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Mark Locking

Mark Locking was appointed as the Principal / Chief Executive Officer of the Lincoln College Group on 1 April 2022. He also holds voluntary positions of Director of the Lincolnshire Institute of Technology, Director of Association of Colleges Sport, and a member of the Lincoln University Technical College.

Starting out as a lecturer in Further Education in 1994 Mark has worked in education for over 26 years in a number of roles in colleges, a school and a specialist SEND college, interspersed with 2 separate roles in the commercial sector. These positions were across a range of teaching and leadership roles that as they became more senior transitioned into leadership roles with teaching no longer at their core. The 2 positions in the commercial sector, that were 10 years apart, gave Mark a commercial perspective to education and have helped him see training from an employer’s perspective when he came back to FE, having worked with the likes of Kellogg, JCB, Legal and General and Walkers.

Mark has underpinned his public and private sector career spanning 30 years with high quality education and training including postgraduate qualifications and leadership training from the likes of the SAID Business School at Oxford University, Loughborough University and the Institute of Directors. Time working in education and leadership has strengthened his view that people and talent are at the heart of an organisations’ success and an open and growth mindset to learning enhances the chances of success and happiness in life and the workplace.

Previous Principals/CEOs

Gary Headland

Gary Headland was appointed as the CEO of the Lincoln College Group on 4 August 2014. He is responsible for three further education and higher education colleges in the UK which are located in Lincoln, Gainsborough and Newark. Gary is also responsible for colleges in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a range of other UK commercial operations and international education programmes in China.

Gary is a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Lincolnshire. He also holds voluntary offices as the Chairman of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, Regional Chairman of the Institute of Directors in the East Midlands, Non-Executive Director of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Midlands Engine Export Champion for the Department of International Trade and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Lincoln Cathedral. Most recently, Gary was very proud to assume the office of President of the Royal British Legion in Lincolnshire on Saturday 6 February 2021; he is delighted to be able to continue to serve members of the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, veterans and their families in this capacity.

Prior to his current appointment, Gary was a Director of Northgate Public Services for 3½ years, a Director at Norfolk Constabulary for over 2 years and a senior Royal Air Force officer for nearly 23 years serving in locations throughout the UK and overseas in Germany, Italy and the Middle East.

Gary has underpinned his public and private sector career spanning over 35 years with high quality education and training: he holds an MA from Kings College London and an MBA from the Open University Business School. He is a graduate of the Defence Academy’s Advanced Command and Staff Course, which is a one-year full-time postgraduate course aimed at preparing the top 25% of all Armed Forces Officers for high grade appointments by developing their command, analytical and communications skills. Gary is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Chartered Management Institute. Gary has completed executive programmes in business development, negotiating and strategic leadership at Harvard Business School, London Business School and Saïd Business School.

Gary is married to Julia who is a registered health visitor and registered general nurse with whom he has two boys: Charles (17) and William (6).