OUR TEAMS

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 has undertaken external board reviews as part of the AoC panel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 launched his career whilst completing master’s degree by founding an import, wholesale, and retail business with outlets in Manchester and London. He later moved into higher education, holding senior roles at the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Derby Buxton campus, where he served as Assistant Dean and Strategic Director with responsibility for HE curriculum and commercial provision.

Peter’s vision for applied vocational learning contributed to the Buxton’s Tourism and Hospitality programmes achieve top UK rankings. Since 2014, he has directed university-wide initiatives, including strategic partnerships and commercial projects. Passionate about civic engagement and supporting educational institutions at both FE and HE level, he has served on boards such as Destination Chesterfield, East Midlands Chamber, Derbyshire’s Green Entrepreneurs Programme and Rural Action Derbyshire, and chairs both Business Peak District and the Peak District Partnership.

Peter has engaged with Chesterfield College in several of his roles and as a Board member, he is committed to supporting the College’s success and its role in 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.

BIO TBC

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.

Headteacher – Parkside Community School

Andy is a highly experienced leader of education serving different communities. He joined Parkside Community School as Headteacher in November 2023. Previously he worked across groups of schools supporting Headteachers in a Trust school improvement role. Prior to this he was the Headteacher of a secondary school in Sheffield.

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.

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.

Emma joined the College in 2024 and is an experienced Travel and Tourism lecturer with a strong background in further education. She specialises in delivering engaging, industry-relevant learning and is committed to equipping students with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in a competitive global sector.

A strong advocate of lifelong learning, Emma completed her MA in Education in 2025. She maintains a consistent focus on high-quality teaching, inclusive practice and supporting diverse learners while driving strong progression outcomes. This has led to her appointment as a Quality of Education Lead in 2025, where she contributes to teacher training and staff development across the College.

As a local member of staff, Emma brings valuable insight into the community the College serves. She works closely with local non-for-profit organisations to strengthen links, promoting a joined-up approach that connects education, culture and community.

Scott, Chief Executive of the East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire), began his career at North Derbyshire Chamber in 1999, providing advice and support to businesses regarding preparing for the impending ‘millennium bug’ and supporting businesses embrace at the time, emerging internet technologies. Scott’s earlier career was in the information and communications technology sector. As well as heading up the Chamber’s leadership team and representing the Chamber and its Members at senior level with stakeholders and partner organisations, Scott leads the delivery of the Chamber’s ambitious investment strategy and growth focused Business Plan. Scott represents the Chamber, its members and the wider business community on a number of key stakeholder groups including: East Midlands Business (EMB Group), EMCCA Business Advisory Board, Leicester & Leicestershire Business & Skills Board, Destination Chesterfield, Visit Peak District & Derbyshire, Nottingham City Growth Board, Derby City Partnership and Business Peak District.

Amy is a Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Performing Arts student.