Case studies

Lauren Stevens heard about women and work and the programme for funding towards further training through a colleague. She saw it as an opportunity not to be missed and, as soon as she had highlighted training that would be beneficial for her business, she applied.

On a personal level, she found the course empowering and rejuvenating as, being self employed and running her own business, Lauren spends a lot of time working alone. The course Lauren accessed allowed her to make new contacts and exchange ideas which will feed into her work over the next business year.

Alan Stephens has been running Countryside Training and Tree Management Limited for six years with his wife Jackie. He was born in the Falkland Islands and moved to England aged two-and-a-half. He left school at 16 to study at Lackham College of Agriculture and gained an Agricultural Skills and Craftsman certificate and an NPTC National Certificate in Agriculture. After his course Alan joined the forces where he became a qualified training instructor.

George Bryan Jnr, 31, is the Estate Manager at Drayton Manor Park in Staffordshire, one of the UK's favourite theme parks. The family-run business is set in 280 acres of lakes and parkland, and features a zoo which is home to more than 100 different species. George embarked on the Certified Arborist (with Tree Climbing) course, which was run by Cleartrack.

Jackie set up Countryside Training and Tree Management Limited with her husband, Alan, in 2001. Her role within the company involves the day to day running of the business including booking courses, finding NPTC assessors, making phone calls and dealing with enquiries.

Jonathan Hazell is Director of Arboriculture for the countryside division of Glendale, the largest operating division of Parkwood Holdings plc. The division employs 80 people, spanning from South Tyneside to Hastings and from Liverpool to East Anglia. They specialise in tree management for local authorities, providing a highly skilled workforce that can climb and prune large trees to ensure they are safe.

Enthusiastic teenager Jack Pomeroy hopes to set down career roots in trees and timber after clinching an apprenticeship with Dorset County Council.

Jack, who is 16 and left school last summer is on a year-long NVQ Level 2 course in arboriculture with the support of Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester.

Former police officers Paul and Annie Clayton exchanged life in the force for a new career in tree surgery. Training was essential in enabling the couple to realise their ambition of running their own business.