Meet our speakers

Take a sneak peek at some of our headline speakers! As the programme continues to unfold, you will have the opportunity to see the complete list of speakers who will be presenting at ISBL National Conference 2024.

Keynote Speakers

  • Turning around schools from the worst in the country to exemplary models, Sir William Atkinson is recognised as one of the best teachers in the UK. Identifying structural weaknesses in the system, overcoming challenges, and developing new ways of educating the youth of tomorrow, he is highly sought after as a keynote and conference speaker. His work at Phoenix High School in Shepherd's Bush, London, from 1995 to 2010, was the inspiration for the Head Teacher character in BBC TV drama Hope and Glory

  • Managing School Business Operations is an accessible handbook which explores why effective management of school business operations is important and how to write your operations strategy. This guide covers the main business functions of finance, people, estates, health and safety, and IT, as well as other business areas including procurement, marketing and environmental sustainability. Readers responsible for leading business operations, whether as a school business manager or a chief operating officer, will find a wealth of information on the wide range of business functions and activities that schools now need to manage.

  • TBC

  • Dean’s professional life is characterised by guiding, supporting

    and mentoring individuals, teams and organisations to be the best

    versions of themselves. He is a registered member of the British

    Psychological Society and has a Masters degree in Psychology.

    Extremely experienced, professional and adaptable; Dean is

    one of our tried and tested Psychological Skills Mentors that

    has proved his worth across a range of sectors and industries.

    His portfolio of clients includes chief executive officers, senior

    leadership and management teams, NHS consultants, elite sports,

    specialist Military units including medical services, and several

    individuals and teams presenting with a range of diverse issues

    and needs.

    Dean views every client as unique and is regularly praised for

    his insight, understanding and empathic approach. Moreover, his

    dynamic presentation and workshop skills have been appreciated

    by several clients who have singled him out for bringing The

    Chimp Model alive. Dean’s passion and satisfaction is fuelled

    by helping others achieve, flourish and ultimately live happier,

    healthier and more productive lives.

  • Rachel Younger has worked in schools for over 20 years and is currently the Business Manager at St Nicholas C of E Primary School in Blackpool.  She is a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leadership and a governor at a local all-through special school for pupils with Autism.

    Rachel has been an active member of NAHT since 2012, becoming branch secretary for Blackpool in 2015.  She was NAHT regional president for the North West in 2018, the first school business leader to be elected to that office in any region.  Rachel has been a member of NAHT’s National Executive Committee since 2017 and is the first school business leader to be elected to the role of President in the union’s 127 year history.

  • Dr. Paul Armstrong is Reader in Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester. Paul has 20 years’ experience in academic teaching and research and has published across a number of areas including educational collaboration, leadership, management and policy. He is currently Associate Director of Research: Business Engagement within the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) and Programme Director for the MA Educational Leadership in Practice (ELiP) that is taught out of the University of Manchester Worldwide Centres in Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong. Paul is also Editor-in-Chief of the Sage journal Management in Education and a long-standing trustee for both the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) and the Institute for School Business Leadership (ISBL).

  • TBC

  • Natalie joined The Education Policy Institute in September 2015 as Executive Director and Head of Research. Natalie worked in the Department for Education from 2002 to 2014 on a range of policies including early years, children’s services, school funding and the Pupil Premium. Between April 2014 to May 2015, Natalie was seconded to the Cabinet Office where she worked in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. In December 2020, Natalie became CEO of EPI.

    She currently serves as a Trustee of two Multi Academy Trusts as well as the Fair Education Alliance and also sits on the Board of the Queen’s Street Group.

  • Specialist in Operations and Customer Service

    Chris has over 30 years’ experience in management and consulting across sectors as varied as manufacturing, financial services, utilities, healthcare, education and entertainment.

