Ray Auvray
Prospects Executive Chairman
Ray Auvray is Executive Chairman of the Prospects Group and has managed the company since its foundation in the summer of 1995. In that period Ray has grown the Group from a company holding a single contract in South London to a national organisation with a turnover of over £60 million, employing nearly 1,200 staff and delivering a wide range of education, training and employment services to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Learning and Skills Council, local authorities, schools and colleges.
Before joining Prospects, Ray spent 11 years heading the London Borough of Havering Careers Service, the only local authority run careers service to win the Charter Mark Award. He understands the local authority perspective well, having served as a Basildon District Councillor, Essex County Councillor and a member of the Essex Police Authority. He has also twice stood as a parliamentary candidate. He started his career as a teacher, before moving into the Careers Service.
Ray has served on a number of national careers service advisory bodies and is also a Board Director of several companies. He is a graduate of Reading University and undertook further studies at the University of East London.
Having led the Prospects Group to its current role as a major provider of educational support services, he is keen to see it diversify further and develop a wider range of services for its customers.
Kevin Beerling
Prospects Group Finance Director
Kevin Beerling joined Prospects in January 2006 as Group Finance Director and has responsibility for financial reporting, facilities management, HR, ICT and legal services.
Kevin qualified as a chartered accountant in 1995 with Price Waterhouse and was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 2006.
Prior to joining Prospects, Kevin was Chief Financial Officer of Moneybox plc, an independent operator of cash machines, where he was instrumental in floating the company on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange and subsequently negotiating a trade sale to a listed competitor.
His earlier career included four years as Group Finance Director of Ambient plc (now Touch Group plc), an AIM listed business and marketing services group, and three years as UK Financial Controller and Group Chief Accountant of the international outdoor advertising group More Group plc (now part of Clear Channel Communications).
While working at Price Waterhouse, Kevin appeared five times as the independent adjudicator on the National Lottery Saturday night TV show.
He has a First Class Honours degree in Business Economics and Accounting from Southampton University.