About Us

Spencer has been immersed in education, skills and recruitment since 2001, building several successful brands along the way. He founded Special Agent, the UK’s first recruitment business dedicated to non-teaching roles in education, before going on to build notgoingtouni into one of the UK’s leading platforms for apprenticeships and alternatives to university.

A long-standing advocate for the skills sector, Spencer has appeared across Sky News, Channel 4, BBC, CNBC, FE News, The Times and The Telegraph, and has built an extensive network across training providers, awarding organisations, EPAOs, colleges and EdTech.

Away from NSA, he’s usually playing padel or following Spurs. Both activities involve considerably more emotional stress than they probably should.

Paul brings a commercial eye, an obsession with detail and a knack for spotting where businesses can do things better.

With experience spanning recruitment, financial services and property, he has developed relationships with organisations ranging from major financial institutions and housing associations to professional football clubs. At NSA, that commercial experience makes him particularly good at understanding what sits behind a recruitment brief – not simply the job title.

Within the team he is affectionately known as “the fixer of everything.” Give Paul a problem and there’s a very good chance he’ll have a solution before everyone else has finished discussing it.

Outside of work Paul is a big dog lover, a Spurs fan and a supporter of various charities and we don’t mean Spurs!

Joe has been part of Spencer’s businesses for many years, initially playing a key role in the growth of notgoingtouni before joining NSA in 2018.

Since then, he has helped establish NSA as one of the most connected specialist recruiters across the apprenticeship, training and skills sector. Joe has built trusted relationships with senior leaders, clients and key sector influencers, and his knowledge of the market means his opinion is regularly sought on everything from salaries and talent availability to who is moving where.

That competitive streak extends beyond recruitment. A former semi-professional goalkeeper, Joe is now a scratch golfer – which tells you quite a lot about his levels of patience, focus and determination.

Just don’t ask him about West Ham after a defeat.

With nine years’ recruitment experience, Charlotte is the person who keeps the NSA machine running smoothly. She provides invaluable support across the business, keeping the team, processes and priorities on track – which, given some of the personalities involved, is no small achievement.

Organised, dependable and rarely flustered, Charlotte brings the same discipline outside work too. She’s a regular in the gym and particularly handy with a punch bag.

Probably best to get your paperwork in on time.

Oliver has spent the last five years at NSA developing an outstanding reputation with both clients and candidates across the training and skills sector.

Diligent, knowledgeable and genuinely interested in getting the right fit, he has built long-standing relationships rather than simply filling vacancies – something reflected in the impressive collection of testimonials he has accumulated along the way.

He also follows Leyton Orient home and away, which ensures that however challenging recruitment gets, he retains a healthy sense of perspective.

Pru brings genuine first-hand experience of the apprenticeship and skills sector, having worked within high-profile training providers and leading talent and apprenticeship platforms.

Her background spans strategic partnerships, learner recruitment, employer engagement and national account management, giving her a valuable understanding of the challenges our clients face from both the commercial and delivery sides of the sector.

That experience means Pru doesn’t just understand recruitment – she understands the world our clients operate in.

Outside work, her other full-time role is being “Supermum” – arguably the tougher of the two jobs.

Martin is a highly respected skills sector leader with over 25 years & experience driving growth, transformation and workforce development across the UK and internationally. His senior leadership roles include Managing Director of Technical Training at City & Guilds Group, Head of Siemens Professional Education EMEA and Corporate Development Director at 3t Global.

With extensive experience in commercial strategy, business growth, M&A and organisational transformation, Martin also brings valuable board-level expertise through his non-executive and advisory appointments, including NEBOSH and the Institute for Apprenticeships. As Non-Executive Director at NSA, Martin provides strategic insight, industry connections and commercial expertise, strengthening our executive search, M&A and consultancy services.

Let’s just hope his Newcastle United don’t keep beating Spurs!