    Chris has led Operations Excellence programmes, comprising design, delivery and skills transfer, for over 20 years. He has helped his clients to deliver major steps forward in customer experience, productivity, quality, risk management and cost reduction while building internal capability, including support for the development of one of the UK’s leading Operations Excellence Academies. He has trained, coached and implemented Operations Excellence in a wide range of companies, large and small, with a very strong track record of success and client advocacy.

    His education sector experience includes a study of operational efficiency in a secondary school for the National Association of School Business Managers (now the Institute of School Business Leaders), leading to a major published report for the sector, a programme of training for transformation staff at University College London, and a range of scoping activities ad project activities in other universities.

  • Emma has over 25 years’ experience in education, leadership and school improvement. She has significant experience in maintained school and academy governance, as well as serving as an Interim Executive Board (IEB) member and mentoring others. 

    From September 2023, Emma is now the CEO of NGA. Emma also oversees NGA’s Professional Development services, ensuring they respond to the sector’s emerging needs and impact positively upon standards of governance. Her expertise also lies in  supporting NGA’s broader membership base and scoping potential projects with new and existing partners.

  • Description

  • Chris Jermy, Customer Success Director at Zenergi, has been a pivotal part of the company since joining in 2013. With over a decade of experience, Chris has held a variety of roles, predominantly focused on supporting Education, Industrial & Commercial (I&C), and Local Authority customers in optimising their energy needs, including specialisms in procurement, energy conservation, and compliance.

    Now heading Zenergi's Customer Success team, Chris’ comprehensive understanding of the energy sector is helping to shape Zenergi proposition and service as we support customers in their pathway to net zero.

Workshop Speakers

Description

  • Justine is an experienced business manager and chartered accountant committed to demonstrating the significant impact the strategic management of business functions can have on organisational improvement. Justine has experience in both the public and private sector previously working for Suffolk and Essex Local Authorities managing their financial management traded services and had 7 years’ experience working as a school business director. Justine owns and manages SBM Services Ltd, provider of finance and business services and the SBM Toolkit. Justine is a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leaders and has won two awards from ISBL for her outstanding contributions to the professionalisation of school business management.

  • Luke is an Associate in the Commercial Property team, based in our Bristol office.

    Luke can help with a broad range of commercial real estate work including disposals, acquisitions and mergers, estate management, secured lending, property development, and landlord and tenant matters.

    Luke specialises in the education and charity sectors, having worked with a wide range of establishments including Local Authorities, independent schools, academies, foundation schools, church schools and dioceses. For nearly a decade Luke has been involved with the property aspects of academy conversions, transfers and mergers, and the free school programme more recently.

    Luke also has experience dealing with construction matters, in particular assisting academy trusts with their procurement and construction contracts for capital projects, either funded by themselves, the Department for Education or Local Authority.

    Meeting Your Needs

    Luke qualified as a solicitor in September 2014 and spent nearly a decade at another national firm also specialising in the education and charity sectors, meaning Luke has a particular interest in and an impressive understanding of these areas in the context of property, construction and estate management.

    What You Might Like to Know

    Outside of work, when he is not enjoying spending time with his two young boys, Luke likes running, open water swimming and cycling.

  • PCH Associates Limited, founded by Mark Hatley in 2012, is a proactive, solution focused building consultancy that specialises in the Education Sector. Mark Hatley is Director and a Chartered Building Surveyor with over 25 years’ experience.

    Since 2012, PCH has established itself as a trusted partner for Schools and Trusts by taking a holistic approach to asset planning and sufficiency, suitability, condition, compliance and decarbonisation issues.

    As a result, PCH have supported numerous Schools, Diocese and Academy Trusts to develop their estates and address their highest priority issues through a range of funding streams including the SRP, CIF, PSDS, MATSCA, VASCA etc.

    In some challenging times, our team of experienced property professionals, with a client focused approach, strive to de-mystify asset planning and help support prioritisation of projects and good decision making. Our experience also means we can successfully design, procure and deliver projects on time and on budget.’

  • Charlene Pink is an Innovation and Development Lead within the Schools Commercial Team.  The team are running a series of test and learn initiatives which form part of the Enhancing Schools’ Commercial Capability (ESCC) project. 

