Melanie Buckley (Mel) Customer Success Manager . Mel is a Customer Success Manager at Skills Funding Group, bringing a rare blend of commercial acumen, frontline care-sector leadership, and people-first delivery. Her career spans financial services, health and social care, and business development — giving her a deep, practical understanding of what it takes to run sustainable, high-quality organisations in highly regulated environments. Mel began her professional journey as a Financial Advisor before progressing into Training and Competency Management within financial services. This early focus on compliance, performance, and professional development laid the foundations for her later leadership roles within the care sector. Most notably, Mel has extensive experience as an owner-operator of a nursing home, where she held Director, Shareholder, and Business Manager responsibilities. In this role, she oversaw day-to-day operations, regulatory standards, staffing, financial performance, and commercial competitiveness — balancing quality of care with business sustainability. This hands-on leadership gives Mel a genuine understanding of the pressures faced by care providers, from workforce development and retention to funding, compliance, and growth. Prior to this, Mel worked with a national domiciliary care organisation, holding senior operational roles including Head of Franchise Development. She was responsible for identifying and delivering growth opportunities across the network, improving performance, and achieving target EBITDA — supporting care businesses to scale while maintaining service quality. Having successfully navigated the challenges of running care services through the pandemic, Mel later embraced the opportunity to build her own fashion franchise — a long-standing personal passion that she continues to develop alongside her role at SFG. Today, Mel heads up Skills Funding Group’s Care division, where her lived experience as a care business owner and senior leader allows her to provide highly relevant, practical support to employers and learners alike. She brings credibility, empathy, and commercial insight to every conversation — ensuring training solutions genuinely meet the needs of the care sector. Outside of work, Mel is a natural host and a passionate advocate for wellbeing, particularly cold-water therapy. She regularly encourages friends, family, and clients to experience its benefits — and can often be found stepping into sub-zero water in a bikini, purely for fun.