Speakers

Ben has worked at senior positions with the public sector for many years and was part of a pilot programme for aspiring business managers run by the National College, achieving an Advanced Diploma in 2013. Ben joined STEP in 2014, and since that time has embedded a business strategy which has facilitated STEP’s growth from four schools in Croydon to 20 across London and the south east, as well as ensuring consistently strong outcomes for pupils. Currently, Ben’s remit includes oversight of the STEP Ahead Teaching School Hub, as well as all functions that support the education offer of the trust. 
 
As part of Ben’s commitment to the education sector, he has been involved in shaping various pilots organised by the department, including the SRMA and mentoring CFO programmes. This is in addition to supporting the department on bespoke projects and undertaking trust reviews on behalf of regional directors as well as at the request of trust boards. Keen to support the sector in other ways, Ben also speaks at national conferences and has been commissioned by Ambition Institute and Fig Tree International to present on their executive programmes. 
 
Ben is a qualified accountant and recently completed his NPQH. Ben is a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leaders and past Trustee of the Institute. 

Bobby became Deputy Chief Executive of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in February 2016, after joining as Business Director in January 2013. He is responsible for strategic financial management, systems, operations, and the commercial aspects of the organisation. His background includes consultancy and senior management, where he has overseen large-scale projects, led on business transformation, and implemented effective systems to support sustainable development. He has also held senior finance roles with the Audit Commission, Derbyshire Police Authority, and several non-executive positions.

Bryony is Chief Operating Officer of Aldridge Education and oversees the trust's operational activities.  She is also a co-ordinator for The Trust Network, the DfE supported network for estates professionals. She has extensive experience in the education sector having been project manager and then director of corporate services for the Cabot Learning Federation, and as a consultant project manager, managing a number of academy conversion projects on behalf of the Department for Education. Bryony spent 10 years working and training as an engineer and project manager with the Ministry of Defence before moving into the education sector.

Catherine is Community Chair for CST's Finance professional community and is excited to help trust colleagues benefit from the collaboration and support provided by the community. 
 
Catherine is passionate about providing an excellent education for children and developing strong teams to deliver a high-quality financial service for schools. An experienced chartered accountant and member of the executive team, Catherine is Chief Financial Officer for Creative Education Trust. 

As Head of Partnerships at Be Ready, Dan is passionate about inclusion focused staff development for education that enables organisations and individuals to flourish. He has led the provision of fully funded professional development programmes for wellbeing and SEND for over 300 school trusts and thousands of schools across the country. Dan continues to champion and demystify how school trusts can access over £4billion of apprenticeship funding available to the education sector as part of staff development and retention strategies in a challenging fiscal environment.

David created Value Match over 10 years ago as a specialist procurement services and consultancy company. Previously, David has held senior positions in the cabinet office, HM treasury and recently as director of procurement, sustainability and social impact at NHS SBS. Through extensive experience in ensuring procurement aligns to an organisations strategy and purpose, David believes that procurement can play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change while delivery positive social vale impact and improving broader organisational outcomes.

Edward is the Chief Executive Officer of Invictus Education Trust. He is the former deputy chief executive of Bright Futures Educational Trust, where he oversaw governance and corporate services.
Since qualifying as a chartered certified accountant at the end of 1999, Edward has held various lead finance and corporate service executive roles in the charity, public and private sectors, where he specialised in transformational change management in education, health and social care. He has held non-executive positions in education, health and social care almost 20 years and is currently the Vice Chair of a North West based school trust.

Edward is a former national leader of governance (NLG) designated by the DFE. He has a history of carrying out corporate governance reviews including reviews of charities in parts of West Africa, South Africa and Germany as well as the UK. Edward recently stepped down as a non-executive director of an NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester where he was also the audit committee chair. He was the chair the Greater Manchester CAMHS lead provider collaborative commissioning committee January 2020 to December 2023.

He is a former non-executive director of an NHS clinical commissioning group in the North West where he was the audit committee chair, commissioning board chair and joint chair of a North West based city council’s public health and wellbeing board. He has a strong commitment to improving life chances demonstrated throughout his career with a focus on education, supporting those facing disadvantage, health and social care.

Jacqueline's role involves high level strategic leadership and management across all aspects of the ASSET Education's activities, ensuring the trust provides high quality education for all its pupils through the effective and efficient use of resources and people. As a system leader, Jacqueline represents the trust with a wide range of stakeholders and partners, enabling the trust to fulfil its civic responsibilities.

Jim has worked in estates and facilities management for over 15 years in the education and commercial sector. Originally from an electrical background, Jim also has a strong background in health and safety and facilities management. He currently manages multiple sites within Tove Learning Trust, as well as running a support service for academy schools ‘EDU FM’ offering support in estates, health & safety and compliance. He is passionate about sustainability, asset management, health and safety and CAFM systems, with the focus on delivering excellent service of FM within the education environment and professionalising the industry standard in the sector.

Joe is Education Consultancy Director at The Litmus Partnership Ltd, a leading provider of catering and facilities management consultancy to schools and universities across the UK. He joined Litmus in 2012 and has worked extensively across all education sectors as a consultant since 2008. Before that he managed student residences in London and worked for a global facilities company.

Joe specialises in helping schools get best value from their catering and cleaning services through benchmarking, strategic reviews, tendering and performance management for many prestigious clients across the sector.

Kate Staples is the Chief Operating Officer of Manor Hall Academy Trust, a school trust dedicated to creating inclusive, thriving school communities where every student can succeed. Since her appointment in January 2020, she has played a central role in shaping the trust’s operational strategy and supporting its mission to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and young people.

