Meet the Team

Emily Pearson
Head of Business Solutions

Emily Pearson is the Head of Business Solutions at South Devon College, leading on all aspects of employer engagement, supporting local, regional and national business communities to invest in skills and education while developing people and workforce. Emily holds developing strong and long-lasting business relationships in high regard and believes that collaboration and partnership working is instrumental to the success of the College’s business growth. 

Emily is passionate about skills and education and giving individuals opportunity to learn and develop. This stems from Emily being given meaningful and appropriate support and opportunities while establishing her own career. Emily has a personal love for Apprenticeships, having completed one herself in Dental Nursing. She recognised the amazing opportunities they bring to individuals, their employers and the community. 

Emily works closely with the South-West Business Community, she sits on Torbay Business Forum’s Executive Board playing an active part in leading on sponsorship and the online webinars which she launched during the first COVID lockdown. Further to this, Emily launched South Devon College’s own series of South Devon Business Community webinars to keep businesses up to date, connected and informed.

Emily is also a Director of the Devon and Plymouth Chamber and is passionate about making a real difference to the network of businesses, contributing to the strategic ambitions of the Chamber and maximising the Chamber’s support tools by elevating their reach and impact.

Mike Laukkanen
Business Development Lead

I joined South Devon College in November 2020, having previously enjoyed a successful 20 -year career in Advertising, Sales & Marketing with Reach PLC.

I have always had a passion for building long-standing and successful business relationships, while adapting and developing business solutions to employers needs with clear and decisive communication.

My new role as Business Development Lead at the College will allow me to support Levy paying employers both locally and regionally, with high level training, business solutions and workforce development.

I love working in a fast paced, ever-changing landscape, acting as an ambassador and representing the College within the business community, underlining our mission of ‘inspiring our community through learning for all.’

Outside of work, I am the proud parent of 3 wonderful young children and when I do get some spare time, I enjoy playing Tennis, exploring our naturally inspiring coastline and watching my beloved Ipswich Town FC.

Tina Smee
Business Development Lead

Having worked at South Devon College for several years within a variety of roles my passion has always been the same; to provide exceptional customer service and ensure expectations have been managed and exceeded. This is one of the things I find most enjoyable about my current role within the Business Solutions Team.  

Working in close collaboration with the curriculum and project teams, my role is to provide support and information to a range of employers across the Southwest, to ensure they are informed and updated on the provisions offered by South Devon College.

I am able to support with information and bespoke advice on the full range and variety of accredited & non-accredited courses, the catalogue of apprenticeships opportunities and the Higher Education provision offered by University Centre South Devon. Further to this my role is to engage in conversations around the challenges and needs of local businesses, including the upskilling of existing staff and supporting them on their individual journeys. I am proud to showcase the fantastic college facilities and my role promoting learning that is available to all regardless of age, ability or business sector.

If you would like to find out more about how we can support your business, I look forward to hearing from you and getting started on our journey.

Gareth Parsons
Business Development Lead

I’m passionate about the positive impact that well-designed, employer-led training and education can have on the wider community. As Business Development Lead for South Devon College, I am empowered to help local, regional, and national businesses devise and deliver high-quality, commercially relevant skills for their workforce.   

I understand that no single approach to education and training is the right one for every employer, so I am always keen to work with my teaching colleagues to adapt and shape provisions to accommodate specific commercial needs. This process is enabled by my enthusiasm to always develop a deep working understanding of the needs of a business.   

I am available to employers to provide them with advice and guidance on the recruitment, learning, and financing options for their personnel development. This may consist of a combination of Apprenticeships, Funded training, or Upskill options for planned or existing employees. I am proud of the phenomenal opportunities that South Devon College can offer both learners and employers and love nothing more than having the opportunity to detail the exceptional benefits that a business is entitled to when they partner with us.  

When I’m not promoting the value of skills, training, and education, I can often be found cooking up a storm at my home in Totnes or enjoying the beauty of the South Devon Countryside with my wife Holly, son Tobin and Golden Retriever Ralph.

