Chris Pickles currently works as Economic Development Officer for Copeland Borough Council in West Cumbria.
He has over 10 years experience in the field of regeneration, both as a Civil Servant and also for public sector funded bodies. In 2009, he coordinated a Future Jobs Fund initiative in Copeland that created 45 jobs for young people aged 18 – 24.

Prior to joining Copeland Borough Council in March 2007, he was team leader of a Community Development Team during a Single Regeneration Budget Programme in the Rossendale area of Lancashire and assisted in the evaluation and monitoring of the overall initiative.

Previously he worked Imperial War Museum North as Volunteer Coordinator and managed an innovative Volunteer Programme involving local people and providing National Vocational Qualifications in Cultural Heritage.

He has experience of working in the tourism sector for a privatised Tourist Information Centre and has run his own tourism enterprise in the Pendle area of Lancashire.

Through his career he has seen first hand the benefits that training, qualifications, and more recently apprenticeships can bring to both employers and individuals.