We are Bud
Built from multiple decades of leadership experience in training and software development
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About us
By combining the knowledge of industry experts with the brightest minds in software development, we've created the best training management platform available – Bud. We've also created a company that’s full of ambitious, enthusiastic individuals who are thriving in their teams, from administration and finance, business development and marketing, product & software development and testing, and of customer success and support. Together we are Bud, and we are all very proud of everything that we’ve achieved.
Meet our senior leadership team

John Ingram
CEO
10+ years executive leadership of education businesses.
25+ years technology experience.
Previously Managing Director of RM plc’s RM Results division,
a £30m turnover global market leader in B2B digital examination marking and testing. Member of RM’s executive committee. NED of RM’s 500+ person offshore software development and operations facility.
Most recently CEO at Pamoja Education, a B2B and B2C provider of online courses for the IB, GCSE and A levels. Managed the sale to Faria Education in 2020.
Earlier career in corporate technology including banking, utilities and telecoms.

Brad Tombling
Chief Operating Officer
I’ve been involved in training for over a decade now and I can honestly say the sector has never been so exciting. With new technologies now being applied to every aspect of training delivery, including teaching learning, and management compliance, the sector is progressing at breakneck speed.
Having worked as a trainer and an assessor, I’ve experienced first-hand the difference that high quality teaching makes to a person’s life and I am passionate about improving learner outcomes. As Chief Operating Officer at Bud, I’m keen to make sure every customer maximises the benefits of our platform, so that they can improve efficiencies across their businesses and devote more time to their learners and improving their outcomes.
Being at Bud has given me the chance to work with a team who share my passion for quality delivery, my own knowledge and skills have developed rapidly because the culture here is so positive, we all want the best for our customers and their learners.

Mark McGrath
Chief Technology Officer
Leads Bud’s multi-disciplined technology teams, both on-shore and off-shore
Responsible for technical strategy and platform development, delivery, and IT operations at Bud
Significant experience providing technical direction and leading successful multi-disciplined engineering teams, both in growing SMEs and at scale.

Alanna Hammond
Head of HR
I'm an HR professional with 15+ years’ experience in a multitude of industries and business sizes.
It has become clear to me that working somewhere where you see the impact you are making in employees' working lives is important to me. Start-up and growth businesses fit that remit, but Bud also aligns with my passion for apprenticeships and supporting individuals through their learning journey.
Supporting employees who are responsible for the growth of Bud and its products is exceptionally rewarding and they are our biggest asset. I am confident that Bud will continue to set the agenda for change in the industry whilst keeping the apprentice at the heart.
Meet our founders

Heather Frankham
Co-Founder
It’s fair to say that I’ve witnessed first-hand the growing pains that apprenticeship delivery has experienced over the past quarter century. From my beginnings as a teacher, I went on to build the UK’s largest apprenticeship provider, Lifetime, starting from scratch in 1995 before selling the business in 2016.
I’m passionate about giving young people the best possible start, and wholeheartedly believe that apprenticeships are a force for good. However, it is an industry beset with issues and that is why I decided to create Bud – to simplify training delivery and support the sector, giving managers total visibility of their organisation to reduce business risk and ultimately improve the quality of training.
Bud has achieved a huge amount in a very short period of time. Our customers and thousands of learners are using the platform every day and have given overwhelmingly positive feedback. I am confident that Bud will provide the technical support that training providers need to enable to them to continue improving outcomes for young people and adults.

David Foster
Co-Founder
During my career I have worked in a senior leadership position across a number of exciting businesses including working with Heather at Lifetime from 2009 to 2012.
Bud came about through identifying that the sector was crying out for a high-quality technology solution to automate training delivery. As a Founder, I truly believe that Bud will drive much needed improvements across the training sector, reducing administrative burdens, raising standards and enabling training providers to recognise cost savings so that investment can be made to improve the quality of training. Ultimately improving outcomes for young people and adults.
OUR MISSION:
To empower our customers to deliver outstanding training through Bud’s market leading technology underpinned by our extensive sector knowledge.

ACCREDITED
Meeting the standards
As experts in state-of-the-art technologies we strive to ‘embed a security’ first culture throughout our organisation. We are extremely proud to have achieved ISO 27001, the international standard on how to manage information security, which is evidence that the information assets we hold are secure. In order to maintain our certification, we review, maintain and continually improve our ISMS.
At Bud we hold Cyber Essentials Plus certification – this is only awarded to organisations whose security systems have stood up to vulnerability tests carried out by cyber security experts.

OUR PARTNERSHIPS
Supporting learning for all
The team at Bud have a long heritage in the delivery of apprenticeships and vocational training, our passion is to support the delivery of consistent high-quality training to high volumes of learners, thereby increasing accessibility to learning for all. As such we are proud to be patron members of the AELP and founding partners of the Association of Apprentices.

CAREERS
Join the team at Bud
We’re a company that’s thriving because of our talented team. If you’re a team player and you think you’ve got what it takes to shine at Bud please take a look at our current vacancies.
Some of our customers
There are tens of thousands of users on Bud benefitting from over two decades of leadership experience in training and development.














































See Bud in action
The best way to experience our platform is through a demo with one of our friendly experts
Before your demo we’ll conduct a quick fact find call to make sure you see all the areas of our platform that are most important to you. Simply fill in the form and we’ll be in touch.
