Governance

Theresa Davies became a governor of Milestone School, in New Ash Green, in the late 1990s when she was a partner in a successful financial services business and an inaugural participant of the School Business Manager degree programme. As schools nationally were moving towards becoming autonomous organisations her finance and human resources expertise supported Milestone through this period of significant change. 

Theresa subsequently became Chair of the Milestone School governing body and oversaw the school becoming a member of LAT in 2012, when she also became a non-executive Director of the Trust and Chair of the LAT Resources Committee – the latter monitoring Trust finances and the work of the various Trust service teams. Theresa became Vice Chair of LAT in 2020.

In 2013, Simon was appointed CEO of Leigh Academies Trust, now one of the country’s largest and most-established, highly inclusive and successful multi-academy trusts operating across Kent, Medway and South East London, containing 33 primary, secondary and special academies. Before that he was Principal of two secondary academies in the Trust. He studied at York, Durham and London universities. Simon is a trained Ofsted inspector, National Leader of Education and Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.

Over the last 40 years Sir Paul’s career has followed two paths: as an entrepreneur and in public service.

During the 1980s and 1990s he built up a series of successful businesses predominantly aligned to the property, development and construction industries all based in central London.

In 1991 Sir Paul was elected as a Conservative Borough Councillor in Maidstone, serving on the housing and planning committees. At this time was also a school governor at Oldborough Manor Secondary School in Maidstone.

In 1997 he was elected as a Conservative Kent County Councillor, subsequently spending the first 10 years as Cabinet Member for Education where he drove a substantial change agenda including improved educational attainment at all key stages, shaping mainstream inclusion and special school provision and improving the condition of the school estate. 

From 2006 to 2020 Sir Paul was elected as the Leader of Kent County Council. 

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014 and knighted in 2020 for services to local government.

Sir Paul was a KCC nominated LAT Member from 2008 to 2021. He became a non-executive Director in 2021 and has board oversight of Estates Services.

Keith Ellis is the co-owner and Managing Director of the Kenard Group, a thriving and diverse organisation specialising in precision engineering and manufacturing software technology, based in Dartford, Kent and Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

The group is a privately owned business with both manufacturing and software divisions supplying some of the world’s largest companies in aerospace, defence and telecommunication, a highly competitive market.

Since the early 1980s Kenard has been actively running apprenticeship programmes and is involved with providing young engineers with the opportunity to gain the skills, qualifications and experience that they need to start their career, something Keith is passionate about.

Keith contributed to creation and development of The Leigh UTC, becoming the school’s first Chair when it opened, joining the LAT Trust Board as a non-executive Director in December 2013. He stood down from the former role in 2021, now chairs both LAT Apprenticeships CIC and the Trust Audit Committee. He also provides board oversight of academies as the Central Kent Cluster Director.

After graduating from Sussex University Helen taught in both London and Toronto before moving into educational publishing as a commissioning editor for McGraw Hill International, Toronto.

Upon return to London she went into commercial publishing and became a Director of Holsworthy Publishing, Holsworthy Fine Art Prints and the Holsworthy Art Gallery, which were subsequently acquired by Robert Maxwell. She later resigned to set up her own business called Esmonde Publishing Limited, publishing stationery and books for major UK retailers, museums, charities and think-tanks.

From 1986-89 Helen accompanied her husband, Robert Couldrey, on a tour of Hong Kong and Brunei when he commanded the 7th Gurkha Rifles and the Brunei Garrison. Helen taught at the army school, the independent school and the Gurkha school.

When Esmonde Publishing Limited was acquired in 2012 by the GMC Publishing Group, Helen stayed on as Publishing Director retiring in 2020.

Helen has been Director of Hoopers Gallery, a photographic gallery in Clerkenwell,  for eight years, a governor of Beechwood School, Tunbridge Wells and served on the Advisory Board of the WWF/ UK Forest Trade Network. She is currently a Trustee of Hoopers Africa Trust (an educational charity for girls in Kenya).

Helen is Past Master of the Stationers’ Company and was the first woman, in its more than 600 year history, to be Master. She currently sits on the Council of City and Guilds, the Court of the Stationers’ Company and the Development Board of Book Aid International. Helen is a Trustee of the publishing company Hymns Ancient and Modern and a Director of Bridgeman Designs Ltd.

Helen joined the LAT Trust Board in 2020 as a non-executive Director and the Stationers’ Company representative. She now provides board oversight of academies in SE London and North-West Kent as Cluster Director.

James Nicholson is English, but was born and educated in France where he passed his baccalauréat in 1982. Two years later, after attending a business school in Paris, he came to live in the UK, starting a career as an insurance broker.

James is now a Client Relationship Leader at the world’s leading insurance broker, where he is responsible for global relationships between his firm and large multinational corporations.

Through most of his career, James has had leadership and management roles, which have provided him with a wide range of skills and experience. He feels fortunate about this and is keen to share that experience and knowledge for the benefit of others. He believes very strongly that education is the key lever to a better world.

James joined LAT in 2016, initially as a governor and later as Chair of Mascalls Academy in Paddock Wood. He joined the Trust Board as a non-executive Director in 2017.

In a career spanning some thirty-eight years within British Petroleum, Joan worked across many businesses, disciplines and countries. Although entering the company as a research scientist, she gravitated toward more expansive roles and spent the second half of her career in corporate positions with centralised authority. Learning how to lead through coaching and influence, she helped diverse strands of the BP Group to improve the quality of their operational, environmental and safety performance.

But a business cannot simply be judged by output – it also matters how things are done.  People within the organisation must feel valued, know how their contribution fits and how they can individually develop and grow. That is what prompted her to be one of the four founding members of BP’s Women’s Network, where a persuasive business case was built for diversity to augment the equality and societal arguments.

Joan has also held two Board positions outside of BP, as a member of the National Brownfield Association and as Chair and member of the Catalyst European Advisory Board.  Since leaving BP, Joan has become more involved with the Tallow Chandlers Livery Company. She is currently Chair of the BP Liaison Committee, a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and has acted as a Court Assistant in the past. She has also been a Governor at LAT’s Halley Academy, also one of the Livery’s flagship schools.

Dr Jodie Wetherall is Associate Director – Office of the CIO at the University of Greenwich, where he is leading the development of the institution’s new Digital Strategy, articulating its digital ambitions through to 2030.

Jodie has worked in Higher Education since 2001. Having spent 18 years as an academic in computer engineering, consulting and researching in robotics and security, he transitioned into IT management following his passion for technology in education. Jodie holds a PhD in Computer Engineering and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

He has served as a non-executive Director of Leigh Academies Trust since August 2021, having specific board responsibility for oversight of IT Services.