Julie Nerney’s CV looks, in her own words, like “insects have died on a piece of paper”. The chair of the Association of Colleges, who took over from Carole Stott at the beginning of this year, has an eclectic employment history, that covers everything from setting up a coffee business in Poland to being vice-chair of an NHS trust.

Nerney is chair of the board at her local college, Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, having previously led the board at its predecessor institution, the former City College Brighton and Hove. A chartered director for the Institute of Directors, she volunteers for the Prince’s Trust, and has been a National Ambassador for Diversity in Public Life since 2010.

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Serial entrepreneur

But it is Nerney’s varied employment history and less direct route through education that means she now brings to the post experience of the private and public sector, and small and large businesses, as well as the work of charities and membership organisations.

Nerney dropped out of taking A levels at her local sixth-form college to buy her first business - a theatre company - for £1 from the owner. It later grew to include a record company. A serial entrepreneur, she later also set up a fitness business, as well as establishing a coffee business in Poland. “I have had opportunities and I have a low boredom threshold,” she says, smiling. She later finished her A levels at a further education college.

There were some disappointments along the way, she stresses, and that is what she now draws on most in her work with young people. “When I now do things with the Prince’s Trust, I always talk about the business that failed,” she says.

‘Making a difference’

Nerney was chief executive of the British Safety Council - her first experience of being at the helm of a membership organisation - then vice-chair and senior independent director at Brighton and Hove University Hospitals NHS Trust. She has also worked for HM Treasury and the Rural Payments Agency. As a woman with a passion for all sports, she stresses that her favourite job was being head of transport integration at the London organising committee of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The main consideration when choosing a job, she says, is whether it will make a difference. Nerney joined her local college’s board in Brighton as chair when she was looking to add roles to her non-executive portfolio: “I needed things that were anchoring me in my local community.” However, the job of chair landed in her lap a bit sooner than she expected.

“I joined the board in July to take over the next year, but by September, the chair left and I was running the business,” she recalls. “That was a bit of a baptism of fire. But we have an amazing team and the college is doing very well. We had a successful merger and a good Ofsted.”

Good governance

Success, Nerney continues, depends on one major variable: “It is all about the people. I have seen half-baked plans that were under-resourced and thought-through turning into magic because of the people.”

Having been a board member, vice-chair and chair of a number of organisations has shown her the importance of good governance. “I am passionate about what good governance look like. There is something about understanding and valuing a leadership board. Your board is your team, and you treat it as such.”

Nerney believes that whether governors and chairs are paid should not affect the quality of applicants - or how they do their job. “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well and you take it seriously,” she says. “I think remuneration is a red herring. It is just about doing the job properly, valuing what we do and why we are there.”

Thin margins

It was the Association of College’s role as a membership organisation that attracted Nerney to the role of chair, she says. She has now been in post about three months, and is trying to meet as many of the AoC’s members as possible. “Clearly, I am in listening mode. I get a lot of stuff about the really hard under woefully thin margins where the difference between successes and failures is so slim.”

She says the sector’s reputation as being somewhere to get a “second chance” is not always helpful, especially when trying to set out the sector’s value to society. “It can be a second, third or a first choice.” The role of colleges, she believes, is developing people at all stages of their life. “I am passionate about this role and the difference this can make to learners. The drop in adult learning is tragic. Where are all those people going? How are we developing those people?”

Nerney says recent campaigns have raised the profile of the sector. “My worry is that people will feel that the case has been made and things will just get lost. Colleges are competing for market share. If we can be successful in making the impact of colleges known in society and if you can make their voice heard as loudly as possible, that is the most important thing.”

For now, Nerney’s aims are clear: “This year is all about listening to members and making sure we get the member offer right. It is about making sure our members feel valued. We also have to making sure we keep momentum on our campaigns and make the best possible case for the Spending Review.”