Businesses can support youth development work in Stoke-on-Trent Training thanks to a new deal with MAKO Training

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The online training experts have signed a unique partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent Youth Collective. Every time a MAKO course is booked, a donation will be made to support the UTH City app.

All delegates need to do is to use the code MAKO-UTHCITY when signing up for training through the Stoke-on-Trent company.

Jon Rye, of MAKO, said: “Uth City is a valuable resource, not only for young people, but also for those who support young people, including parents and carers, schools, colleges, youth workers, health professionals, parents, and community organisations. It makes it easy for both young people and their support networks to find safe, reliable information, mental health support, and suicide button all in one place.

“The app has been created following one year of extensive research by Ruff & Ruby Urban Youth Charity and Stoke-on-Trent Youth Collective (SOTYC), to provide a digital space for youth engagement, activities, and support all in one place.

“At MAKO, we want to support young people in our area, and this partnership fits with our values. The digital nature of UTH City also links into our online offer.”

Jon, Managing Director of MAKO, recently joined forces with local training and business growth business owner Steve Rushton. The partnership brings together MAKO Training’s extensive library of more than 360 interactive, video-based courses with Training and Business Solutions Ltd’s network and consultancy-led approach to business development and workforce training.

MAKO has been recognised as the official Preferred Supplier of online Learning for Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and serves as a Chamber ambassador. Training & Business Solutions is also a Chamber ambassador and works with over 20 trusted partners supplying a diverse range of business services. Steve is a Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire apprenticeships ambassador.

Appeal to support Staffordshire bushcraft skills camps helping with mental health and wellbeing

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A Staffordshire bushcraft skills organisation, which has won the support of adventurer and TV presenter, Ben Fogle, is calling on the local business community for support.

Founded by former Staffordshire Regiment infantry soldier Michael Vaughan, Staffordshire Bushcraft works with ex-military, blue light emergency services, and women to teach a wide range of survival skills.

But Michael believes there is a wider legacy around improving mental health and wellbeing, arising from the bushcraft sessions held in woodland on the Sandon Hall Estate, near Stone.

Michael from Stoke is also creating his own legacy as the 47-year-old is suffering from stage four inoperable cancer in his groin and one leg .

Bushcraft sessions, including navigation skills, foraging, land management, fire building, and survival skills are specifically designed to raise confidence.

The Community Interest Company is not for profit and relies on outside support to cover costs and stage events.

“At each event, we have reserved places for armed forces veterans, former police, fire, and ambulance personnel, and what we call Women in the Wild, and these are allowed to be booked ahead of interest from the general public,” explained Michael.

“I have sponsors who provide support in kind, such as Ben Fogle and his outdoor clothing brand called Buffalo Systems, and fellow clothing brand Deerhunter, but we know we could add to our free work with more financial support.”

“In exchange, there’s a chance for companies to join us on team building exercises in the Staffordshire countryside.”

Michael said there would be opportunities in future for Ben Fogle to join Staffordshire Bushcraft on weekend sessions.

He added: “We have around 13 sessions a year and I see them more as life enhancing experiences than workshops. In the past, we have benefited from funding from the Veterans Association charity and a generous sponsorship from Stoke-on-Trent veterans’ run firm Black Onyx. Others help with donations of equipment, which is brilliant, and I have invested my pension into creating and running what I believe to be a valuable community asset.”

Supporter John Adams, of A&C Contractors, said: “Michael is a real force for good and deserves all the support local companies can muster.  Many ex-service and emergency services officers struggle with PTSD and adapting to life away from their former strict routines. I know times are tough for many companies right now, but please do help if you can.”

Expansion plans at North Staffordshire’s Xpert Recruitment Solutions as experienced Branch Manager and former squaddie Shellie earns her director’s stripes

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A growing recruitment company has plans for further expansion with the promotion of a key member of staff and the establishment of a new care recruitment division.

Shellie Phillips, formerly Branch Manager at Stoke-on-Trent based Xpert Recruitment Solutions has been promoted to Operations Director, freeing Managing Director Lindsay Mitchell to work on the wider company development.

