Heather has been appointed as the new chief executive and principal at Sheffield College and takes up her duties in September.

She takes up the reins at one of the country's largest further education centres as one of a number of new faces in the city.

With the election of a new Lib Dem council, Coun Andrew Sangar is currently finding his feet as the new Cabinet member for children's services.

He'll be working closely with the new executive head of the service Sonia Sharp, who takes up her post next month following the departure of Jonathan Crossley-Holland.

A new chief executive for the whole city has yet to be appointed, while both Sheffield universities have recently appointed new vice-chancellors.

"It's a time when new people are coming in, no doubt with new thinking and that represents a massive opportunity to change things for the better," Heather said.

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"We're all starting off on an equal footing, we'll all have our own creative ways of thinking and so we can contribute to a period of real change in the way education and training is provided in Sheffield, hopefully to the benefit of the city's economy."

Heather is moving to Sheffield from Wakefield College and has been paying regular visits to her new place of work to familiarise herself with the place and the people.

"Sheffield is a place I admire and it is a place I come to shop, to be entertained and to eat. I've been watching with interest for some years the regeneration of the city centre, which is fabulous," she said.

"My first impressions are that this is a very good college with a number of very strong success stories - there are several centres of excellence in key subject areas.

"We are preparing students who will be able to make significant contributions to the city, helping to create a highly skilled workforce for both public and private sectors, and plugging the skills gaps that employers have identified."

Changes are underway at the college too, with the new £60 million Castle campus currently under construction and set to become the first purpose-built vocational centre in the region.

"It's all part of the current investment taking place in this city which I'm delighted to see - it's good to see the number of cranes on the skyline," Heather said.

"We are part of those developments, part of that bright future and we're in it for the long term.

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