Governors

Pat Preston has worked for over 25 years in a variety of marketing roles for Beecham Pharmaceuticals, now GlaxoSmithKline (1981-1984), H Samuel Jewellers (1984-1987), Charles Green Jewellery (1987-1990), Business Link Hereford & Worcester (1997-1999) and Tube Plastics Group (1999-2011). She has also lectured part-time on the CIM Marketing Courses at Worcester College of Technology.

Working for Robovision Ltd, Pat specialised in new product development with a particular focus on intellectual property, sustainable product sourcing, and supply chain management, including the establishment of new partnerships in Eastern Europe and the Far East. Pat continues to do occasional consultancy work in this area.

Pat has served as a Governor at King’s since 2011.   She is the Chair of Governors and a member of the Compliance Committee, the Education Committee, the Finance and General Purposes Committee, and the Nominations and Governance Committee.

Paul Walker is a Chartered Engineer. He held several technical and management roles in industry before establishing his own management consultancy. Appointed Managing Director of Malvern Instruments Ltd (part of Spectris plc) in 1994 the company won several Queens Awards for Industry.

Paul was also President of the Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce for five years and has been a Non-Executive Director of Malvern Hills Science Park since 1999. He is currently Chair of the Worcester Local Enterprise Partnership and is a non-Executive Director of Applied Photophysics.

Both of Paul’s sons were educated at King’s.

Paul has served as a Governor at King’s since 2009. He is a Vice-Chair of Governors, the Chair of the Nominations and Governance Committee, and a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Bill Ballard is a retired Chartered Accountant and founded the firm Ballards LLP in Droitwich in 1985, which grew to 65 staff and six partners by the time he left. Bill is a civil engineering graduate from Bristol University. He now helps run the family fruit farm which supplies bramleys and toffee apples to various supermarkets. He is also involved in property development in the Bristol area. He has four children that were all educated at King’s.

Bill has served as a Governor at King’s since 2020. He is the Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

Carolyn Pike is a retired solicitor and was formerly Director of Legal Services at the University of Birmingham. She previously worked in private practice in Birmingham and was an honorary lecturer on post graduate and under graduate programmes, before taking up her role within Legal Services at the University.

She was a non-executive director of UM Association Limited and its two associated companies, and was Chairman of the national Association of University Legal Practitioners from 2011 to 2016. She was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours’ List for services to legal service and higher education.

Carolyn has served as a Governor at King’s since 2016. She is a Vice-Chair of Governors and the Chair of the Compliance Committee.

Sue Hincks was Headmistress of Bolton School for ten years and stepped down in 2021. Prior to this, Sue was Deputy Head at King’s Worcester from 2004, having previously worked at Gresham’s School, Marlborough College and The King’s School, Peterborough.

She studied History and Modern Foreign Languages at Magdalen College, Oxford, before completing her PGCE in French and German.

Sue is also a Governor at Headington School, Oxford, and Bolton University. She is a Trustee of the Bolton Impact Trust, an Alternative Provider. Sue works part time for The Girls’ School Association and is on the Board of ISTiP.

Sue was appointed as a Governor in September 2022. She is a Safeguarding Governor, the Chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Compliance Committee.

Adrienne Plunkett has a background in local authority Children’s Social Care as a practitioner and senior manager for Safeguarding and Quality Assurance, with responsibility for the effective operation of the Local Safeguarding Children Board, the child protection conference and children looked after processes, as well as management of the Local Authority Designated Officers (LADOs) and the Senior Advisor for Safeguarding in Education.

More recently Adrienne has undertaken Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews with partnerships across the country, provided professional safeguarding supervision for a Church of England Diocese and been an Independent Reviewer for the Church’s National Past Cases Review.  Adrienne is the Independent Chair of a Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel.

Adrienne is registered with Social Work England and a member of the British Association of Social Workers and the Association of Child Protection Professionals.

Adrienne was appointed as a Governor in September 2022.  She is a Safeguarding Governor and a member of the Education Committee and the Compliance Committee.