Lindsay’s first major development task will be to establish a new care division with the promise of at least one more employee at Xpert Recruitment Solution’s Trent House, Fenton, offices in 2026.

It follows the recruitment of a sixth employee, Holly Goodwin at the start of the year.

“We are in our 10th year as a business and we’re implementing expansion plans following year on year growth,” said Lindsay.

“The company was founded on my experience in the professional and industrial recruitment sectors, we have recently introduced logistics and driving to the business, and the care division will be established in the second quarter of the year.

“We will be recruiting for permanent and temporary roles in both adult and children’s care. Our experienced team has more than 50 years of experience in recruitment, working to support companies and people looking for new roles.

“Shellie has excelled as Branch Manager, and this has allowed me to take a little time away from a day-to-day recruitment role to give some time to business development. Hard work and expertise means she has earned a promotion to a director level role. It is very well deserved.”

Fellow director Alex Mitchell added: “Having launched the Industrial Division back in 2021, bringing Shellie into the business to continue its growth and development has been fantastic. Watching her grow, build on existing relationships and bring her own clients into the business has been brilliant. The collaboration between the three of us has been excellent and Shellie’s promotion is thoroughly deserved.”

Shellie has worked in recruitment since 2007 and joined Xpert in April 2023. It’s a long way from her first working role as a teenage soldier in the British Army. This led to Shellie earning her Class One and Two HGV driving licences and competing for the Armed Forces and the England national team in the Tug of War World Championships.

Xpert is a family business, with Lindsay working alongside her husband and fellow director Alex Mitchell.

Lindsay began work in recruitment as an apprentice in recruitment in 1997. Now she is back in education taking a Level 7 apprenticeship in Senior People Manager. Her commitment to continuous learning and improvement that has led to growth at Xpert.

Xpert works with both companies looking to recruit and with people looking for work. They have found success through an insistence on the highest standards of customer care and attention to detail. When working with companies, Xpert has an immersive partnership approach, embedding a member of the team as a partner within each client’s company when required. They support each company through the recruitment process and beyond, finding suitable candidates, preparing them for interviews and sitting on interview panels as requested. All candidates are hand-picked by Xpert and briefed fully on potential job roles.

Sarah launches Balancing Act: Mastering Work, Wealth, and Wellbeing to great acclaim from titans of business and sport

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Well-known names from the worlds of business and sports leadership have praised a new work by first time author and Staffordshire-based executive coach Sarah Brennand.

Balancing Act: Mastering Work, Wealth, and Wellbeing blends research from neuroscience and behavioural science with real-world stories. Contributors include Olympic athletes, military leaders, CEOs, financial experts, entrepreneurs, and professionals, and Sarah, from Yarnfield, near Stone, documents how she and her interviewees balance leadership alongside parenting, transition, or a redefined view of success.

Her own busy career is combined with being a mum of three. “I live the balancing act I write about,” explains Sarah, “Raising a family alongside career growth has shaped my understanding of resilience, priority and the discipline required to perform under pressure. It has taught me as much as any formal role or qualification.”

Interviewees include Adam Burgess, who originally trained with Stone Canoe Club, and won Silver in canoe slalom at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Early reviews include praise from Wigan Warriors Rugby League Head Coach Matt Peet and former Dragon’s Den panellist Sarah Willingham.

Super League and Challenge Cup winner Peet said: “It cuts through the noise and speaks directly to the reality of leading people while trying to be at your best yourself.”

Entrepreneur and investor Sarah Willingham, a former Newcastle-under-Lyme School pupil, described Balancing Act as “practical, sustainable and refreshingly honest about what it takes to build a life that actually works.”

Sarah Brennand is founder of L7 Executive Coaching and Co-Founder of Illuminare Executive Education, organisations delivering leadership and business solutions across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

She said: “My work centres on strategy, performance and the ability to operate with pace and alignment in environments that demand both.”

“Balancing Act, published by De Gruyter in February 2026, builds on my work, exploring a question many people quietly wrestle with: how do you sustain performance at work without burning out the rest of your life?”

