Executive Team
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John Rogers – Chief Executive, The Workforce Development Trust
John Rogers is Chief Executive of The Workforce Development Trust (incorporating SFJ Awards, Skills for Health, Skills for Justice, People 1st International, and iCQ Awards) He has spent most of his career in workforce development leadership roles. Much of his career has focused on the health sector, including roles as Chief Executive of Skills for Health, Chief Executive of Healthwork UK, as a Director at the NHS Training Authority, and other senior roles in the Department of Health and within the NHS. John has also worked significantly across sectors including contributions as the Chair of the UK-wide Alliance of Sector Skills Councils and as a non-executive of the South West Learning and Skills Council.
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David Higham – Managing Director
David joined SFJ Awards as the Managing Director in July 2024, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge from a career background in Further Education (FE) from working at Nottingham College as their Head of Growth and Innovation.
Before joining Nottingham College in 2020, David held a series of senior leadership roles across the FE sector, including at Chesterfield College and Tresham College where he was Group Commercial Director and Vice Principal respectively. Previously, David spent nearly a decade at Learndirect – which at the time was the UK’s largest private training provider.
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Christos Lucas – Chief Finance Officer (CFO)
Christos Lucas joined The Workforce Development Trust in 2019. Since 2021, Christos has been the Chief Finance Officer for the group, which means he has the responsibility for the group’s corporate operations.
Christos has previous experience working in a variety of finance roles in his previous employment at Dyson. He also worked for EY, starting his career on their graduate programme.
The Board
SFJ Awards’ Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring that SFJ Awards operate to the highest standards and is compliant with regulators’ requirements. Our Board members have considerable business experience as well as expertise within the sectors we work in and in education and learning.
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Erika Bannerman – Chair of SFJ Awards
Erika Bannerman is an experienced executive leader with a career dedicated to strengthening public services and the organisations that support them. Since 2020, she has served as Managing Director of NHS Shared Business Services, the joint venture between the Department of Health and Social Care and Sopra Steria. The partnership plays a nationally significant role in the delivery of NHS operations, supporting hundreds of NHS organisations and enabling millions of transactions each year across finance, procurement, employment and digital services.
Before joining NHS SBS, Erika held senior executive roles in large, complex organisations. As Executive Officer of Capita’s people division, she led a 6,000 person HR and digital services business through major transformation, modernising service delivery and building partnerships across both public and private sectors including contributing to the British Army’s Recruiting Partnering Project. Her earlier board and leadership experience includes roles with Axelos Global Best Practice, The Fire Service College and ManpowerGroup.
Alongside her executive work, Erika is committed to advancing workforce development and social value. She serves as Chair of SFJ Awards, and Trustee of The Workforce Development Trust, supporting capability-building across health, justice and public safety sectors.
Known for her collaborative leadership style and her belief in unlocking human potential, Erika brings deep experience in organisation transformation, partnership governance and leading change with purpose.
Outside of work, she enjoys sailing and spending time with her three daughters, two Scottish fold cats and husband.
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Keith Fraser – Board member
Keith Fraser is the Chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB), appointed by The Secretary of State on April 14, 2020, after becoming a member in January 2018. He is also an Advisor for the National Police Chiefs Council Digital Engagement Project for Young People, Chair of Employability UK, and a trustee on the Board of Sport Birmingham and the National Emergency Services memorial.
Prior to this, Keith was a Superintendent and Chief Inspector in the West Midlands Police, having joined the Metropolitan Police as a Constable, during which time he produced the 2016-19 Preventing Gang Involvement and Youth Violence strategy and was Head of Learning and Development for 13,000 staff.
Keith also produced the business plan for City of Wolverhampton council, where he was the Chair of the authority’s statutory Youth Offending Management Board. He led an innovative, preventative project, targeting over 7,000 young people, working with Sport England and was the Strategic Police Lead for the Princes Trust across the West Midlands.
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Dr Allison Jones – Board member
Dr Allison Jones is the Managing director of AEJ Education Consultancy Ltd and a board member of SFJ Awards.
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Arvind Malhotra – Board member
Arvind Malhotra is the Co-Founder and CEO of FutureSense Group – a global social enterprise that works in partnership with leading universities in the UK & Australia to provide opportunities for students to gain new skills.
Prior to establishing FutureSense Group, Arvind held a number of leadership roles in global organisations across a diverse range of industries.
Beginning his professional career at Unilever, Arvind progressed to the role of Vice President at Bank of America before joining Zurich, where he became Marketing Director & Member of the Executive Board.
In addition to his role as CEO of FutureSense Group, Arvind chairs the FutureSense Foundation – an international charity that supports children and youth from disadvantaged communities worldwide.
A graduate of Delhi University, Arvind lives with his wife in Wiltshire and they have two children.
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Justin Johnston – Board member
Justin Johnston has recently retired from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) after 30 years of public service across three fire and rescue services. Justin has been the Chief Fire Officer for the last two rounds of HMICFRS inspection and was also Vice Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) for the past 4 years.
Justin led LFRS through some of its most challenging times including the COVID19 pandemic, where they became the first FRS to vaccinate the public and significant wildfires and flooding led to transformational changes in response to arrangements.
Justin has led nationally for the NFCC on a range of topics including the ‘Leading the Service’ Fire Standard, the establishment of the UK FRS academic research group known as ACER and the development of the UK Firefighter Fitness standards with the University of Bath.
He was awarded the Queens Fire Service Medal in 2021 for services to national UK fire sector. He holds a masters degree in Management focussed on strategic leadership and he has a post graduate diploma in Elite Performance amongst other qualifications.
Justin has recently become a visiting Professor with the University of Chester helping academia to support the sector and he has also established his own consultancy company providing support, intervention and mentoring to chief fire officers and chief executives.
The Board meets quarterly.
Quality and Standards Committee
As an Awarding Organisation it is critical that SFJ Awards maintains the highest standards of operation in order to provide learners, centres, regulators and other stakeholders with confidence in us and the qualifications we offer.
The purpose of the Quality and Standards Committee is to oversee the running of SFJ Awards with regard to its Awarding Organisation and regulatory functions in the interest of Learners, Centres, regulators and other stakeholders. The Quality and Standards Committee meets quarterly and reports directly to the board.
Join the Quality and Standards Committee
We are seeking passionate and knowledgeable volunteers to join our Quality & Standards Committee (QSC). This is your opportunity to influence the standards that underpin some of the most important public service roles in the UK.
Find out more and register your interest