Meet Bud's Content and Funding Experts - Bud Training Software

Last updated October 14, 2021

Have you ever tried explaining what you do for a living to your friends? Sounds easy but those of us in the training industry will know just how challenging this can be. Yes we work in apprenticeships, but the industry is so much more complex than that. From ESFA funding rules to content creation, there’s a lot to think about.

Luckily at Bud, we have experts in all these fields who can provide unique insight along our journey. We specifically want to talk about our Curriculum and Funding experts:

Alex Bowman – Curriculum Manager
Matt Wood – Funding and Compliance Manager

Alex Bowman – Curriculum

Alex Bowman is our content king here at Bud. Whether it be SCORM integrations, content delivery or creating an engaging learner journey, Alex is the man to ask.

Alex is passionate about all things content and the huge and positive impact it can have on a learner’s experience and future. When asked about his favourite part of working at Bud, Alex said “Creating content! I love taking a subject and bringing it to life by creating engaging eLearning. There’s so much you can do from creating videos, games, interactive activities, gamification and scenarios.”

When asked how Alex came to work at Bud, he had quite a story to tell. “I saw an advert for a “Curriculum Consultant” and came for an interview,” said Alex. “Heather walked into the room and we both laughed. I’d actually worked with Heather at Lifetime Training for 8 years. It was a total, but pleasant, coincidence. I’ve always loved the teaching and learning sector and I’m intrigued by how tech can support it. Bud allows me to put both of these passions together.”

Alex’s role as Curriculum Manager certainly combines learning with technology. But what does this look like on a daily basis? “As Curriculum Manager, my role spans across everything to do with learning creation in Bud,” said Alex. “This includes making sure all the qualifications and standards are in the system, providing guidance on creating fantastic learner journey’s, as well as creating engaging content for our clients to purchase.”

Bud is a young company that has achieved a great deal in a very short space on time. In fact, more of the top 20 ITPs now choose Bud than any other platform. We’re very proud of all that we’ve achieved but we know that this is just the beginning. We asked Alex where he sees Bud heading in the future:

“I would love to see Bud at the cutting edge of education technology. As the industry gathers traction and new ways of learning through virtual reality and Artificial Intelligence, Bud should be the platform of choice that supports them. Because Bud’s data warehouse is already building intelligence on how learners learn.”

Matt Wood – Funding and Compliance

Matt Wood is an avid Leeds United supporter and actually held a season ticket for many years when they were, what he called, “rubbish”. Unfortunately, his team’s recent form came just as Matt took the decision to drop his season’s ticket. Luckily for us, Matt doesn’t leave anything to chance when it comes to Funding and Compliance. With over 8 years of experience in the FE sector, Matt has a huge amount of wisdom to draw upon in his busy and demanding role.

“It’s my job to keep up to date with industry knowledge, including the latest ESFA rules, Ofsted & audit requirements, and provider’s progress in the industry. I work with the product team to help develop Bud and ensure it’s moving with the industry, and I work with the Customer Success team to help support clients using the system.”

Matt’s expertise is drawn upon from all the departments within Bud. Fortunately for us, he likes working with others. “I enjoy working with a variety of people in different teams,” said Matt. “Despite joining Bud during the pandemic and mostly working from home, I feel that I’ve been able to get to know lots of different people. We have a range of skills and experience, making it easy for us to learn from one another.”

Having previously worked for 2 small training providers, Matt joined Bud to be a part of something exciting. “I moved from Yorkshire to Wiltshire and was looking for a new challenge in the industry. Bud was an exciting prospect and gave me the opportunity to learn more about the sector from a technology perspective. It was immediately obvious to me that Bud was on an exciting journey which I wanted to be a part of.”

We asked Matt where he sees Bud heading in the future “Bud will become the platform of choice for training providers, I have no doubt about that. I’ve used a number of systems during my time in FE and none are as intuitive and user-friendly as Bud. We have the knowledge, skills, and experience to take Bud to another level and I’m looking forward to being part of that.”

Content from the experts

We’ve certainly kept our experts busy over the past few months. From podcasts to high value blogs, we’ve produced a variety of content featuring both Matt and Alex to support training providers: