Meet our UK Sales Director: Peter Hirst

A champion in the North of England, meet Peter Hirst our dynamic and jovial Sales Director. Peter has a wealth of experience in Ed Tech, with over 15 years in business development and account management. His passion for successful adoption and mutually beneficial long-term relationships makes him well-equipped to lead the quest in the UK to spread the word about the value of Cloud Assess.

In this interview, we take a look into his experiences at Cloud Assess and discover more about his personal life. 

1. Tell us about your role at Cloud Assess: 

I’m UK and Ireland Sales Director, meaning I’m leading the sales team in the region. I’m only a couple of weeks post-onboarding so I’m relatively new to the organisation. It’s great to join a company with a mission to scale up and grow and I’m particularly excited to shape how that happens in the UK and Ireland.

2. What inspires you about workplace training?

I’m a big fan of lifelong learning with both parents involved in education for most of their working lives. I’ve spent almost 15 years myself selling a range of technology and services to help enable the management of learning. As a parent to two young children, I’m acutely aware of the power of enquiry and curiosity to develop skills. 

Learning in the workplace is critical today with huge upheaval in skills relevance as we become more of a digital and service economy. There is no way a formal education can prepare learners for the diverse and technology-driven workplace, so the onus is on organisations to ensure their staff are effective in their roles and also engaged enough to become leaders and upwardly mobile.

3. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? 

I’m turning 40 this summer and have set myself the challenge of matching my 8-year-old daughter in being able to do a handstand. Not an outrageous goal but one that still seems far away… 🙂

4. What’s your favourite saying?

Never mock a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes… Then you can mock him because you’re a mile away and you have his shoes.

5. What’s your favourite activity?

I’m a real family man, so it’s probably spending time with my kids. I’ve always been really sporty and love cricket and football in particular. I’m currently living vicariously through both kids in getting them into every sporting opportunity possible. We’re busy virtually every night of the week with one activity or another.

6. Other than Cloud Assess (of course) what’s your favourite app and why?

I love Duolingo. I’m about 160 days into learning French. I love the nudges and how it’s gamified with competition. Aujourd’hui je parle un peu. Demain je parlerai plus!

7. Tell us something that might surprise us about you:

I played cricket reasonably proficiently. Never as a professional but I played with and against a string of professional and test players in a regional premier league. I also love close-up magic and card tricks!

8. What is Online Assessment to you?

Online Assessment is scalable, equitable and time-saving.

9. What’s your favourite feature in Cloud Assess?

I really like Workflows because I think the value in systems is in automating processes. I like being able to set up rules to make my life easier as an assessor or administrator. The options you have mean it can still feel very personal for learners.

10. What’s the best thing about working for Cloud Assess?

It’s great feeling backed. The management team are open to suggestions and quick to act. I don’t think there is anything as valuable in a workplace as a culture of openness to being questioned. I’m only a month or so in the role, so it’s early days, but I am loving getting involved in all aspects of the business and sharing my experience.