  • Jonathan is COO to Astrea Academy Trust, serving 26 schools across South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire.  Prior to joining Astrea, he was in the British Army, enjoying a diverse career of service to a broad range of people across various backgrounds, cultures and nationalities, including multiple operational tours to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans.  He has devoted his efforts to nurturing talent through training and education to help realise potential and aspirations.   Dedicated to Astrea’s vision and strategy towards a brilliant education for all, Jonathan is a passionate advocate of inclusive leadership, building teams to excel in support of the Trust.

  • Laura is a Partner with over fifteen years of experience in employment law. Having acted almost exclusively for clients in the Education sector for a number of those years, Laura is a trusted advisor to many Schools, Academy Trusts and Colleges (both FE and Sixth-Form). Laura also regularly acts for Local Authorities and Housing Associations, providing pragmatic and proactive advice together with a clear commercial strategy to clients with regards to all aspects of employment law.

    Laura deals with both contentious and non-contentious matters and has particular expertise in handling complex discrimination and whistle-blowing employment tribunal claims. Laura is highly experienced in advising clients on multifaceted disciplinary and grievance issues, particularly those which involve safeguarding concerns. As well as having experience of the full spectrum of employment law issues, including restructures and re-organisations, TUPE and industrial relations, Laura also regularly advises clients on student matters in addition to governance and public sector specific issues. Laura also has experience in undertaking complex and sensitive workplace investigations, having been appointed by education providers as an Independent Investigator.

  • Helen is a founder and co-chair of UKSSN Ops Group. She has worked in operational leadership in education for over 18 years within private and state schools. She is a Fellow and Trustee of the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL). She has achieved her L7 CIPFA School Financial and Operational Leadership qualification and has recently submitted her dissertation for her MA in Educational Leadership. Dissertation subject was “Achieving operational excellence in the sustainable procurement of non-staffing resources in a MAT”. 

  • Isabella works across many of PLMR’s specialisms, including public affairs, reputation management and media relations. Isabella supports clients to achieve their strategic goals and raise their profile among key stakeholders. She predominantly works with education, health and social care clients. In education, she is a specialist in early years, schools and family policy.

     

    Isabella has delivered impressive outcomes for her clients, including securing one client more than £20 million of Government contracts through profile raising, stakeholder engagement, positive PR and thought leadership.

     

    Passionate about social mobility and equality, Isabella works with a London based charity, Inner Voices, a youth chamber choir. The choir brings together great singers from state schools across London and offers the best choral direction from the private sector, to create a choir that tackles challenging music to a first-class standard.

  • Amy Bignell is an Academy Operations Manager within the Priory Learning Trust based in the South West of England. Her focus is on strategic educational leadership, delivering effective resource management, staffing solutions and staff development. Amy began her career in education in 2020, and graduated from Stirling University with a degree in Education and Politics. Amy has a passion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, sustainable school resource management and practise, and professional development. She is currently studying for the CIPFA Level 7 qualification.

  • Adrienne Laing is Operations Director at The Challenge Academy Trust, a multiacademy trust based in the north-west of England centring on Warrington. She
    started her career in logistics management as a graduate trainee rising to the
    position of General Manager managing multi-million pound contracts for retailers
    such as M&S before switching into education business management after 10 years.
    Since then she has worked in secondary maintained schools, academies, primaries
    and a Sixth Form college.
    She converted a secondary school into a SAT as its Director of Finance and
    Resources, and worked on the establishment of The Challenge Academy Trust as a
    MAT in 2017. She became Operations Director of the trust in 2018 and now leads
    the Trust’s operational functions including estates, IT, health and safety,
    procurement, administrative services and governance and compliance.
    She is an accredited SRMA and believes passionately in the power of CPD to improve
    performance having taken the full suite of SBM programmes including CSBM, DSBM,
    ADSBM, SBD (School Business director programme) and the CIPFA Level 7
    Certificate in Financial and Operational Leadership. She also supports the work of
    the ISBL as a member of the Advisory Panel.
    Outside of work she loves singing and a member of the Warrington Rock Choir,
    practices yoga when she can and is involved in the Warrington Ukrainian Family hub
    which supports families who have fled from the war in Ukraine seeking safety under
    the Homes for Ukraine Scheme

