning system (AACSB).
  • S&N and HBOS plc: Change leadership activity for large scale building of organisational competency. (An important need for university currently)

A fan of mental wrestling. Andrea loves grappling with complexity until it yields clarity. She loves deconstructing and reconstructing ideas through observing, thinking, innovating, and doing. Outside work, she happily follows in her parents’ footsteps, unwinding with crafting, paint-by-numbers, cooking, and baking—proof where creativity fuels both joy and insight.

Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn