Chris Barrett DL – Chair of Trustees Expand Chris has spent his entire professional career working in the Advertising and Marketing sector. His early career was spent in leading international advertising agencies, latterly as a creative director. In 1977 he co-founded his own agency, Barrett Howe which became a leading UK Business-to-Business and Brand development Agency. In 2013 he founded Rapport Marketing, a Brand and Marketing Consultancy that advises organisations on the development of Strategic marketing communications; Brand Creation and Development; and Public and Press relations. In 2001 Chris was part of a small group of business people who came together to form ‘Slough Business Community Partnership’ and was its Vice Chairman from 2007 - 2012. In 2007 he became a trustee of ‘Berkshire Community Foundation’ and was elected Chair of Trustees in 2010, a post he held for five years. Upon stepping down in June 2017 he was invited to become Managing Trustee of the Rivertime Boat Trust. In January 2018 was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of The Royal County of Berkshire. Chris joined the Board of Prior’s Court in September 2018.
William Powlett Smith - Deputy Chair Expand William is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, retiring in 2008 from Ernst & Young LLP after 25 years as a partner where he led the Anglo-German business development practice and subsequently the health sciences team. He then held two non-executive appointments with private companies and taught on the undergraduate programme at St Clare’s, Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. For fifteen years (including five years as Chairman) he served as a trustee of Cecily’s Fund, which helps educate orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia. He is a founding trustee of the recently formed Charity Mentors, Oxfordshire which provides strategy mentoring for non-profit making organisations. In September 2016 he was appointed Chair of Northern House School Academy Trust.
Susan Duncan - Safeguarding Trustee Expand Susan is a Registered Nurse with over thirty five years of experience. She has recently retired as Nursing Director for Thames Hospicecare, an independent voluntary organisation specialising in adult palliative care and Sue had overall leadership responsibility for nursing and clinical support teams across two sites – the bedded unit and community Services. She was the Deputy CEO and Registered Manager. Susan built strong working relationships with NHS colleagues which enabled services to be developed in partnership, giving wider access and choice to patients and families in East Berkshire. Susan has been a school governor and Deputy Chair of a C of E First School for twelve years and although now retired from this role, she gained knowledge and experience about school management. This included being part of the admissions committee, the headteachers annual CPD panel and regular involvement in staff recruitment. Susan joined Prior’s Court as a Trustee in 2012.
Jenny Gibson Expand Jenny is a Registered Nurse, with over 32 years of experience, both within the NHS and private sector. She has worked in roles from Volunteer through to Registered Manager and Director of Nursing across multiple sites. Jenny works now as a Director of Solicitude Training (providing training and consultancy services such as mock inspections, audits and action plans - often post inspection), Solicitude Care Management (facilitating interim managers into services) and also as a specialist advisor for the CQC. Jenny was delighted to be asked to join Prior's Court as a Trustee in July 2020.
Anna Hwang Expand Anna is a property professional with over 15 years of experience in real estate investment and asset management business. Up until January 2019, Anna was an investment partner in a UK real estate investment and asset management company based in London. Anna was an acquisition partner specialising complex deal transactions and management of acquired assets. Alongside this, she was responsible for management of investor relationship. Before her time at Addington Capital, Anna was an associate director at a property equity firm CIT and prior to that in the HSBC commercial real estate lending team. Anna took a career break whilst studying EMBA at university of Cambridge which she graduated in May 2010. Anna is a member of RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) and holds an MBA from University of Cambridge, MSc from University of Reading and BSc from University College London.
Elvira Patraso Expand Elvira is a member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, working as a Finance Manager for the NHS. She started her career within private sector, construction and recruitment industries before moving into healthcare. She also volunteers as a Treasurer in her local Orthodox Church. Elvira joined the Board of Trustees at Prior’s Court in October 2020.
Rachel Childs Expand Rachel is a former headteacher with experience of working across the primary and secondary phases. Her most recent post in education (2014-2018) was as Head of English for the Medical Tuition Service in West Berkshire, working with children who were out of mainstream provision due to a variety of physical and mental health needs. Since 2011, Rachel has pursued a portfolio career in regulation. She was a non-executive director for the Advertising Standards Authority between 2011 and 2018 (serving as Deputy Chair between 2015 and 2018). She currently works for a number of different regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Architects Registration Board, The Portman Group and Health Education England. Rachel joined the Board of Trustees at Prior’s Court in July 2020.
Buchan Scott Expand Buchan is a qualified solicitor. He started his career working in corporate finance before moving in-house with the FI Group, the business founded by Dame Stephanie Shirley. He then spent 15 years as a partner in a private equity firm with responsibility for legal and compliance and latterly fundraising. Since retiring in 2015, he has been working part time as in house counsel and is a member of his children's school's fundraising and overseas development committees and the United Nations Association Finance Committee. He joined the board of Prior's Court in March 2017.
John Byrne Expand John is a retired teacher who spent the majority of his teaching career in special education. He was, for the last twenty years of his career, head teacher of a large special school. This all age school catered for pupils with a variety of special needs that included complex and severe disabilities as well as pupils on the autistic spectrum. During his time as head teacher John became an Ofsted Inspector specialising in the inspection of special schools. On his retirement he worked as a school improvement advisor supporting the head teacher and governing bodies of special schools in a number of local authorities. John finished this work in 2013. John is a family man with children and grandchildren. In his spare time he enjoys golf, gardening and supporting London Irish Rugby Club.
Professor Catherine Tissot Expand Catherine is a Professor of Education and Special Needs at the University of Reading where she is the Head of School for the Institute of Education and lectures in Special Educational Needs across most of the initial teacher training and Masters level programmes. Her doctoral research focused on appropriate educational provision for children with autism and looked at this from the view point of parents, local authorities and a school. She was previously an employee of Prior's Court School and is a parent of a young adult with autism (who was one of Prior’s Court School’s first students).
Claire Miller Expand Claire is a senior HR professional with significant experience in the IT and business process outsourcing market place. Claire specialises in delivering major HR transition and change programmes (including those involving staff transfer), but has held HR business partnering, resourcing management and functional ‘expert’ HR roles during her career. She currently works for Unisys Europe Limited and has previously worked for Siemens, Xansa and Wincor Nixdorf. Claire was delighted to join the Board at Prior’s Court in March 2016.