ONE of the best-known and influential figures in the Basingstoke business community has moved on to a new challenge after landing a top job at a further education college.

Beverley Flanagan, who is director of business development at Basingstoke College of Technology and chairman of Destination Basingstoke, has been appointed as vice principal of Wiltshire College.

Mrs Flanagan, who has been at BCOT for 16 years and has played a key role in raising the college's profile and driving forward its links with business in recent years, will be in charge of the Salisbury campus. She started her new job on Monday.

Mrs Flanagan, who has been a member of BCOT's senior management team since 2003, has been involved in delivering many local high-profile events to businesses, featuring prominent guest speakers such as Jamie Oliver, Dame Anita Roddick and Jeremy Vine.

She took the lead in helping BCOT to be one of the first colleges in the country to achieve the Action for Business quality kitemark. She also organised advisory panels for every curriculum area, with good employer participation in the planning of BCOT's curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of employers' future workforces.

As chairman of Destination Basingstoke - the not-for-profit marketing company featuring representatives from several major Basingstoke and regional organisations - Mrs Flanagan has been involved in the ongoing work to develop and project a more positive image and profile of the town and borough.

While she is looking forward to her exciting new challenge in Wiltshire, Mrs Flanagan said she will miss BCOT and being so actively involved in the Basingstoke business scene.

"I have really enjoyed my career with BCOT," she said. "I feel I have made a difference to the college by developing the brand, engaging with employers and genuinely loving the work that I do.

"I have great enthusiasm for further education, both in the community and with businesses. There are so many opportunities to be innovative and make a difference."

BCOT principal Judith Armstrong said: "Beverley will be much missed inside and outside the college.

"There can be few people in the town who are unaware of what BCOT does and this is very much due to the number of high-profile events masterminded by Beverley, alongside her ability to establish, and maintain, a host of influential contacts."

Mrs Flanagan is to remain a director of Destination Basingstoke for at least a few more months. Vice-chairman Mike Loftus, the Thames Valley chairman of Clydesdale Bank, which has a base in Basing View, has taken on the chairman's role - and you can read a special in-depth interview with him in the next edition of In Business, in The Monday Gazette on April 21.