Celebrating 25 Years' of Loyal Service

Lio joined the university as a Chef at Headingley Campus, back in 1997, before becoming the Senior Chef at City Campus in 2012. 

Lio is a great chef and has produced many thousands of meals for our students, staff and visitors. He also led his kitchen team through the mammoth task of feeding over 1800 delegates as part of our large external summer conference Teach First - breakfast and dinner over a two-week period, which is no easy task!

More recently through the pandemic, Lio was redeployed into Campus Services to support their team - he was Team Leader and took to the new role with gusto. He is now back in his original role of Senior Chef, whilst also managing the marshalling support we had in place at City Campus.

Lio’s hometown is in South of France, Lyon, and he loves a good bottle or two of wine. He is a keen fitness fanatic and used to be part of a running club for many years, partaking in races across the country.  He is also a keen cyclist and rides to and from work - even through snow!

Lio is married with two beautiful young daughters, who keep him on his toes. 

Linda has worked on the university switchboard since starting in 1997. During that time, she has spoken to hundreds of thousands of students, staff and parents, providing them with help and reassurance when necessary.

Linda supports callers when they are distressed or in difficult situations with great compassion. She is a great listener who provides the help and care needed to achieve positive outcome for all callers.

In recent years, Linda’s role has expanded, and she has taken on many new duties, as well as learning to use a range of systems. She now regularly minutes meetings, works on the CARES and Estates Helpdesks and undertakes various administrative tasks.

As an initial point of contact for many engaging with our university, Linda has been providing an excellent first impression for 25 years, for which we are very grateful.

Belinda began teaching and researching on a part-time, hourly paid contract at Leeds Polytechnic once her three sons were at primary school. Now two of them are Senior Lecturers in the Carnegie School of Sport (CSS).

Her husband, Carlton, has worked in CSS even longer than Belinda, so apart from their eldest son, who is a doctor, Leeds Beckett is central to all her family’s lives. 

Belinda was awarded a University Teacher Fellowship in 2008 and this was the start of many opportunities with the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) to share practice with colleagues both locally and nationally, especially about inclusive learning and assessment.  

During her career, Belinda progressed to Principal Lecturer, University Teacher Fellow and latterly, Head of Subject for Physical Education in CSS. Belinda is now concentrating her efforts on developing and recognising excellent practice in teaching and supporting learning through our DEAP programme of events and our

Fellowships programme, striving to provide opportunities for diverse modes of engagement and achievement.

In 2021, Belinda was awarded a National Teacher Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding contribution to learning and teaching.

Peter first joined the university in 1997 to take on the role of managing the Food Court at Headingley Campus, before moving to City Centre to look after Catering Operations in the Food Court at the City Campus.

Peter’s mantra was the famous line from Dad's Army, 'Don't Panic’, taking in his stride various crises and unexpected operational challenges. 

Whilst working for CARES Peter joined the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality, as a Masters student. During that time, he showed his dedication to exploring and critiquing scholarly literature, particularly in the field of service operations and service quality. 

When there was a vacancy in the School, Peter was the ideal candidate and he joined the Hospitality Team.  

Peter enjoys the scholarly research associated with being a Senior Lecturer, and he also loves fine food. This is a passion he has shared with his students, so it was no surprise when they were called upon, as part of their learning, to provide a fabulous banquet for our International Team, and our representatives and agents from around the world.

Peter continues to make a valuable contribution to teaching and learning, inspiring the next generation of hotel and restaurant managers to develop their businesses sustainably, to value their guests and to support their staff. 

Peter is also dedicated to his sporting activities whether it is football, golf or being in the peloton with the Brownlee brothers.  

James started at the university as a Learning Centre Assistant at Beckett Park Learning Centre in 1997, working in the Journals Team. He completed his MSc Information Studies part-time and graduated in 2000.

He then became an Information Officer at City Campus Learning Centre, supporting the newly formed Electronic Information Desk and Telephone Enquiry Service, as well as the Offsite Service and the European Information Centre. 

