Meet the Board of Governors

Formerly Deputy Headmaster of a leading independent co-educational secondary school where amongst other things he taught History and Politics. Since retirement and until recently, Jeremy acted as the school’s Archivist and has helped to raise funds for means tested scholarships.

He is married with three children, all educated locally and was himself educated at St Albans School. His wife formerly taught Maths at Queenswood School. He was appointed MBE in 2009 for his service to the Combined Cadet Force. From 1992-2001 he was a Hon Canon, Cathedral Warden and Chairman of the Finance Committee of St Albans Cathedral. Jeremy is a Liveryman of the Drapers’ Company, a Freeman of the City of London and a member of MCC. He enjoys walking and playing golf (indifferently) and watching rugby and cricket. He is also a regular volunteer on a steam railway.

Jeremy is the Chair of Governors and sits on the Education Committee, F & GP Committee, Nomination & Governance Committee and Chair of the Renumeration Committee.

Currently Executive Officer and Company Secretary at King’s Ely, Cambridgeshire, a co-educational independent school for children aged 1 to 18. He was employed previously at Mill Hill School Foundation in North London where he was Deputy Bursar and Clerk to the Court of Governors. He has been a Lecturer in History and Education and a teacher. During his career at Mill Hill School Foundation he was a Boarding Housemaster, Head of Department, Registrar and Company Secretary of Mill Hill School Enterprises, which was the Mill Hill School Foundation’s trading arm. He was a Local Councillor for Barnet in London and also the City and District of St Albans. He has a PhD from the University of London and a Certificate in Accountancy from the Open University. He is a JP.

Roger is Chair of the F&GP Committee and sits on the Remuneration Committee.

Phil has over 33 years of experience in education. He served as vice principal of a teaching school and was awarded Specialist Leader in Education status, leading in Initial Teacher Training. Later, he became an Ofsted Inspector, conducting inspections in secondary schools around the east of England.

Educated in Elstree and north London, he has a B.Ed. (Hons) in Primary and Secondary English and Certificate of Further Professional Studies from the University of Cambridge. Since retirement, Phil has completed an MA in Creative Writing and is concentrating on writing.

He is a keen martial artist having studied Aikido, karate and achieved 3rd dan black belt in Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art. He was a qualified coach and competition judge. He now practices Tai Chi.

He is married to Cathy, has a son who attended Aldwickbury and two daughters.

He joined the board to contribute to Aldwickbury because he was keen to support the school after being impressed by the educational offer as well as the wide range of extracurricular opportunities and sports.

Phil is Chair of the Education Committee.

Now retired after a career in Media and Marketing, latterly as Commercial Director of Global Clients at Dentsu Aegis Network.

Chris is married to Caroline and has one daughter who is a senior account director in the advertising industry and two sons who both attended Aldwickbury. One son went on to Haileybury, and is now Head of Lease Advisory at Strettons, whilst the other son went on to St Albans School and following a chemistry masters is now Senior ESG Analyst at Smiths Group PLC.

Chris enjoys a variety of sports and has previously served as a manager of various Wheathampstead Wanderers football teams in the past, but his active sporting focus is now primarily concentrated on the driving down of his handicap (unsuccessfully!), and playing slow motion games of tennis and padel!

Chris was delighted to be able to ‘give back’ something in terms of Governorship after seeing his two boys develop and thrive at Aldwickbury.

Chris is the Chair of the Marketing Committee.

Tahsin is a Solicitor within the Wills, Trusts and Tax team at SA Law in St Albans, where she specialises in Private Client Law having qualified in 2018.

As a member of her firm’s charity committee, Tahsin is involved with organising, coordinating and hosting fund raising events throughout the year.

Tahsin is married and moved to the area around 2 years ago. She was previously based in Buckinghamshire, where she grew up and attended Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School.

Currently Director of Operations at the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools. Rachel previously worked in programme and project management across Trusts and professional bodies. She grew up in Welwyn, where she now lives with her husband and son.

Rachel is the Chair of the Nomination & Governance Committee.

Catherine is a qualified Chartered Accountant. From 1988 to 2002 Catherine worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers latterly as an audit partner based in Johannesburg. Catherine has pursued a non-executive portfolio since 2004.

Catherine is currently a trustee of WWF-UK, and was appointed by the Secretary of State as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural England Board. She has worked in the NHS since 2012 and currently holds a non-executive role at Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust. She was formerly vice chair and trustee of Action for Children and Chair of Victim Support.

Catherine sits on the F & GP Committee.

Grant is a Chartered Banker and holds the MCIB banking qualification. He is currently a Managing Director in the Corporate and Leveraged Finance team, at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, which he joined in 2007. He is also Chair of the Credit Agricole CIB UK Legacy Pension Scheme.

