Trustee Biographies

Fiona started her career at Procter & Gamble, where she worked for over a decade in various roles within Customer Business Development, Market Strategy & Planning, and Sales Leadership.

Subsequently Fiona joined Mars as Sales Director in the Gulf, based in Dubai, before progressing to the role of Global Sales Director & relocating to Belgium, and finally returning to the UK to the role of European Category & Commercial Strategy Director.

Fiona has over 18yrs experience in the FMCG industry, with a career built across developed & developing markets, combining local roles with global & regional experience, and gaining a breadth of perspective from roles across strategy, sales, marketing & revenue management.

Fiona holds a 1st Class BA Hons. in International Business & Modern Languages, graduating from both the University of Strathclyde & the University Autonoma of Barcelona. She is also a passionate champion of diversity & inclusive leadership. Outside of work, Fiona enjoys spending time with her husband & two young children, and they have a particular passion for travel & adventure.

Yusoff has worked at director level across international consultancies for the past 20 years. During the later stages of the financial crisis, he helped established MAC Construction Consultants, demonstrating remarkable foresight and resilience.

His determination and focus to build effective teams saw him becoming Managing Director in 2019. Under his leadership, the firm expanded from a retail-focused consultancy to a multi-million pound consultancy, supporting the public and private sector both nationally and across Europe.

Yusoff’s success is based on his passion to provide relevant strategic advice to his long established and successful client base. His professional background is built on his expertise as a chartered Quantity Surveyor, showcasing his versatility in the construction and consultancy fields.

Dr Michael Maddison is an independent educational consultant with particular expertise in leadership and management and the curriculum.

He served as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools from 2006 to 2015 and for eight of these years he was also National Lead for history at Ofsted. Before this, Michael taught history and politics for over 25 years in schools across Yorkshire. During this period, he was also a senior examiner and moderator at both GCSE and A level. He has served as deputy president of the Historical Association and is now an associate vice president and honorary fellow of that organisation. He is also a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a member of that society’s Education Policy Committee. Michael is also a director of the Heritage Education Trust and a judge for the Sandford Award for Heritage Education.

Huw is an Audit Director with over 20 years of experience. Having trained at a regional firm on the South Coast he moved on to managerial positions at EY, Grant Thornton and MHA before joining Armstrong Watson in January 2023.

Huw is passionate about the role that audit plays in ensuring robust financial reporting. He is part of the senior leadership team of Armstrong Watson’s Leeds office and is part of Armstrong Watson’s Education and Not for Profit Team, working with a range of Multi Academy Trusts.

Kevin has recently retired after 35 years in the world of education.

Having previously held leadership roles including Head of Post-16 Education and Deputy Headteacher in a large secondary school in Bradford, he became an adviser within the School Improvement Service in Leeds where he led the secondary team in their work to monitor, support and challenge schools across the city. In addition, Kevin had the strategic overview of the developing traded arm of the wider 0-19 learning improvement team and, latterly, took on the role of Head of ArtForms Music and Music Hub lead in Leeds. As he moves into semi-retirement, Kevin expects to devote more time to music-related work.

Mark is a serial entrepreneur, most notably as co-founder of Beer Hawk, the UK’s leading craft beer retailer.Mark co-founded Beer Hawk in 2012 which he scaled from two mates in a shed, to a team of over 170 beery enthusiasts on a mission to inspire customers to find their next favourite beer. – He’s won numerous business awards including Great British Entrepreneur of the Year (Small Business), and Business Person of the Year at the SME National Business Awards. He’s also Deputy Chair of the Leeds City Region LEP, and Deputy Chair for the West Yorkshire Climate, Energy and Environment Committee.

Tricia has degrees in Environmental Studies and Medicine.

As a medical Practitioner she has worked in General Practice, Antenatal Care & Treatment of Substance Misuse during the past 20 years. Previously a primary school governor for 8 years and a governor at Harrogate Grammar School (HGS) since 2008, she is particularly involved with Safeguarding issues. Her 3 children all attended HGS from years 7 to 13.

Chris recently retired as a solicitor and partner of the global law firm DLA Piper and now manages a family property business.

Chris has been a Governor at Oatlands Junior School since 1999, having been chair since 2008. In his spare time, Chris is a season ticket holder at Newcastle United and enjoys playing occasional golf rather badly.

Mick is a former Executive Director of Education at the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA).

Mick’s teaching career extended over eighteen years including work in secondary, sixth form and Further Education institutions as well as work in Higher Education. He has worked as a local education authority adviser working with primary and secondary schools. As a former Executive Director of the QCDA, Mick held accountability for National Curriculum assessments and was responsible for the monitoring of awarding bodies, a task now undertaken by Ofqual. He was an adviser to the DfE Expert Group on Assessment and a member of the DfE Independent Teacher Workload Review Group and an adviser to the DfE Workload and Qualifications Teams. He has acted as an adviser in range of domestic and international contexts and is President of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA).

Mick holds a PhD in educational assessment from the University of Leeds and degrees at Master’s and Bachelor levels. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and a Fellow of the CIEA.

Ben is a Partner in the Education Team at Eversheds Sutherland, and is the national lead for academy work.