Following this, James became a Senior Information Officer at City Campus, before returning to Headingley as an Information Services Librarian for the Library Systems Team. 

James’s current role is as a Digital Library Advisor for the Digital Library Service Team. This varied role includes the provision of Library systems data, content management within the Library website, running the university’s Open Journals system, maintaining the Library’s Self-Service lending system and supporting digitisation, copyright and research services.  

James was also a member of the Project Team who recently implemented the new Library systems platform.  

James is a valued member of Library and Student Service’s Technologies for Learning department and is always willing to share his knowledge with university colleagues and the wider academic library community through delivering training, presentations, articles and blog posts.

Andrew initially joined on a temporary contract on through an agency before becoming an employee of Leeds Beckett in 1997.

He started in the Resources Team that supported Facilities Management Division (FMD) and Business Services Division (BSD), which is now known as CARES and Estates.

In 2009 the CARES & Estates team was then incorporated into Financial Services Team and when Andrew joined the team he predominantly looked after the online store.

Andrew has been the main operator of the university’s Online Store since April 2014.  This job was a relatively new addition to the Incomes team within Financial Services and Andrew learnt the basics and excelled throughout the following years. He does an excellent job and is the main contact for everyone within the university regarding Online Store listings.

His main achievement is adapting the clunky system of the Online Store to make it a suitable and viable option for the use of Graduation ticket sales and he works tirelessly every year to make the impossible work, alongside the university’s Graduation Reporting and Events teams.

Andrew has the most wicked and dry sense of humour. When we were in the office, he used to entertain the whole team with his one liners. Since working from home his Skype messages and meetings are now his stage, so we are still enjoying his hilarious personality from a distance. He is a pleasure to work with and I know the whole team share this view.

Andrew used to play 5 a side football at Headingley Campus with colleagues from Financial Services, but he has now hung up his football boots and officially retired from the game.

Professor Gorse is the Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute in the School of the Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. 
Chris’s first contact with Leeds Beckett University was when he joined Leeds Polytechnic for his first degree, which he completed in 1993 with a First-Class Honours in Building.  

Chris had a stint in industry before he secured a Lecturer position at the university in 1997. He was soon promoted to Senior Lecturer, becoming Course Leader for both BSc (Hons) Construction Management and BSc Project Management courses. In 2014 the Leeds Sustainability Institute (LSI) was conceived, and Chris was appointed Director.  

Chris has served on the Board of Directors for a number of Yorkshire based schools and provided leadership in many capacities including the International Energy Agency, Association of Researchers for Construction Management and set up the International SEEDS conference and RISE awards. Recently, he has worked on the REF panel and is currently undertaking research for the Construction Industry Council.

Chris has always been filled with a desire to challenge himself and discover new opportunities, and one can think of many examples of initiatives he has embarked on, not least the SEEDS conference. 

As well as pursuing his own research path, Chris has always been supportive of colleagues. He has not only strived to create and seek new opportunities for himself, but is always keen to share his networks with colleagues wanting to see others thrive and succeed alongside him, which is no small reason why the LSI is now such a successful research team. Chris makes the effort to get to know his team members as people and is a supportive, encouraging, and compassionate leader. Most of all, Chris always takes time to listen to ideas and gives people the confidence and trust to make the best of their abilities.

Chris will always go the extra mile; he is a great mentor and always seems to have boundless energy. He is always keen to reconnect with past students and one can see the sense of pride he takes when he sees one of his old students prospering in their careers.  

Chris is a strong advocate for Early Career Researchers, pushing them to take on new challenges and trusting them to take on more responsibility, and there are many researchers at the university that have benefited from his enthusiasm and support. Chris has always instilled the importance of collective success over individual gain in the teams he manages. Chris above all is a kind and honest man, who always wears his heart on his sleeve and who many people in the school will always call a friend.

After completing her Apprenticeship, Terri started her career at the university as a Secretarial Assistant. During her time at the university, she has held a number of different administrative roles. She has worked in the School of Health, Innovation North, Admissions and the Carnegie School of Education. 

