Les was initial trained as a teacher at Shoreditch College from 1963 to 1966 and he began his teaching career as a Design and Technology Teacher in 1966. Through the 60s and 70s he worked in a number of schools in Surrey and Berkshire, he became a Head of Department, a Head of a Technology ending up as a Deputy Headteacher.
In 1984 he was seconded to Berkshire LEA and worked supporting schools in the development of their technology curriculum. During that period of secondment he drove Berkshire’s Technology Bus introducing school students to aspects of control technology.
Following this secondment he studied for a Masters Degree and then joined the staff at Brunel University and became Course Director for Initial Teacher Training in Design and Technology (both at Undergraduate and PGCE level). Later Les was promoted to Course Director for BA course in Industrial Design. During his time at Brunel he was involved with Health and Safety Training and amongst other responsibilities he taught Electronics and Pneumatics to the undergraduates at the University. During this time he was the D&T External Examiner for a number of Higher Education Institutions.
Since 2003 he has had his own Design Consultancy in Metheringham in Lincolnshire and through his company, as well as being involved in product design for industrial clients, he supports Initial Teacher Education by running CPD courses in many aspects of Design and Technology; ECT(Electronics Communication Technology) and Pneumatics in particular. His centre is one of the National Digital Technology Support Hubs. He currently undertakes consultancy work for a number of Initial Teacher Training SCITTs and PGCE courses, and he is the National Evaluator for Subject Knowledge Booster Courses in Design and Technology.
Les has been a RDTHSC since the conception of the scheme in the late 1990s and has delivered Health and Safety courses across the UK and even in Dubai.
In 2023 he was awarded The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Design and Technology.