about us and our electricAL courses

After 20 successful years at the helm of the business, Graham has now stepped away to enjoy retirement with his wife and family, continuing his passions for cycling, running and spending time with his grandchildren.  We would like to wish Graham the very best in his retirement and to enjoy his time away from the centre, finally putting away his Wiring Regulations!!

Having worked closely with Graham since joining in 2008, Lisa became Director in 2018 and consequently took over the business in November 2024  as sole Managing Director.  Lisa is responsible for all aspects of running the business from course administration, exam enrolments, exam invigilation and liaison with certification bodies such as City & Guilds and EAL, to maintaining the day to day finance, course marketing and general running of our busy training centre.  Lisa has aided the development of new courses over the years, ensuring that we keep up to date with industry needs and requirements. 

Prior to working for Redford Charles Ltd, Lisa was employed by the Kent Messenger Group for 23 years. Initially being taken on as a receptionist at 16 then progressed to Senior Receptionist overseeing four offices before becoming PA to the Advertising Manager for North Kent, looking after 100+ employees.  After a short maternity break Lisa returned to the KM, but this time within the Ad Studio department designing advertisements within the groups publications.

Derek has extensive experience in the training of electrical personnel at all levels, having provided training in electrical principles and sciences, as well as craft theory for many years within local education establishments.

Derek has a wealth of experience in the electrical industry as Contracts Manager for Building and Property companies, together with Senior Engineering positions, in particular for Building Management Systems and Controls.

He has been with Redford Charles Ltd since 2008, where his knowledge, and his ability to pass on that knowledge, has produced outstanding success rates for delegates across a wide variety of electrical qualifications.

James joined Redford Charles Ltd in January 2018 and brings with him a wealth of experience in the electrical industry as Senior Lecturer, Assessor, Internal Verifier and City & Guilds Examiner. 

James’ career started as an apprentice electrical fitter in generation and moved on to inspection and testing and project management, of which he has vast experience, plus the development of product design.  James moved into the electrical training industry, having been Senior Lecturer and Assessor for a number of large leading training providers.  In James’ last post he has been the Senior Lecturer with responsibilities for Quality Assurance and Internal Verification.  He is also involved with the development and implementation of a number of new City & Guilds qualifications, including the latest City & Guilds 2391 Inspection and Testing suite of qualifications.

James’ experience in all electrical training matters, is likely to provide a whole new range of courses and qualifications available at Redford Charles Ltd.

Alan has over 40 years’ experience within the electrical industry which commenced as an apprentice electrician for an Area Electricity Supply Company. His time spent at this organisation covered all aspects of the electrical industry from generation, transmission and distribution which culminated in the positions of Contracting Electrical Engineer and Area Manager of the metering section.

Alan decided to pursue a career in training and assessments which initially started as a college lecturer for all electrical courses including BTEC and then moving to the NICEIC as an area Engineer progressing to Head of Training and Consultancy before deciding to become a Training and Consulting Engineer for various businesses within the Electrical Industry.

Scott has over 20 years’ experience within the electrical industry, having served an electrical apprenticeship.  He has been running his own electrical contracting business for many years and continues to do so alongside providing lectures for us.

His company has been responsible for commercial and industrial installations and also specialises in periodic inspections.  Scott has now bought his vast contracting experience into our training company.

Gemma joined Redford Charles Ltd in October 2022 as our new Marketing Manager and is responsible for maintaining our social media accounts and ensuring our website information is always up to date.  Gemma will also cover some office duties, so you may well hear from her from time to time.

Before joining Redford Charles, Gemma previously worked for HM Land Registry within their Head Office Finance team.  Starting in Budgeting and Monitoring, Gemma was promoted to join a Systems Administration team, installing & administering a new ORACLE finance system and training users at Land Registry offices to use the new system and processes.

Taking voluntary redundancy in 2010 from the Land Registry due to an office move out of central London, Gemma then took a career break for a while to care for her then, 2 small children.

Returning to work in 2012, Gemma worked as a Business Administer for a local swim school for 10 years and helped to build the business to have just over 500 children and adult swimmers registered for lessons and generally being the connection between the swimmers and the teachers in the pool, whilst carrying out all administrative duties this entailed.

In 2017 Gemma also accepted a part time position with Popular Tyres Ltd, managing their invoicing and account administrative needs, a role that she continues to fulfil.