In every department, Terri has become a valued member of the team. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge and supports team members, academics, and students with a wide range of activities. She specialises in supporting ITE courses and supports students from induction and enrolment through to Graduation. 

Terri will go above and beyond to provide support, and this is often recognised by staff and students with displays of gratitude. Terri volunteered to give the Carnegie School of Education Pastoral Dog a home and has provided a warm and loving home to Betty, who has now become part of the family as well as supporting students.

Elaine started her career at the university working within the Catering and Hospitality team at our Headingley Campus.  Since that time, Elaine has held several different posts across the university. These include Receptionist to School Administration in the areas of School of Business & Management and School of Health.  

Elaine took up her current role in 2017 and in this role, she supports our Franchise and Collaborative courses in the School of Health.  Elaine is an extremely valued member of the team, working alongside our academic colleagues to support our off-site partners and organisations and guiding them through our regulations and processes.  

Elaine recently supported our Interprofessional Practice Learning Day, which involved working with external stakeholders, students, and simulated patients.  
When not at work Elaine enjoys going on holiday, eating out and spending lots of time with her family and friends.

Originally Neil studied Business Information Technology at Leeds Polytechnic. During this time, he got a summer job working for Registry and continued to do this part-time whilst studying for his degree. Upon completion, he got a permanent job with Registry, supporting Enrolments, Fees, Data Quality, Awards and Exams.  

After an 18-month break in Australia, Neil returned to work on the Help Desk in Brunswick. Whilst in this role, he helped create the Alumni website for Corporate Affairs. Neil then took up a role developing the university website and developing a Corporate web brand. 

Following this, Neil then worked on a project with IT, to develop a dynamic online Prospectus website, which was a market leading concept at the time. He then made the move to our IT department to develop online systems such as Oracle and PHP. Although the technology has changed, Neil has been a key member of IT Services ever since, with never ending enthusiasm to explore new technology and software development techniques. He has been instrumental in driving the Business Systems Software development team forward. 

As a senior developer, Neil has also helped mentor a number of junior developers and help launch their careers. Neil says the highlights of his time here has been helping out at Enrolments, Graduations and Clearing, putting students first and reminding us why we are here.

Suzy started her career at the university as a Library Assistant in April 1997. She began working in the newly created Bibliographical Service Unit. 

Following this, she then moved into a new role as a Learning Centre Assistant, before then moving on to her next role as a Senior Information Assistant. This involved staffing the Headingley Library Helpdesk, where she helped students with their accounts and borrowing every day.  

Suzy currently works as a Library Assistant in the Reservations department and continues to offer excellent customer service to students.

Gemma joined the Centre for Languages at the university in 1997. During her time in this department Gemma undertook a variety of roles supporting International Students, which included Receptionist, Course Administrator and work with the department’s Finance Team.

Gemma fondly remembers placing International Students with host families as one of her key tasks during this period. 

Gemma then took on a role supporting Quality and Research in the Leslie Silver International Faculty, before moving on to an Administration Team Leader role in the departments of Computing and Creative Technologies and Cultural Studies and Humanities, in what was then the Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology. 

In 2017, Gemma took up her current role as an Academic Services Team Leader in School of Humanities and Social Sciences, where she employs her wide-ranging administrative skills and understanding of the university to support both staff and students. Gemma’s compassion, humour and commitment to her role make her an asset to the School and has enabled her to build excellent rapport with colleagues, both within the School and across the university. 

Gemma is an integral member of the School’s Academic Services Team, and a highly thought of line manager, as demonstrated by her nominations in the University’s Staff Awards, including a nomination for Leader of the Year in 2019.

Hamidah started work at the university as a Rooms Assistant in December 1997. Her supervisors at that time were Margaret Eglinton and Theresa Doyle. Hamidah says she chose to work at the university as she felt it was be a good place to work. She has remained at the university and in the role of Rooms Assistant for the reason ever since.

Hamidah is a lovely and pleasant member of the team and is very well liked.  She is a massive asset to the cleaning team, is always very kind and caring, and very well respected by all of her work colleagues.