Meet the Academy Team
Zoe McSeveney
- Zoe is a Work Based Reviewer for our students in Barnsley.
- Zoe started her career as an apprentice herself before going on to work in a town centre salon, working for Wella as a brand educator and also owning her own salon. She is also a Wella Master Colourist, System Professional and Nioxin specialist.
- Zoe has a passion for knowledge and enjoys sharing this with the team and her students.
Eleanore Gray
- Eleanore is our Training Manager and oversees the running of both our Barnsley and Sheffield Academies.
- Eleanore's career began as an apprentice in Leslie Frances salon over 30 years ago.
- Her vision is to ensure that all staff and students work together to achieve their goals in a safe, caring and fun learning environment.
Kiera Whittaker
- Kiera started out her hairdressing career as a Leslie Frances apprentice, she progressed as a stylist in salon before training to become a tutor and achieved her Wella Colour Master Award.
- Kiera now works as a work based reviewer visiting our students in their salon placements.
- Kiera has built up excellent relationships with both salons and students.
Joanne Pickles
- Joanne also started out her career as a Leslie Frances Apprentice, worked as a stylist and completed her assessors qualification.
- Joanne now trains our Level 2 & 3 students and also works self employed as a stylist in a commercial salon.
- Joanne is committed to ensuring her students achieve their full potential.
- Joanne is also Training Manager at our Sheffield Academy.
Lynn Varney
- Lynn is our Exam Co-Ordinator/Invigilator she originally started out in hairdressing before taking on more administerial roles.
- Lynn supports any of our learners who have additional learning needs.
- She also has a pastoral role within the academy for our students who may need advice and a hug.
Emma Kattenberg
- Emma teaches our Level 2 & Level 3 students and all our new students begin their hairdressing career in her class.
- Emma has worked with Leslie Frances for 15 years and is also a stylist in our commercial salon.
- Emma's bubbly personality and caring nature creates a lovely atmosphere within the class.
Lisa Thompson
- Lisa joined Leslie Frances 2008 as Admin Assistant her role has grown over the years and now incorporates recruitment within the academy.
- Lisa loves nothing more than seeing our students at the very beginning of their journey right through to them achieving their dreams and goals.
- Through experience and good relationships with salons she is able to match the right student with employers.
Danielle Douthwaite
- Danielle started her journey as an apprentice in 2018 where she graduated at L2 and L3.
- Danielle now works at Leslie Frances as an Assistant Tutor in Barnsley and Tutor in our Sheffield Academy, helping and supporting our students on their journey. She is also working as a stylist in a local salon.
- Because Danielle has recently been through the training process, she has a good connection with our students, who often seek her out for advice.
Paris Hardcastle
- Paris completed her L2 & L3 qualifications with us back in 2020.
- She is now working with Leslie Frances as a Tutor alongside working in a salon.
- Paris is still on her learning journey and is hoping to achieve her Assessors qualification in the near future.
Sally Fairfax
- Sally is a Tutor in our Sheffield Academy, visits salons to conduct health & safety visits and also visits apprentices in their workplace to do reviews.
- Sally has lots of commercial experience as she works as a stylist in a salon.
- Over the years Sally has built up really good relationships with our employers and apprentices.
Beth Deaton
- Beth has recently joined us and is a Tutor in our Barnsley Academy and is teaching our first year intake this year.
- She has worked within the industry for 5 years in a variety of different roles.
- Beth has quickly built up a great relationship with our new first year students. Her lessons are fun and informative.
Wendy Thorley
- Wendy has recently joined us and works in both our Barnsley and Sheffield Academies as a Functional Skills Tutor.
- Wendy has worked in education for many years, supporting students with their Maths & English skills.
- Wendy takes part in and is a chairman at her amateur dramatics group, performing yearly pantomimes.
Biba Saxton
- Biba has recently joined Leslie Frances Barnsley as a Tutor of our Level 2 students.
- She has a wealth of hairdressing knowledge from owning her own commercial salon for several years.
- Biba holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Level 5 teaching and education.
Lauren Kershaw
- Lauren has recently joined Leslie Frances Barnsley as an Assistant Tutor.
- She has completed both her Level 2 and Level 3 with ourselves and is building up great relationships with our learners.
- Lauren also works in a well-respected, popular town centre salon.