  • Robin Harrison has served Rushcliffe Spencer Academy for 28 years, laterly specialising in strategic estate management. He has led the development and acquisition of three new school buildings. Current interests include developing a Strategic Estate Management Plan to support the growth of the school, the introduction of a new core value “we care for our school”, and supporting the school to improve environmental sustainability, also contributing at Trust and National levels. He has published articles, and has led conference workshops on developing environmental policy and action plans in educational settings. Robin is a Fellow and Accredited Lead Practitioner of the Institute for School Business Leadership, and was honoured to be awarded Estates Management of the Year at the 2023 National Schools Awards. 

  • Dr Sandi Mann is a highly experienced Chartered (Academic) Psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience. She has a Doctorate in Psychology, Masters in Organisational Psychology and a PGDip in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapies. She is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, an accredited Member of EMDR Association UK and Ireland as well as being an Accredited Member of the BABCP (British Association of Behavioural Cognitive Psychotherapies).

  • Robin is a Partner in the Commercial Property team, based in Bristol, with significant experience of advising a broad range of clients on all types of commercial property transactions including acquisitions and disposals, commercial property development, commercial property investments and leasing commercial property.

    One of Robin's main focuses is in our education and charities sector and working with our independent schools and academies clients. Robin is also advising on the implementation of the free school programme and has advised on a number of complex property transactions to deliver school sites in often very challenging timescales.

    Coronavirus and Brexit pose many financial challenges to universities. Robin can confidently support you through these challenges and guide you through any strategic decisions you make.

    Meeting Your Needs

    Robin has a particular interest and specialism in assisting clients in our education sector (particularly multi academy trusts) with their real estate issues including a wealth of experience in advising on the real estate aspects of academy conversion, and also assisting with other strategic and operational real estate matters for other education sector clients including independent schools.

    Praised for his pragmatic and prompt commercial advice, Robin also advises on retail, development, insolvency, and investment transactions and is therefore ideally placed to assist you.

    What You Might Like to Know

    Robin contributes to our education sector publications on real estate issues.

    Outside of work, Robin enjoys listening to music, attending music concerts and cooking.

    Born in the area, Robin is also a keen Stoke City supporter (probably the only one in Bristol).

  • Benedicte is CFO at the River Learning Trust, a 28 school MAT, operating largely in Oxfordshire. She has over 30 years’ experience in audit and finance. Benedicte spent the first part of her career in audit practice with KPMG in Paris and London before working as Director of International Affairs for the French Asset Management Association. In 2010, she became actively involved in setting up a multi-lingual free school near Oxford and joined the River Learning Trust in 2019. Benedicte was awarded CFO of the year at the 2023 MAT excellence awards for her contribution to system leadership and innovation. She also received the ISBL CEO award for exceptional contribution to school business leadership. She holds the CIPFA level 7 in Schools Financial and Operational leadership and is accredited at strategic practitioner level.

  • Paul Edmond, Chief Finance and Sustainability Officer, HEART Academies Trust

    I am the CFSO at HEART Academies Trust, Bedford and a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leaders (ISBL). In 2021 I joined the UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) as co-chair of the UKSSN Operations group ('the Ops Group'). The Ops Group is a growing national network of schools and Trusts working to help schools navigate a way to a more sustainable future. I represent UKSSN on the Department for Education Sustainability and Climate Change group and represent HEART Academies Trust as part of the Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE) Alliance.

