The Trust

Nick attended the King’s School, being a boarder in Hostel House between 1988 and 1990.  On leaving King’s Nick went on to Bath University to study Civil and Structural Engineering.  The main thrust of his career has been the development and implementation of energy management services and asset optimisation within the UK, Europe and wider global markets.

As a strategist within the global management team, Nick leads a multi-geographical deployment of services, working with key blue chip businesses and cross border partnerships.

Nick is also a King’s parent and lives in Worcester with his wife and three boys.  He has been actively involved with King’s for a number of years, sitting on the OV Committee as well as attending and helping out at many OV and School events, in addition to his duties as a Trustee.

John Attwater is Principal of The King’s School, Ely.

A chorister at Chichester Cathedral, he was then educated at Rugby and Oxford, where he read PPE.
His first teaching job was at Wells Cathedral School where he was Housemaster and Head of Religious Studies. After four years at Sevenoaks, John became Headmaster at King Edward’s School, Witley in 2010 before taking up his current role in August 2019.

A bursary recipient himself, John is passionate about increasing opportunities for children to access independent education. He served on the DfE ministerial working group on Assisted Boarding, is on the Advisory Board of the Royal Springboard Foundation and chairs the Chichester Cathedral Choristers Association Scholarship Trust Fund. John also serves on the Committee of the Choir Schools Association and the Membership and Standards Committee of HMC, and was appointed a Lay Canon of Ely Cathedral in 2022.

Katie studied Engineering at Oxford University before beginning a successful career as a Chartered Engineer. She worked for British Airways in various management roles, before deciding to retrain and undertake a PGCE. After qualifying as a teacher, Katie joined King’s Worcester in 2010 to teach Maths. Katie’s three children also attended King’s and so she is able to bring to the Trust her experience as a parent as well as a member of staff.

Hugh Carslake retired in 2017 as a Consultant at Shakespeare Martineau Solicitors in Birmingham, specialising in private client work. He is a Trustee of numerous trusts for clients and charities. Hugh is also Chairman of the Trustees of the Barber Institute at Birmingham University, President of the City of Birmingham Choir and acts as Registrar for the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham. He is a Churchwarden of his local church.

He has served as a Governor at King’s since 2002 and as Chairman of Governors since 2010. He is a member of the Finance & General Purposes, and Nominations Committees.

Tom Dupernex works for the fintech company iCapital in central London. Previously, Tom worked for a Swiss bank and he is a solicitor (non-practising). He studied Geography at Trinity College, Cambridge and currently sits as Chair of the Investment Committee at the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of Trinity College Cambridge. Tom lives in London with his wife and three children.

Hannah is a  UCL Honours Economics graduate and she has worked in the wealth management industry for many years, having managed either larger teams of client facing planners or more recently sat at the board table of a regional wealth manager.

Hannah is Managing Director of Eva Capital Management, a Worcester based wealth management boutique. Her successes have led to a number of professional awards, including the Worcestershire Business Woman of the Year 2013, UK Investment Advisor of the Year 2019 and IFA of the Year for the Midlands and East Anglia for 2019, 2022 and 2024.  More recently, Eva Capital Management won Micro Business of the Year 2023 at the Hereford and Worcestershire Chamber Awards.

Giving back to the local community is close to Hannah’s heart: she joined St Richard’s Hospice as a Governor in 2011, where she sits on a number of their finance and investment committees, lending much investment experience.  As a committed Christian, Hannah has a strong faith and has previously been involved in fundraising for Christians Against Poverty.

Hannah’s two boys attend The King’s School and this experience as a parent, as well as the depth and breadth of her investment experience, are very useful qualities when conducting her role as Trustee.

John qualified as both a Barrister and a Chartered Accountant and has been a director of various public and private companies for over 30 years. He was Chief Executive of two public companies between 1992 and 2006 and has subsequently been a chairman and investor in many private and public companies in fields as diverse as engineering, facilities management, radio and strategic communications. The largest business is Premier Technical Services Group Ltd, which he and two close friends founded. They grew it from scratch, took it to the public market and then sold the business to an investment bank in Summer of 2019, although John remains on PTSG’s Board.

John is currently a substantial shareholder in 9 private equity trading companies and manages those investments in addition to a portfolio of other investments

John has a close family connection with King’s as his brother, sister and one of his daughters attended the School. Via The Foley Family Bursary, we are delighted that John has committed to providing financial support to fund one full bursary place at King’s, starting in September 2020.  This bursary epitomises John’s enthusiasm about helping others from less financially privileged backgrounds to benefit from a King’s School education.

Laurie is an OV and parent of an OV. He is a solicitor and, prior to his retirement from professional practice, Laurie was a partner and head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution at Parkinson Wright in Worcester, completing 49 years with that firm. He also served as an adjudicator and assessor for the Legal Aid Agency alongside his practice responsibilities.

Laurie has always had a particular interest in education and training. For 13 years, he served as a governor of a horticultural further education college until 2007 when he became a governor of King’s School Worcester, serving in that capacity until retirement from the board in July 2023.

He is particularly committed to increasing opportunities for children of all backgrounds to access a King’s School Worcester education, having himself benefitted from the then existing Direct Grant Scheme.

Laurie is a member of the Finance Committee of Holy Redeemer Church, Pershore.

Wendy Hobbs British Empire Medal (BEM)

Wendy is an Honours graduate from Cardiff University and worked as a Solicitor for many years. She specialised in property law, and in particular dealing with complicated and defective titles before devoting her full time and attention to the Charity sector. She enthusiastically embraces new challenges and undertook a further degree in Drama and Theatre Studies, developing an interest in storytelling and becoming a children’s fantasy author.  Wendy has received a number of business awards, to include a Forward Ladies National Award, Leading Wales Award, Inspiring Leader Award, Top 100 Business Women in Wales Award and a special recognition award in 2024 for her Contribution to Welsh Business and Society.

Her passion is helping to improve the lives of children and young adults and she was invited to join Dreams and Wishes Charity in 2016, as the Business Ambassador and Board Member. She has used her business skills to help raise the profile and funds for the Charity, and in 2019 wrote ‘Claudia’s Special Wish’ a Christmas Charity book. The book sales are donated to the Charity to help sick children. She is honoured to read it on behalf of the Charity to the children and their families on their annual trip to the House of Commons and 10 Downing Street. Wendy takes a great interest in the arts and has recently been appointed as a Trustee for G39, an artist-run gallery providing residencies, training and mentoring for people pursuing a visual art practice.

Wendy is extremely proud to be a Trustee for King’s Worcester Development Trust, and to be able to play a part in such a wonderful organisation.

On the 1^st January 2025 in the King’s New Year’s Honours List, Wendy received the British Empire Medal for her Voluntary and Charitable Service.

Donald read Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant.  Following five years working for a London firm of management consultants, he joined GEC where he became Managing Director of GEC Mechanical Handling Ltd and eventually Group Managing Director of the GEC ALSTHOM Low Voltage Group.

He is now retired. From 1986 to 2010 he was Chairman of the King’s School Governors and of their Finance & General Purposes Committee.