Since 2001, Firebrand has trained over 70,000 students through accelerated learning. Employees from across public and private sector organisations get cutting-edge IT and project management skills and certifications at twice the speed at Firebrand Training centres around the world. With the company poised for its next phase of growth, it is making key appointments to support its continuing success.

Until recently, most Firebrand students have been industry professionals looking to enhance their skills for progression within their employers. Over the past three years, Firebrand has also been at the forefront of the Government's apprenticeships programme, taking part as a founding provider in the development of the IT Trailblazer Programme. The Government's reform of apprenticeships is now in full swing, bringing with it the apprenticeships levy for the UK's largest businesses. This creates an exciting opportunity for Firebrand to bring its talent for effective training to a whole new set of students.

Firebrand has prepared for this growth by expanding its management team to bring in the added skills and experience needed to run at a larger scale, particularly in the apprenticeships market. The Board is therefore pleased to welcome Gavin Freed as the company's first Chairman. In this role, Gavin will help the management team ensure that Firebrand achieves its growth objectives whilst maintaining the quality delivery that has been the hallmark of its success in accelerated learning.

Commenting on his appointment at Firebrand, Gavin Freed said, "There is an urgent need for more, skilled IT practitioners in all sectors of the economy, and this creates huge growth potential for quality IT training providers. Driving this need is a move by more businesses choosing to make their IT more agile by moving to the cloud and also having to deal with a growing cyber-security threat.

"This creates a great opportunity for an organisation like Firebrand, with a pedigree earned through sixteen years of successfully delivering high-end IT training, to become the market leader for those employers who want all their staff - including apprentices - to be trained effectively to a world-class level."

Speaking about the appointment, Firebrand's Managing Director, Stefano Capaldo, said, "It's a pleasure to have Gavin join the team at this exciting point in Firebrand's development. Finding people at a senior level with the right blend of experience can be challenging. Gavin brings an impressive mix of previous IT and education-sector management experience, including three posts as the CEO or Chairman of other apprenticeships-training providers."

Gavin takes his role with immediate effect and is available for further comment.