Baltimore Consulting is announcing two promotions in their education team: Athena Withers to Divisional Manager and Simon Floyd to Executive Consultant, recognising their significant contribution to strengthening education services across the UK public sector.
Both promotions reflect sustained impact in high pressure, highly regulated environments, where specialist expertise, consistency and care are critical to protecting outcomes for children, young people, and families. Their progression marks a period of strong growth and delivery within Baltimore Consulting’s Education Division.
Promotions Reflect Community Impact
In her new role, Athena Withers will support Jordan Groves, Director of Education, in leading the strategic development of the Education Division. Athena has played a key role in building deep Local Authority partnerships, ensuring consistent delivery of niche and senior education professionals, and supporting the division’s growth while maintaining service quality.
Simon Floyd, promoted to Executive Consultant, has delivered exceptional impact across education services, with a particular focus on placing skilled professionals into some of the most sensitive and complex service areas within Local Authorities in South London. Simon is highly regarded for his ability to build trusted, long standing relationships and to truly understand the operational context, challenges, and hiring requirements of public sector clients. This depth of insight is reflected in the quality and longevity of his placements, with 22% of interim appointments made this year converting into permanent roles, demonstrating both client confidence and the sustained value of his recruitment outcomes.
Working at this level requires more than technical capability, it demands empathy, integrity, and resilience. These qualities sit at the heart of both promotions and underpin Baltimore Consulting’s wider approach to education public services.
Supporting Education Services Under Increasing Pressure
These promotions come at a time of unprecedented demand within education and SEND. With 5% of children in the UK now supported by an Education, Health and Care Plan, Local Authorities face increasing operational, legislative, and capacity pressures.
Over the course of 2025, Baltimore Consulting supported councils nationwide by delivering 81 SEND projects, ensuring continuity of statutory services during periods of rapid change. The team also completed 20 SEND tribunal support projects, placing experienced SEND and EHCP professionals to help Local Authorities achieve fair, timely and defensible outcomes for families while managing risk across challenged areas of provision.
Growth Built on Expertise, Not Scale
Through Athena’s leadership and Simon’s and wider team support, Baltimore Consulting’s Education Division partner with Local Authorities, UK wide, supporting roles from SEND Case Officers, Education Improvement Consultants, through to senior operational and strategic leadership across education services.
This success has been driven by a relationship led model grounded in sector knowledge, credibility, and long term partnership, rather than transactional recruitment.
Commenting on the promotions, Jordan Groves, Director of Education, said:
“Athena and Simon’s promotions recognise the depth of impact they’ve delivered across Local Authority education services. They are genuine specialists who care deeply about the outcomes their work supports, not just for clients and candidates, but for children, families and communities.
Their success reflects the kind of market authority we’ve built within education public services: one grounded in expertise, trust, and meaningful change.”
Looking Ahead
As education services continue to face rising complexity and scrutiny, Baltimore Consulting remains focused on developing leaders who can deliver specialist support where it matters most.
By investing in people who combine technical excellence with humanity and integrity, the business continues to strengthen its position as a trusted partner within UK education public services.