Sarah says the answer is grounded in strategy, not slogans.

The book introduces a clear framework for navigating pressure across career, finances, health, and family life. At its core is Sarah’s Calibration Model, now used by leaders and organisations around the world to bring clarity, focus, and alignment when demands pull in competing directions.

The book’s distinctive visual style also draws on local talent. Illustrations were created with the support of Luisa Phillips, a digital designer and illustrator, based in Stone, Staffordshire, who has worked with Sarah for over a decade.

Sarah said: “Luisa’s work brings creativity and warmth to complex ideas, helping readers engage with the models and tools in a way that feels accessible and human.”

Balancing Act: Mastering Work, Wealth and Wellbeing is distributed internationally and available through over 70,000 retailers worldwide.
The book links to a wider Balancing Act ecosystem, including a podcast launched by Sarah in 2026, an online resource hub with free downloadable tools from the book, and ongoing leadership and performance programmes delivered through Sarah’s companies L7 Executive Coaching and Illuminare Executive Education
Further information, downloadable resources from the book, and the Balancing Act podcast can be found at www.balancing-act.co.uk. Or by contacting Sarah on Sarah@balancing-act.co.uk.

Sarah is available to speak at local business events, leadership forums, schools, and community groups, sharing practical insight on performance, resilience, and navigating pressure without losing balance.

Her talks draw directly from Balancing Act and her work with leaders across business, education, and sport, and are tailored to the audience in the room.

Delight for Stoke-on-Trent’s Spark Group with major contract win and awards successes

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Growing Stoke-on-Trent business, the Spark Group, has won a contract to evaluate the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) projects in Stoke-on-Trent.

The contract is a major step forward for the Hanley based business, founded in 2023 to inspire young people into work.

The SPF success comes as the Spark Group celebrates recognition in two categories at the Staffordshire County Council Supporting Care Leavers into Employment Awards, with judges, praising them for providing a ‘wealth of mentorship, life skills, qualifications, and so much more’.

Based in Hanley, the Spark Group works collaboratively with clients, partners, and employers to provide a broad range of education and contracting services.

Managing Director and company founder Dan Canavan said: “The Shared Prosperity Fund is the government’s vehicle to support local investment and projects, so to be chosen to evaluate the Stoke-on-Trent projects is a landmark win for our company.”

“We have a team who are skilled in the development, management, and evaluation of public and private sector projects. Going forward, we will be looking to work with organisations in these areas. We also provide a bid writing service.”

The Spark Group had to compete for the contract from Stoke-on-Trent City Council in a competitive tendering exercise.

Dan, who previously led a large team as Director at Staffordshire-based Achieve Training and PM Training, works alongside Business Manager, Debbie Sturridge, Operations Director, Chris Wilshaw, and Construction Tutor and Assessor, Brian Pepper.

The team was described as ‘a true spark for change’ by judges at the Staffordshire care leavers awards. They were recognised as a Pathway Pioneer and scooped the 2025 Above and Beyond award.

The Spark Group provides construction training opportunities for care leavers at its workshop at Westmill Street, Hanley.

The judges said: “The Above and Beyond Award for 2025 goes to The Spark Group. An enormous thank you to Dan, Chris, Brian, and Debbie — your passion, creativity, and commitment have made a lasting impact. You are helping to shape futures, and tonight we celebrate everything you’ve done and continue to do.”

While the citation for the Pathway Pioneer success read: “From the very beginning, The Spark Group set out to show us the many different ways care-experienced young people can be supported—and they’ve delivered with heart, innovation, and unwavering commitment. Their offer has been transformational, providing a wealth of mentorship, life skills, qualifications, and so much more.

“What truly sets The Spark Group apart is the welcoming, uplifting environment they’ve created. It’s a space where young people feel safe enough to be themselves, where laughter and learning go hand in hand. Their dedication has been nothing short of amazing, and nothing has ever been too much to ask.”

To find out more about the Spark Group, please go online to www.thespark.group.

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