Originally from Dundee, he began his banking career at Bank of Scotland in 1977, before moving to London in 1983. Other than several years in the late 1990’s when he was based in La Défense Paris, he has spent most of his working life in London. Between 1990-93 he undertook a secondment to The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, a London based UK regulatory body charged with administration of the Takeover Code.

An Investment Banker by background, he has over 35 years of debt financing large multi-million cross border deals for European leveraged buyouts, working exclusively with the private equity community.

His life is shared with his partner Laura and his two children. His son is a former pupil at Aldwickbury School, who now attends St Albans School, while his daughter currently attends St Albans High School for Girls.

Grant sits on the F & GP Committee and Education Committee.

Graham was born in St Albans, attended St Albans Grammar School for Boys (now known as Verulam School), and later graduated from the University of Birmingham where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

He began his career at Touche Ross (now Deloitte) in Manchester where he became ACA qualified before transferring down to London to join the Information Technology Consultancy.

In the late 80’s he backpacked overland to Hong Kong where he teamed up with Hans Snook whilst working in the Telecommunications Division of Hutchinson Whampoa. Their partnership led to the launch of the mobile phone company ‘Orange’ in the UK in 1994.

Initially, as Chief Financial Officer, Graham led Orange’s debut flotation in March 1996 and in June 1996, Orange became the youngest company ever to enter the FTSE 100. As Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, Graham saw Orange become Europe’s second largest mobile operator.

In June 2003 he took up the role of Senior Non-Executive Director of Cable and Wireless before becoming Chairman of Promethean, an education company that uses technology as an enabler to raise learning standards in the classroom.

He is married to Jane and has three sons, all of whom were past students at Aldwickbury between 2000-2011.

Graham has always enjoyed a physical challenge, which he has managed to combine with raising funds for a number of worthwhile causes. Challenges have included the Coast to Coast cycle ride, cycling from Lands End and John O’Groats and more recently trekking to the summit of Mount Kilamanjaro.

Graham is also an Honorary Life Member and keen supporter of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Graham sits on the Marketing Committee.

Jen is Deputy Head Academic at Belmont Mill Hill Preparatory School where she was previously Head of Maths and Teaching and Learning coordinator.

Originally from Durham, Jen read Maths with Economics at Exeter University (1998 – 2001). After a short stint training to be an actuary, she completed her PGCE at Roehampton in 2004.

She has experience of teaching from KS1 to KS5, having taught in primary schools in London and being a Maths teacher at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate in York.

She lives in St Albans with her husband and enjoys keeping fit by walking and looking after her young niece.

Simon Mumford was a Partner in a major international law firm for over 20 years and is now a Group Counsel at a major international environmental services company. He is a commercial lawyer managing large infrastructure projects in the environmental and waste management sectors within the UK and overseas.

Simon is an alumni of Aldwickbury School attending from Pre-Prep through to Common Entrance in 1981. He then moved to St Albans School and subsequently studied Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford. He qualified as a solicitor in 1994.

Simon is an Independent Governor at Oxford Brookes University and a member of their Finance and Resources Committee and Nominations Committee.

Simon is married to Jacqueline and has three children and an ever-increasing number of grandchildren. His son Charlie went to Aldwickbury and Bedford School and having played first class cricket for Hampshire is currently studying at Exeter University.

He is passionate about Aldwickbury School and the school continuing to provide the outstanding holistic educational opportunities that will allow all its pupils to achieve their potential at their senior school of choice and beyond.

Bill has extensive experience in the independent schools sector having been Head at Bishop’s Stortford College Prep School since 2012. Prior to this held the positions of Headmaster at Yarm Prep School and Deputy Head at King’s School, Worcester.

Bill has a BA(Hons) degree in Geography from Nottingham University and went on to study for an MSc in Educational Management and Leadership and latterly a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Bill is the current Chair of IAPS’s Membership Committee.

Married with three sons, Bill has varied interests outside of work. He is interested in all sport and still plays the occasional game of cricket and is a keen reader, gardener and wooden boat owner!

Formerly a professional rugby player, he has since retired from the sport and qualified as an architect. He is registered with the Architects Registration Board and is a Chartered Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

His background in elite sport has equipped him with skills that translate directly into professional practice, including leadership, teamwork, relationship-building and resilience. Highly ambitious and driven, he embraces new challenges and is committed to continuous learning and development.

As a young professional, he brings a contemporary outlook on education, design and the needs of the next generation. He also offers valuable diversity and a visible role model for pupils. His own school experience helped shape the person he is today, and he is keen to ensure the next generation has the same positive opportunities.

He is married with two young children, and enjoys training and staying active.