Christopher Ellis

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, responsible for shaping and executing the organisation’s commercial growth strategy, identifying high-value market opportunities and developing strategic partnerships to drive sustainable expansion across the UK.

• Lead the development and implementation of the organisation’s long-term strategic growth plan, aligning commercial objectives with market demand, funding policy, and sector opportunities.
• Identify and secure high-value employer partnerships, with particular focus on levy-paying organisations and strategic national accounts.
• Analyse market intelligence, competitor activity, and sector policy to inform strategic decision-making and future service development.
• Oversee the development of compelling value propositions, bids and commercial proposals, ensuring strong alignment with organisational capability and delivery capacity.
• Work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure commercial growth is aligned with operational performance, funding requirements, and quality standards.
• Represent the organisation in senior stakeholder engagements, strategic partnerships and sector forums, strengthening COPA Training’s market position and reputation

Senior Leadership Team member reporting to the Managing Director with responsibility for the organisation’s national sales strategy, revenue growth, and employer engagement activity across apprenticeship and training provision.

• Led the national sales and business development strategy, delivering sustained growth in employer partnerships, learner recruitment and overall company revenue.
• Managed and developed a multi-disciplinary sales and employer engagement team, embedding a high-performance culture aligned to commercial and learner recruitment targets.
• Secured a number of large levy-paying employer contracts, significantly contributing to organisational growth and market expansion.
• Directed sales and marketing investment, ensuring activity delivered strong return on investment and aligned with strategic growth priorities.
• Implemented structured sales performance frameworks, including KPI-driven activity planning, pipeline management, and performance reviews.
• Worked closely with senior leadership to strengthen data quality, reporting capability and CRM development, supporting evidence-based decision making.
• Oversaw the organisation’s external marketing and brand positioning, ensuring messaging, digital presence and campaigns effectively generated high-quality leads.
• Collaborated cross-functionally with operations and quality teams to ensure growth ambitions remained deliverable within funding and operational constraints

Responsible for the national management and performance of training delivery teams, ensuring achievement of financial, operational and quality targets across multiple regions.

Led and developed a national team of assessors and recruiters, driving performance against learner recruitment, achievement and financial targets.

Monitored and reviewed regional performance against KPIs, implementing targeted improvement strategies where required.

Developed and maintained strategic employer relationships, generating new business opportunities and strengthening existing accounts.

Represented the organisation in employer engagement meetings and regional partnership discussions, promoting funded training programmes.

Ensured all delivery activity met internal quality standards and external funding compliance requirements.

Managed departmental budgets and operating ratios, ensuring cost control and financial performance.

Established structured team communication and performance frameworks, including regular regional meetings and operational reviews to maintain engagement and productivity

Delivered funded vocational training and assessment across the Active Leisure programme, supporting learners and employers to achieve recognised qualifications while maintaining full compliance with funding and quality requirements.

• Delivered workplace-based training and assessment to learners undertaking qualifications within the Active Leisure sector.
• Facilitated group training sessions and workshops covering technical fitness qualifications, leisure management, and essential skills including numeracy and literacy.
• Built and maintained strong employer partnerships to support learner development and programme delivery.
• Supported learner recruitment activity, promoting training opportunities to both individuals and employers.
• Conducted workplace health and safety assessments to ensure employer environments met programme compliance standards.
• Maintained accurate learner documentation and progress reviews, ensuring full compliance with funding body and organisational requirements.

Responsible for the operational leadership and performance of fitness teams across multiple sites, ensuring delivery of a high-quality member experience and achievement of commercial and operational targets.

• Managed and developed large fitness teams across multiple facilities, supporting performance, training and professional development.
• Implemented member retention initiatives, contributing to improved engagement and customer satisfaction.
• Delivered a high-quality fitness and wellbeing offering to a membership base exceeding 20,000.
• Supported General Managers with multi-departmental operations, including sales, administration and front-of-house teams.
• Produced monthly performance and productivity reports, identifying opportunities to improve staff performance and programme delivery.