Julie Richards was appointed CEO and Principal of The Chesterfield College Group in 2017. She joined the college as an Executive Director of Business Enterprise in 2009 before being promoted to Deputy Principal in 2011. Julie has a master’s degree in strategic leadership and has worked in Further Education for almost 30 years, spending the last 20 years in senior management roles.

Beej, a governor for 7 years, is well-known in the education sector and has an excellent reputation for his skills as a consultant and trainer, and as an expert in education policy, management, teaching and learning, funding and finance. He has held leadership roles in schools, FE colleges and in the private sector with Network Training, Tribal Education, Sector Training and Pearson Education.

As a Principal Consultant with Network Training and the Tribal Group he led and developed new leadership programmes for senior and middle managers in the post-16 sector, and delivered a wide range of national and in-house events on a wide range of topics to thousands of school and FE practitioners, as well as provide interim support to FE colleges. In 2005 he established Sector Training with two other colleagues to deliver professional development and management training for colleges, training providers, schools, local authorities, commercial customers and awarding organisations. Sector Training also delivered educational change programmes for the Department of Education and several local authorities.

In his consultancy role, Beej developed and delivered significant organisational development and change programmes in the post-16 sectors in England, Scotland and Wales. He established ICOSA to manage significant EU funded reform programmes in Poland, Lithuania and Estonia, and latterly, by his partners in the Balkan states. He led a major EU programme to develop Single Assessment Processes for older adults with complex needs across several member states including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

He is a director of the Learning Curve Group and chair of The White Rose College of Beauty and Complimentary Therapies. He is also a director of e-Memoir, which is one of the earliest service providers to deliver web-based CPD and webinars on key topics affecting the post-16 sector.

Dr Lou Mycroft is a social entrepreneur who works across the FE sector, on national professional learning programmes. She is co-founder of FE Constellations, a membership organisation for FE’s changemakers, and Thinking Cultures, which leverages Thinking Environment processes for systems and culture change.

An experienced and respected facilitator and TEDx speaker, Lou creates spaces for people to do their best thinking, and to think well together. She initially trained in Public Health before joining The Northern College for Adult Community Education in 2020. There, she ran college-based higher education programmes, including teacher training, and received national recognition for her work around social media and social purpose education.

Lou now specialises in building community and trust within organisations. She is the winner of the Edufuturists Staff Wellbeing Champion Award 2020 and is a co-founder of the #JoyFE Collective.

Lou is a regular columnist with FENews and the Society of Education and Training’s InTuition journal, a contributor to all three of the Dancing Princess books and she holds a PhD in which she re-imagines adult community education.

John joined the corporation in 2013 and is a member of the Finance & General Purposes and Remuneration committees. He has a wealth of experience in the football industry and has worked his way up to become the CEO of Chesterfield Football Club as well as the CFC Community Trust. During his career, John has successfully led, negotiated and delivered multi-million pound projects within football, and has also developed his family business to meet consumer needs.

Chantal has supported young people with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities (SEND) and Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH) in a variety of roles for over 20 years, including over 16 years as a lecturer in Foundation Learning at Sandwell College, where she is now Curriculum Lead. She has a Master’s in Professional Practice and Lifelong Education and is now undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Education where her research interests are related to SEND policy and its implementation in Further Education, with a strong focus on outcomes for young people with SEND.

Steve has 30 years’ experience in IT, cyber, information security and risk management. He has provided support, consultancy, challenge and oversight in the private and public sector, ranging from large organisations, global corporates, to small and medium businesses. Steve has been at HSBC since 2011, providing risk management, oversight and cybersecurity consultancy in a variety of global roles. He was governor at a Sheffield junior school for several years.

Karl Veltman, Deputy Principal, Calderdale College – Quality, Curriculum Development & Student Experience. Responsible for FE Curriculum, Adult & General Education, Apprenticeships, Quality, Student Services, Safeguarding, Inclusive Learning & University Centre.

Steve is currently the Regional Network Lead at STEM Learning, linking educators and employers to make sustainable changes in how STEM is taught to ensure young people understand the importance of a STEM Education and the opportunities this creates. Steve’s areas of specialism are business ownership, education, and governance, particularly audit, which he has many years of experience. He has previously held governor and trustee positions with other organisations and is a member of the Institute of Physics.

Jason is the director responsible for health, safety, environment, quality at Mascot Management. He is also the Principal Designer with Mascot Management and has over 20 years’ experience within the construction industry, spanning many roles and sectors. As a NEBOSH qualified professional he has experience and a broad knowledge of all Business Management Systems, International Standards and ‘Best Practice’ within Construction, Transport, Logistics, Manufacturing, Food and Drink sectors.

Leigh’s experience in employment, education and training spans over 30 years. Working in both the public and private sector, Leigh’s career began when he worked in frontline services for the Local Authority. He then progressed to managerial and director level positions.

Leigh says he is honoured to be offered the opportunity to support Chesterfield College students; helping to support their journey to achieve their aspirations.

Sue has extensive experience within further education learning and skills and has held several senior roles in FE Colleges at Vice and Deputy Principal level. Within this time, she has led colleges to achieve Ofsted Outstanding and led on national curriculum initiatives in STEM and English and maths.