Rob Prestidge is a retired Chartered Management Accountant having worked in Automotive, Aerospace and Scientific Engineering businesses. Latterly at Malvern Panalytical, a global company, as VP Finance and Systems. He is a Non-Exec Director of Malvern Hills Science Park and Church Treasurer.

Rob was appointed as a Governor in November 2022.  He is a member of the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

Richard Tomlinson (OV) spent eleven years at Kings Worcester, leaving in 1990.

He obtained a degree in Sports Science at Loughborough University followed by a postgraduate degree in Property Valuation and Development at Sheffield Hallam University.

After a forced retirement from professional rugby in 2000 Richard pursued a career in surveying and was one of the founding partners of Halls Commercial in the mid 2000’s.
He is a Chartered Surveyor and an equity Partner in Fisher German property consultants, specialising in the acquisition and disposal of commercial property and development opportunities.

He has two children in the Foundation and his eldest son is an OV.

Richard has served as a Governor at King’s since 2021. He is a member of the Finance & General Purposes committee.

Following in his father’s and grandfather’s educational footsteps Andrew Underwood spent eleven years at King’s Worcester, leaving in 1988. He is a Partner at KPMG, having started his Operations Consulting career with Ernst & Young in 1998, he moved to KPMG in 2006 where he leads KPMG’s UK Supply Chain team and is a member of KPMG’s Global Operations Leadership team.

Andrew has led a number of large operational transformation programmes, with global multi-national organisations across the consumer, retail, telecommunications and financial services industries, with specific focus on driving benefits through cloud-based procurement technology.

Andrew has served as a Governor at King’s since 2018.  He is a member of the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

Wendy Milne-Bennett has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development since 2010 and has a wealth of HR management experience spanning more than 30 years. She is currently Group HR Director for the Dormole Ltd group of companies, one of the UK and Ireland’s fastest growing specialist wholesalers, responsible for all HR matters including data protection, mental health, EDI and safeguarding.

Wendy has worked in a variety of different market sectors at senior manager and director level, including distribution, manufacturing, retail and science & engineering, involving both UK and multi-national environments. Since the late 1990s Wendy has also had an interest in property development and has a substantial UK-wide property portfolio which has given her additional commercial insight.

After more than 30 years of putting 120% into ‘the day job’ Wendy wished to become a School Governor to give something back to her local community, helping to support school staff and students to be their very best.

Wendy was appointed as a Governor in September 2023.  She is a member of the Compliance Committee.

Sian Williams has worked in the education sector for 33 years and worked at a leadership level in three Worcester city schools for 25 years. Sian has served as Headteacher at two Worcester city primary schools and for the last 15 years, been Headteacher at Northwick Manor Primary School.

Sian has recently made the decision to take semi-retirement and work on a freelance basis within school improvement and consultancy across the primary phase.

Sian is also an Ofsted Inspector and has been inspecting schools across the West Midlands since 2014.

Sian has been involved in governance in her leadership capacity in many schools over the years and is looking forward to being part of the King’s Foundation; her son joined King’s senior school in September 2022.

Sian was appointed as a Governor in October 2023.  She is a member of the Education Committee.  As SEND Governor, Sian seeks to assure Governors that the Foundation’s obligations relating to SEND pupils are consistently met.

Professor Martin Stringer has been part of the senior leadership team at both the University of Birmingham, and for the last seven years at Swansea University where he held the role of Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education. He is a professor in the Sociology of Religion and has written extensively about Christian worship and the role of religion in the city of Birmingham.

Martin began his career doing church based community work in inner-urban Manchester and maintained an interest in civic engagement and the place of faith based education. Being born in Tanzania he also has a passion for Africa and has travelled widely within the continent.

Martin currently works as a consultant for higher education with a specialism in equality, diversity and inclusion. He is also governor of Birmingham Newman University and director of Church Action on Poverty.

Martin was appointed as a Governor in October 2023.  He is a member of the Education Committee.  As Wellbeing Governor, Martin seeks to assure Governors that pupils’ physical and mental health and their emotional, social and economic wellbeing are actively promoted.

