Governors

I am a qualified chartered accountant and lawyer. Having worked in private practice for over 25 years, in recent years I have held various board positions in a variety of industries, including security, marketing, online fast fashion, professional sport and recruitment.

I have 3 adult children, 2 of whom attended RGS. I am a passionate – some would say obsessive – cricket fan, sit on the board of Durham County Cricket Club and still turn out regularly for my local village cricket team. I have also been a Newcastle United season ticket holder for over 20 years and have now seen us lose 5 times at Wembley.

I have been on the board of Governors since 2018, having previously been a governor of another local independent school, and became chair in 2021.

I am a retired Headteacher and care passionately about young people and their education. I have sat on the Schools Northeast Advisory Board and have worked as a National Leader in school improvement as well as being an Ofsted Inspector.

I am a mother of two children and live and work on a farm. I love training my dogs both to work and compete and am passionate about sport both playing and watching. I am Chair of the Northumberland County Cricket Board as well as being their safeguarding lead.

Currently I Chair the management committee of The Woodlands School which is the Durham County Council Provision for both permanently excluded pupils and those identified as close to permanent exclusion.

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Newcastle in the early nineties. I later joined Reg Vardy plc and went on to spend the next 30 years in the motor industry in senior positions such as  MD of Benfield Motors and COO of Lookers plc. I’m currently COO of a national fleet management and vehicle leasing company based in Glasgow.

My charitable activities have included a spell on the NE committee for Prince’s Trust as well as active fundraising for 353 (a small charity supporting the families of members of the armed forces who suffer from PTSD) and Children in Need.

I’m Chair of the RGS Bursary Campaign and Trustee of the RGS Educational Trust where we raise funds to support bursary students within RGS as well as the partnership activity carried out with local state schools. I also sit on the F&GP and the Education Committees.

I am a London-based barrister who specialises in civil disputes and government matters.

I was awarded a bursary to attend the RGS Sixth Form between 2009 and 2011, and enjoyed my time at the RGS immensely. I have taken a keen interest in the development of the school and its bursary campaign since leaving in 2011.

I am currently instructed as a junior barrister for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and take a great deal of interest in national and political events which impact equality and accessibility across all groups and generations.

I like to spend any remaining free time reading, travelling, keeping fit and going to the theatre.

After an education at local schools in Northumberland, I read Geography at Nottingham University. My first employment was with the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in London, where I worked mainly as a researcher in the Overseas department, drafting economic reports, briefing IMF directors and looking after foreign visitors.

In 1986, my wife and I left London and converted Embleton Hall in Longframlington to a Country House Hotel, which I ran for 28 years.

In my retirement, I am the Manager of a small country inn, The Percy Arms in Chatton.

In local politics, I was elected as District Councillor for Longframlington and Brinkburn in 1991 until its demise in 2008. In 1993, I was elected as a councillor for the Shilbottle area on Northumberland County Council where my main interests are, and remain, education and planning. I am currently chairman of the North Northumberland Planning Committee and Vice Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee.

My interests are food and drink, travel, tennis and the garden.