The NCFE Board


Chris Hughes- Chair

Chris Hughes is Chair of the NCFE Board having joined in February 2005. He was formerly Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Development Agency, and is well known in the further education policy world. 
 
Chris is a Special Advisor to the House of Commons and Skills Select Committee. He is a Trustee of the Helena Kennedy Bursary Scheme. Chris holds a degree in Economics from the University of Manchester, is a qualified teacher and a fellow of the RSA.
 
Chris has worked in further education for 30 years and spent 13 years as a Principal at Peterlee College and Gateshead College before joining the LSDA. He is Chair of the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) and the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People (CACDP), a QCA accredited awarding body. He was awarded the CBE in the New Year Honours 2005. In 2007 he was appointed to the Board of the National Policing Improvement Agency.

 

Lucy Armstrong joined The Alchemists after an early career in venture capital and corporate development and headhunting with 3i plc, Courtaulds Textiles and Tyzack. Her work involves matching up experienced and successful entrepreneurs with high growth businesses to accelerate their growth and success. Her experience ranges from funding start up and early stage manufacturing businesses in the North East through to mergers and disposals of international operations. She is a governor of Northumbria University and involved in assisting Newcastle University develop their hi-tech spin-out companies. Lucy was educated at Oxford, holds an MBA and is studying criminology. Her spare time is frittered away with a trans-Atlantic think tank, in a young offenders institution, an arthouse cinema and walking along Northumberland's deserted beaches.  Lucy joined NCFE Board in July 2008. 

 

                     

Chris Cherry is a Director with Consult Sterling, a Public Sector development organisation. Prior to this, Chris was a director of a successful consulting company, the Managing Director of Total Learning Ltd, which also included Damar, one of the most successful training providers in the Country. Chris was Area Director and Director of Skills at the Learning and Skills Council in Greater Manchester and was invited to the Board in 2005 in that role. Chris has previously written and delivered uniformed services qualifications for NCFE whilst at Grantham College in Lincolnshire and has worked with NCFE since 1994. He was formerly in HM Armed Forces and a senior league football referee. 

 

Willie Mills has been Principal and Chief Executive of Preston College since 2007 after 7 years as Principal of City College Manchester. Born and educated in Scotland, he is an economics graduate. He began his teaching career in 1977 at South Trafford College, progressing to management roles in colleges in the North West, North East and Lincolnshire before becoming Principal of Northumberland College in 1992. His involvement with NCFE dates back to his time at Derwentside College in County Durham when he was Assistant Principal. He has seen many changes in the organisation, becoming a Board Member in April 2006.

Jeremy Roberts is Principal of Sidmouth College in Exeter.  After University he completed a PGCE and taught in Kent before returning to Devon.  After a secondment to Devon County Council educational advisory service he became Vice-Principal of a school that had recently been placed in 'special measures' by Ofsted.  Three years later the school emerged from 'the measures' and he moved to Uffculme School, Devon, as Headteacher.  He joined the Board in 2004 bringing his interest in curriculum innovation and experience of school leadership.

 


Alastair Thomson is Dean of the University of Teesside's Business School.  He is a law graduate from the University of Strathclyde and, prior to moving into further education, worked in customer service sector - as MD for Loop Customer Management Ltd (part of the Kelda Group plc, owners of Yorkshire Water, a FTSE 100 business) winning numerous workplace best practice awards and more recently running his own company, Mint Services Ltd, a niche training and consulting business.  He is also Tees Valley Branch Chairman of the Institute of Directors.  Alastair joined NCFE Board in July 2008.

 

Angela O'Donoghue is Principal of City of Sunderland College, which is one of the largest FE colleges in the country.  She was previously the Principal of Bsix Sixth Form College Brooke House based in Hackney, which was the first new college to be established in the country for over a decade and opened in September 2002.  Prior to that Angela was the Director of Curriculum and then Acting Principal of Wigan and Leigh College.  Before moving to Wigan Angela worked for 17 years in a variety of roles at Liverpool Community College.  She is a member of the Education Leadership Board, the City of Sunderland Partnership, the Children's Trust Strategic Partnership and the Sunderland Learning Partnership.  She is a governor of the University of Sunderland and a member of the North East Region Equality & Diversity Steering Group.  She has a national reputation for her work with students with learning difficulties and disabilities and basic skills.  Angela joined NCFE in July 2008. 



Page author Emma Gent emmagent@ncfe.org.uk March 2010