Johanna Pettett
Work Experience and Placement Lead

Having worked in education as a teacher for many years I joined South Devon College in January 2021 to work on developing and sourcing T Level industry placements. My new lead role also includes organising and implementing work experience across college, and managing the work experience coordinators.

I believe that young people should be encouraged to close the gap between college and employment by actively seeking and applying for industry placements or work experience. I can assist with work readiness and employability skills development for learners and have collaboratively developed teaching resources for this purpose.

Also, I provide support and training for work experience coordinators and tutors for using the Navigate program so learners and employers can digitally record attendance, work activities and references. This empowers the learners to reference  their experiences and employer feedback when applying for future employment.

I enjoy the challenge of creating, implementing and reviewing new processes and ideas across college. Outside work I am a keen kayaker, paddle boarder, mountain biker and family rambler.

John Currie
Work Experience and Placement Coordinator

As a Placement and Work Experience Co-ordinator my role within the Business Solutions Team is to work closely with college staff, students and employers, to source and coordinate suitable and sustainable placement opportunities for industry placements (T-Levels) and work experience for students on full time study programmes.

In addition, to assist with the development and maintain outstanding working relationships with external and internal stakeholders, particularly integrating industry placements into the existing work-based learning opportunities that currently exist, including study programme work experience, apprenticeships and traineeships.

With 25 years customer service experience in several industries including food production, engineering, automotive and aerospace, I look forward to building new relationships using my skills and knowledge in my new role at South Devon College.

When not in work I like running (both trail and road running), as well as walking, and stand-up paddle boarding. As a keen sportsperson with a career in rugby & football, I now enjoy attending live sporting events and music concerts.

Sam Eustice
Work Experience and Placement Coordinator

My role as a Work Experience and Placement Coordinator within the Business Solutions Team, works collaboratively with employers, students and college staff, to coordinate suitable industry placements (T-Levels) and work experience for our students who are on full time study programmes. 

I have always taken pride in building and maintaining positive working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders and look forward to developing those within industry placements and existing work-based learning opportunities that currently exist, including study programme work experience, traineeships and apprenticeships 

I joined the South Devon College team in 2023, having been a teacher and worked within education for many years, I’m looking forward to developing relationships using my skills and knowledge in my role at South Devon College. 

Outside of work, I enjoy various crafts, gardening,  walking on our beautiful beaches and Dartmoor. 

Scott Heyworth
Senior Sales Coordinator

As a Senior Sales Coordinator within the Business Solutions Team, I am responsible for responding to initial employer enquiries and proactively working with SMEs to identify training solutions to meet their business needs, to upskill workforces, and to help local businesses thrive. 

Having joined South Devon College in June 2021, I feel very lucky to say that I have enjoyed every minute of working with our fantastic portfolio of local businesses here in the Southwest and have developed many strong working relationships, particularly within the construction sector. 

Previous to joining the college, I was working within business banking, supporting local SMEs with their banking, savings, and lending needs, and networking with local businesses and organisations to build our portfolio of clients.  

Outside of work, I am an avid Chelsea fan, enjoy playing sports and gaming, and I also fancy myself as a bit of a singer/songwriter too! 

Claire Rosslee
Senior Sales Coordinator

Since joining the college in November 2021, I have enjoyed nothing more than meeting our local businesses and building formative relationships.

Having graduated Bournemouth University in 2014, my career moved into retail sales & fundamentally customer service, and I developed a real passion about training and development within the workplace.

In my role within the Business Solutions team I am excited to share our opportunities with the region; from understanding first hand the benefits apprentices can bring to your business and the diversity they contribute to a team, to the opportunities that Higher Education can bring to employees and the motivation this instils and everything in between!

I look forward to meeting those of you I am yet to see and working in partnership to support your business long-term to achieve its’ goals by embracing our excellent training solutions.

Outside of work, I enjoy seeing the world and the top of my bucket list is to trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu but in the mean time I also love exploring the local area with the newest member of my family, Frank the Miniature Dachshund!