Sharon Blyfield

Blyfield is from Shepards Bush, West London.[2] She has two brothers. She attended Burlington Danes Academy[3] a voluntary aided school, and was determined to get a job that would mean her mother did not have to worry about money.[2] She completed a BTEC Extended Diploma in business and finance whilst studying at Hammersmith and West London College. After completing her course, she was offered a job in financial administration.[2][4][5]

Blyfield worked in advertising, holding positions at Cadbury and The Coca-Cola Company. At the time, Coca-Cola was expanding into the UK economy, and Blyfield was involved with scaling up their advertising programmes. She eventually shifted to human resources, with a particular focus on the development of early career employees.

Under Blyfield's leadership, Coca-Cola expanded their apprenticeship scheme to include engineering, sales and administration.[2] To improve access to the scheme; she modified the GCSE requirements, and removed the requirement for a CV.[2] She has developed mentorship and training programmes to support apprentices throughout their careers.[6]

Blyfield has campaigned to make apprenticeships more commonplace in the UK.[7] She has also spoken about the need to increase the salaries of apprentices.[2][8] In 2023, Blyfield was appointed Director of the Board of Youth Employment UK.[9]