Find out more about our people
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Chris Cooper
FHE Director
Chris joined Capita’s Technical Services division in 1991, holding various senior management positions until 1997. At this time Capita were developing the Software Services division and he moved over to run Capita’s Income Management unit, with a prime focus on the provision of software and services to the Local Government sector. In 2000, Chris then took up the opportunity to run the newly formed Further and Higher Education division within Capita. Two years later Chris then became Director of Capita FHE to oversee the development of the UNIT-e solution. Wishing to broaden his educational sector knowledge, Chris accepted a role in Capita Children Services to run the Services operation in 2004. 2007 saw Chris return as the Director to Capita FHE aiming to continue understanding the needs of the further and higher education sector and developing the rapidly expanding business.
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George Layfield
UK Sales Manager
George joined Capita Further and Higher Education in 1999. His first role with Capita was as a consultant. He then retained his closely affinity with the client base becoming project manager and then manager of client, project and customer relationship managers. George has recently become Capita FHE’s Sales Manager responsible for business development throughout Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.
George’s background has seen him work at every level of further education. Starting as an assistant lecturer in 1974, he progressed through roles finally becoming a member of senior management with the responsibility for funding and management of the college company. George has also worked in Europe at the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, and spent many happy hours in recruiting students from Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil.
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Rob Elliot
Products Manager
Rob has worked in the MIS industry for 24 years, 12 of these has been at Capita Further and Higher Education. He came to Capita FHE in 1997 as a support consultant. Rob then progressed onto roles as product manager for further education, product marketing manager. Here he successfully combined three businesses and development teams into a unified function to deliver Capita FHE’s single point student management and tracking solution – UNIT-e.
His current role at Capita FHE is as product manager, responsible for staff and budget management, and steering the product development strategy throughout the short and long terms.
Rob’s experience in student records systems stems from his various roles in MIS at Burton College of Further Education. Through his responsibility to oversee submissions to the DfES, FEFC and LSC, it was here he developed his in-depth knowledge concerning statistical and statutory returns. Rob also has a great interest in learning technologies, systems integration, portals and self-service solutions.
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Steve Braund
Clients Manager
Steve has been with Capita Further and Higher Education since 1996. Originally a Project Manager, in 2000 he moved across to work in development as a product manager responsible for HE and finance systems. Within three years, Steve progressed and was responsible for the whole of Capita FHE’s development function. Steve is currently the Clients Manager responsible for all aspects of client engagement and relationship management.
Steve’s specialist areas of product knowledge centre around our finance and UNIT-e SRTS solutions, while his areas of personal interest also include finance systems and project management.
At one of Capita FHE’s National Conference, Steve presented the first morning session on the second day, a moment he recalls as one of his most challenging in his career at Capita. This is closely followed by developing the UNIT-e solution for Capita’s HE client base.
Steve gained his insight and key knowledge of the education sector from his three years as the Director of Finance and Resources at Falmouth Institute of Higher Education and four years at Somerset College of Arts and Technology.
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Mary Faupel
Consultancy Manager
Mary has held her position at Capita Further and Higher Education for seven years. Her role currently manages Capita FHE’s busy team of consultants and project managers. This team is responsible for all the successful implementations of the UNIT-e software solution.
Mary became a consultant to the higher education sector in 1997 with Emis. During 1999, she then came to Capita in this role when Emis came under the Capita umbrella. Previously, Mary had held the key role of registrar for 6 years at the Kent Institute of Art and Design.