Liz Robson is an experienced Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer with a diverse background in several industries including Retail, Public Sector, Financial Services, Investment Banking, Telecoms and Motoring Services.  With thirty-six years of experience leading and delivering value to organisations through digital and technology solutions, and as a member of multiple senior leadership teams, Liz has been instrumental in driving strategic, operational, and transformational business change.

Liz’s most recent appointment was as Chief Technology Officer and a member of the Executive team for Central Co-operative, one of the largest independent co-operatives in the county.

Experienced in leading international and domestic technology functions, Liz has a reputation for building high-performing teams and building strong partnerships with industry specialists.  A champion of opportunities for young people in technology roles, Liz has sponsored engagement with universities to partner on digital initiatives, government programmes promoting opportunities for young people in industry and organisations that harness graduate talent to help businesses address their skills gap and build long-term internal capability.

Liz was the Executive lead for Diversity and Inclusion at Central Co-operative, where she and her team developed and sponsored a programme of activity that championed colleagues across the business to come together to work on initiatives and engage with industry bodies including Diversity in Retail.

Liz was appointed as a Governor in November 2023. She is a member of the Compliance Committee. As Digital Governor, Liz seeks to assure Governors that technology is used appropriately, safely and effectively across the Foundation.

Abhinav Mathur gained his Masters in Business and Management from the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow. 

He has over twenty years of international experience working in the Technology sector in various commercial roles. Over the last decade he’s held leadership roles for one of Europe’s largest Domain & Hosting companies backed by Private Equity. 

As a Director he sits on various company boards and is also a Co-opted School Governor for another local primary school, where he chairs the Finance & Resources Committee. 

Abhinav was appointed as a Governor in November 2023. He is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Tim Brock is Head of Governance & Compliance at The Greenshaw Learning Trust and sits on the National Governance Association Board as a trustee, having been elected in 2020. Following strategic work regarding The Military Covenant, and through direct work with service personnel who are school governors, Tim is a member of the Service Children Progression Alliance Management Group.

Previous roles with Oxfordshire County Council, Beam Suntory, Bass PLC, The Forestry Commission and as a policy advisor to The Under Secretary of State for Employment have helped to shape his career.

Tim was a Governor at St James’ Church of England Primary School, Cheltenham from 2009 to 2018. He chaired their Ethos Committee and was Chair of Governors for four years. The school became an academy and joined The Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust in 2017; Tim now sits on the DGAT Trust Board.

Tim grew up in Worcester and attended The King’s School between 1977 and 1987. Tim is happiest when inspiring others and cherishes honesty, passion and integrity.

Dr Jon Salkeld has spent a career in disruptive innovation, comprising senior technology, strategic planning & business management roles at bp, QinetiQ and ICI. He currently leads bp’s global academic partnerships, alongside running their independent technology advisory committee. His work is dedicated to seeking solutions for climate change, a passion since he was a founder of bp’s EV charging business.

After reading Physics and Computational Science at St Andrews, Jon took a PhD in Electronic & Chemical Engineering between UMIST and Schlumberger Cambridge Research. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IET, and a visiting academic at the Engineering Departments at Cambridge and Queen’s Belfast. He is also bp’s nominated board director for Storedot, an ultra fast charging battery company.

Jon has a long family association with Kings, with both of his sons attending the school. He was a stalwart of the annual business conference, and is a regular mock interviewer for university STEM candidates.

If not at work, Jon is usually on top of a mountain, hiking or skiing with his family. He is a pioneer, and consistently mediocre pace setter at Worcester Pitchcroft Parkrun.

Jon was appointed as a Governor in November 2023. He is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.  As Health and Safety Governor, Jon seeks to assure Governors of the overall health and safety of pupils and staff at the Foundation, as well as visitors and other stakeholders.

Anne Penn has spent all her professional life in education. She studied for her M.Ed at Worcester University, whilst teaching in the Dudley Authority. She was Headteacher at St. James’s C.E. Aided Primary School in Stourbridge for 26 years.

At present Anne is a Trustee of The Dudley Church of England Schools Foundation and is a Lay Canon member of Worcester Cathedral Chapter where she also volunteers as a Welcomer.

Anne was appointed as a Governor in March 2024. She is a member of the Education Committee.