As COO, Kate leads on all aspects of business operations, including human resources, estates, procurement, health and safety, data protection, and policy development. She works closely with schools to ensure the right systems and structures are in place, enabling staff to focus on what matters most - students.

Kate studied Performance and Visual Arts at the University of Birmingham and later completed a postgraduate qualification in Charity and Social Enterprise Management at Anglia Ruskin University.

Lara runs the Finance service at SBS, specialising in schools finance and operational leadership. Lara is passionate about helping schools to achieve their strategic financial vision by connecting the right industry experts with customers to suit need.

Louise brings extensive financial expertise to her role as CFO at Maritime. She entered the education sector in 2015 after a career in financial services, beginning as an admin assistant at Barnsole Primary School. Over the next decade, she progressed through roles including finance officer, office manager, and finance manager. When Barnsole Primary Trust merged with Maritime in 2020, Louise joined the organisation and was appointed CFO in 2021.

As CFO, she has led major developments across Maritime’s finance function, strengthening service delivery to schools and improving financial operations. She ensures schools receive high-quality financial support and strategic guidance. In 2024, Louise qualified as a Chartered Accountant, further enhancing her ability to drive financial excellence.

Under her leadership, Maritime has introduced a robust investment strategy to generate additional income and maintain strong support for schools. Louise remains committed to continuous improvement and making a positive impact across the trust.

Matt Isherwood is an Associate Partner at Barker following 14 years at Brooke Weston Trust as Director of Estates. He has been a long-standing and strong advocate for best practice on good estates management, energy, sustainability, and use of data-driven decision making. Matt has enormous knowledge and experience of estates management from the client side and is now working with Barker to promote this knowledge to the wider education sector.

Rebecca is a passionate advocate for youth empowerment and community transformation and has been in the youth sector for 12 years. She leads innovative projects that combine safeguarding, employability, and creativity to help young people thrive. Rebecca has pioneered dynamic safeguarding toolkits for staff and designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), tackling critical issues like exploitation and online safety in Wolverhampton and the West Midlands. As well as this, Rebecca sits on on a number of working groups looking to tackle exploitation and serious youth violence in the area.
Known for her collaborative spirit, Rebecca partners with organisations to build safe, inclusive spaces where young people can dream big and achieve more.
She is particularly passionate about how the youth sector acts as a safe third space for young people, and supports schools to provide extra-curricular activity, pastoral care and investment, the burden of which falls heavily on schools.

Sam Davis is the Chief Financial Officer of the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust - a 35-school trust covering the length and breadth of Cornwall with a mix of primary and secondary schools. He has a range of experience across commercial and strategic finance, alongside hands on project and programme management delivery gained within the emergency services and NHS. Sam is a member of the Cornwall Schools Forum and sits on the Cornwall LGPS Board.

Sarah Howells is an accomplished finance executive with extensive experience in financial management, strategic planning, and operational leadership. Beginning her career in accountancy, Sarah built a strong foundation in auditing and compliance before transitioning to the education sector in 2013.

She joined Oasis Academy Hobmoor as Finance Business Manager, where she successfully managed budgets and supported long-term financial planning. Her expertise and leadership quickly led to her appointment as Oasis’s first Regional Finance Manager, overseeing financial operations across multiple academies and ensuring regulatory compliance and sustainability.

Sarah’s proven ability to deliver results and shape financial strategy earned her a place on the National Finance Leadership Team. In her current role as Chief Finance Officer, she leads the Oasis’s financial strategy, driving initiatives that enhance sustainability, optimise resources, and support educational excellence across the trust.

Shane Ierston was a successful academy principal for nine years before taking up his post as CEO at the Great Schools Trust. In 2012, he became the founding Principal of King’s Leadership Academy Warrington, which was later judged outstanding under his leadership. King’s Warrington was the first academy in the trust and performs in the top four percent of state schools nationally for progress. Shane’s career spans 26 years across a range of settings, his portfolio includes school transformation and cross trust improvement work for the DfE. Shane is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and served as an Inspector at Ofsted for six years.

Susan is Chief Operating Officer at Maritime Academy Trust and CEO of the new Maritime Children’s Foundation. She joined Maritime in January 2018 from the Department for Education.

Her career started in the government economics fast stream in 2001, where she served at the Department for International Development before moving to HM Treasury in 2004. She spent a decade there, culminating in leading 2012 spending review negotiations for the education team. In 2014 she moved to DfE, where she headed the implementation group, led the central capital unit through the 2015 capital settlement, and then became deputy director to the south west regional schools commissioner, overseeing over 1,000 academies. At Maritime, she leads finance, HR, estates, marketing, IT, and strategic projects. She also founded and now leads the Maritime Children’s Foundation.

Tracey Field is an estates consultant and author of 'Leading & Managing an Education Estate'. With a career spanning local authority, private estates, and international projects, she has managed diverse portfolios including schools, heritage sites, and complex public sector estates. Tracey now runs Tracey Field Consulting Ltd, supporting schools and trusts to strengthen estate strategy, compliance, and project delivery. Tracey is a trustee for Ascent Multi Academy Trust and a thought leader for School Business Managers UK. Her work combines hands-on experience with clear, practical guidance for education leaders.

Will Jordan FCCA has worked with academies and multi academy trusts since the first ‘phase two’ academies opened in September 2010. As a qualified accountant and financial technology specialist, Will now works with established multi academy trusts to strengthen their financial planning and reporting processes by replacing legacy software with multi academy trust-specific, agile tools.