  • As PLMR’s Head of Education, Tiffany provides expert strategic advice and support in reputation management and crisis communications, PR and media relations, public affairs and wider communications disciplines to academy trusts, further and higher education organisations, charities and organisations across the education sphere. She is also Chair of Trustees of Maritime Academy Trust, where she has obtained in-depth understanding of issues and challenges facing schools and trusts around the country. She was awarded the OBE for services to education in the King’s New Year Honours List 2024.

  • Ciara is a partner in our corporate commercial team, heading up the procurement and commercial work for our education sector clients. She is recommended  by the key legal directories – Legal 500 and Chambers for her work in the education sector.  She has a particular interest and specialism in advising on the development of joint ventures and multi-partner collaborations comprising local authorities, education and business and enjoys advising clients on their procurement strategies, using a practical and purpose-driven approach.

  • Peter Gray has worked for over 20 years as a consultant to local and national government on a range of SEND policy and provision issues. He has a particular interest and expertise in SEND funding approaches and has carried out a number of reviews for Local Authorities which have led to positive progress and outcomes. He has supported the DFE through advisory groups and other discussions in reviewing their approach to this area and their response to increasing pressures and demands. He has also had significant involvement in developing effective approaches to behaviour support and intervention and local area systems for the management of alternative provision.

    Peter is co-coordinator of the national SEN Policy Research Forum and was previously Chair of NASEN’s Policy Subcommittee.

  • Steve Howell has worked in the education sector since 2003, following roles as a Management Accountant for various blue-chip companies, including Unilever and Coca-Cola. Steve helped establish and develop Red Kite Learning Trust and was the CFO for ten years, leading on financial, risk and compliance matters and steering the Trust and the Teaching School on strategic and commercial aspects. Steve is now a commercial director working across all strands of the Trust, developing and nurturing brands and strategic partnerships, and cultivating commercial opportunities. 

  • Head of Professional Development for School Business Professionals nationally. Previously a Teacher for 14 years, 9 of which as a Head of Department. Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator, Assessor and trainer.

  • Head of Academies and Partner at HCR Law (ISBL approved solicitors), Emma Swann has a long-standing specialism in education law and provides expert advice to schools on pastoral, governance and commercial matters. Emma has worked with a wide range of maintained schools and academies for over twenty years, supporting them through academy conversions, mergers and expansions. She has excellent contacts within the sector, keeping clients up to date with prospective changes and working with them to find strategic and practical solutions to complex problems. Emma frequently advises schools on sensitive issues such as parental complaints, exclusions, SEND challenges, safeguarding and Ofsted complaints.

    Emma advises on the full scope of commercial contracts, whether schools need advice on the drafting and operation of day-to-day commercial contracts or support with terminating a commercial contract as there are pitfalls which can put a school at risk of a claim for damages. Emma has also been advising schools on putting in place robust Hire Facilities Agreements that comply with the latest safeguarding obligations in KCSIE.

    Emma is a Trustee of the Board of ISBL and is regularly invited to speak at various education sector events, including for national audiences and to contribute thought leadership articles.


  • Siân Lewis is Head of Parent Participation at Parentkind, the network of PTA fundraisers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Parentkind represent parent voice and champion the role of parents in education to support every child to thrive and reach their potential. Siân’s focus, through a suite of training, tools, information and resources, is to support schools to embed effective parental participation and parents to be engaged in education and school life. Siân’s previous roles include leading on the delivery of a skills and careers focused mentoring programme for young people across London and working as a freelance television Producer.

  • Jimmy is a highly talented People and Talent consultant/facilitator who is passionate about helping his clients focus and execute on their highest priorities to obtain greatly sustainable organisational, team and individual, business results.

    Over the past 25 years, Jimmy has been working with a wide variety of organisations, whether in Europe, Africa or Asia, to improve their organisational capability to deliver their greatest goals. Working with individuals, Jimmy challenges and enables people to achieve their potential, both personally and professionally, and as a result, contributing their best efforts to the organisations they work in. He also works with teams – at all levels – to help them recognise synergies by working together as interdependent individuals, to then deliver their bottom-line results.