PROFILE
F or someone who spent his fledgling years on a close-knit Teesside estate, Grant Glendinning has certainly spread his wings.
From the Fens, in Hartlepool, he moved to Kuwait with his family when he was eight, went on to teach English across Europe, married a Czech girl, learned to speak her language, developed a passion for inclusive education and built an illustrious career that’ s brought him back to Teesside.
Now proudly serving as chief executive of the Education Training Collective( Etc.), he’ s a man with a strategic focus on helping meet the skills requirements of the area’ s employers.
“ Life’ s turned full circle, and it’ s such an exciting time to be back in the Tees Valley,” says Grant, from his office at Stockton Riverside College.
The Etc. is a growing group of colleges and training providers offering education and training opportunities in Teesside and across the country, while employing 730 people of its own.
As well as Stockton Riverside, the group incorporates Billingham’ s Bede Sixth Form College, Redcar & Cleveland College, NETA Training and the recently acquired training provider Innersummit.
Appointed CEO in 2022, Grant has built on strong foundations –“ it was in very good nick when I got here” – with a longer-term, strategic approach to working in partnership with businesses and other stakeholders to help Tees Valley prioritise its training needs and fulfil its economic potential.
He’ s come a long way since starting out in Hartlepool, where his dad, Keith, went from working in the engine room of a merchant navy ship as a young man to becoming an apprentice fitter, then an instrument artificer, back on Teesside.
His mum, Val, worked in a care home before she and Keith took Grant and his sister, Corinne, to Kuwait, where life in a mixed school included lessons in Arabic, and the pupils were from all over the world.
“ Maybe it was the exposure to different languages and cultures that made me think about working in education, and when the opportunity to teach English abroad arose, it seemed an adventurous and fun way to make a living,” he recalls.
After studying sociology and politics at Salford University, he taught English in central Europe, mainly Estonia and Czechoslovakia, where he met his future wife, Míša.
When they returned to England, Grant spent 23 years teaching in London colleges, rising to become a senior manager at City and Islington College in 2010.
Eight years later, with the couple having become parents and ready to move out of London, Grant was appointed principal of Carlisle College, a position that later expanded into an executive role combined with Newcastle College, as part of Newcastle College Group.
He wasn’ t actively looking for a new job when a recruiter contacted him in 2022 about the CEO’ s role at the Education Training Collective. Nevertheless, he was tempted enough to submit a tentative application, and his mind was made up when a tour of the group’ s sites was arranged for candidates.
“ The facilities were fantastic, the people were great and there was just a great vibe,” he says.
“ As part of the tour – on the way to Redcar & Cleveland College – I saw the reindustrialisation of Teesside at the Teesworks site, and I was struck by what a dynamic, optimistic time it is for the area.”
LIFE’ S TURNED FULL CIRCLE, AND IT’ S SUCH AN EXCITING TIME TO BE BACK IN THE TEES VALLEY.”
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