As the managing Director of an education consultancy company, Sue has achieved rapid progression and improvement in a range of turnaround projects and has supported many organisations to achieve sustainable goals.

Sue is passionate about the purpose of further education and optimistic about the positive changes which collaboration can bring to transform lives, communities and economic regeneration.

Member of:
Corporation Board

Finance & Corporate Services Committee, Sustainability Working Group
Jan has been a Technical Director at In Control Systems Ltd for the last two decades. He has particular expertise in process control, automation and information systems as well as digital transformation. In his role on the Corporation Jan uses his knowledge and experience to help drive areas of key focus for the organisation.

Member of:
Corporation Board

Peter began his career whilst studying for a Masters degree, when he launched an import, wholesale & retail business, with outlets in Manchester & London. He subsequently moved into the higher education sector, taking on senior management roles first at the University of Wolverhampton and then in 2007 at the University of Derby’s Buxton Campus, initially as Assistant Dean, then in 2008 as Dean and in 2012 as Strategic Director with responsibility for both the HE curriculum and commercial provision. During this period Peter’s “Real World Learning” vision for applied vocational learning contributed to the Buxton based Tourism and Hospitality degree programmes being ranked first in the UK in the Guardian Subject League table. In August 2014, he took on his first cross-University role as the founding Director of the University Strategic Partnerships Unit, then in October 2016 he became the Director of Strategic Projects, albeit with subsequent stints in interim roles, including as the University’s Commercial Director.

Peter has a passion for supporting educational institutions at both FE and HE level to operate at the heart of the communities they serve. This commitment to a civic agenda has seen him joining the Board of Destination Chesterfield (2021-23), as well as the Staveley Town Deal (2021-23) and the Clay Cross Town Deal (2021-22) Boards. He has served as a non-Executive Director on the Board of East Midlands Chamber (2020-23) and currently sits on the board overseeing Derbyshire County Council’s Green Entrepreneurs Programme, as well as serving as a trustee of Rural Action Derbyshire and chair of both Business Peak District and the Peak District Partnership.

Peter has engaged with Chesterfield College in a number of his roles and has been witness to many of the College’s achievements. Now as a member of the Corporation Board, Peter is keen to support the College to further build on its success in supporting both its students and the wider community.

Martyn Glossop is a technical director at AECOM with 30 years’ experience in highway projects. He is experienced in quality assurance reviews, working with clients to set targets, monitor performance and drive continuous improvements. He works in collaboration with project partners to ensure that good working relationships are made and maintained to drive positive outcomes.

Stuart is a specialist education consultant and law society accredited mediator. His consultancy roles have included work for the Department for Education , Surveyors in Education ,Sport England and a variety of Academy Trusts. He has a broad range of governance experience including Chair of Governors for Loughborough College , specialist adviser to Leicestershire Active Together and is a member of the AOC panel undertaking external reviews of Colleges.

His last substantive post was as Strategic Director of Education for Partnerships for Schools, the government agency responsible for Building Schools for the Future.

Prior to this Stuart had a successful career in local government including roles as Assistant / Deputy Director of Education for Leicestershire.

His earlier career included local authority roles as an OFSTED inspector, Director for TVEI, Further Education Officer, Head of Dartington Vocational College, Secondary school teaching and school / college senior management.

Jill has had a successful career in education and health. After qualifying as a speech and language therapist she worked in community health and hospitals. Whilst completing an MA she moved in to Adult Education, becoming Assistant Principal at the Northern College. Moving to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sheffield, she took up a research post followed by the post of Sub Dean for Teaching.

Following a Government initiative she worked with the Department of Health, setting up the NHS University. Jill completed her career as CEO of an Awarding Body – National Open College Network.

During this period Jill was Visiting Professor at London South Bank University and Sheffield Hallam University.

During her retirement she was a Chesterfield Borough Councillor and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.

Kirstie has over 10 years’ experience in the field of Learning and Development within the retail sector, the majority of which was within Sainsbury’s, and has spent the last year working in the healthcare and voluntary sector after being appointed Learning and Development Manager at Ashgate Hospice. This is Kirstie’s first governor’s role, and she is extremely passionate about education and supporting others to have the best possible learning experience as they strive to reach their full potential.

Howard has been a Partner at Shorts Chartered Accountants in their Chesterfield office since 2003. He advises companies and individuals in the local business community and further afield, in accounting, auditing, taxation matters, and general business advice. He held the position of President of the Sheffield & District Society of Chartered Accountants in 2017/18, and was Chair of Governors of a local primary school for several years.

Lee has worked at Chesterfield College for 14 years across a variety of different courses and specifications and brings a wealth of curriculum knowledge and experience to the Board. He currently work as a Lecturer in Sport and Public Services.

Nicola began working at the college in early 2019 as the autism and behaviour specialist lecturer and she is now our Head of Inclusion. Passionate about disability inclusion, she looks after our discrete Pathways provision for learning difficulties and drives forward inclusive practice for disability across all college curriculum areas. With almost 30 years’ experience of inclusion in education, she brings a great deal of knowledge to the Board.