Our Governors

Our Governors

Stefan Martin (Chair)

Stefan is a partner at global law firm Hogan Lovells where he leads the UK employment practice.  His work involves advising major corporates on complex claims and investigations. Stefan has a long standing interest in education, having provided pro bono legal advice to a number of charities including NowTeach. He is also a long term supporter of the World Land Trust. In his spare time, he is a keen tennis player, representing Roehampton Club and Surrey County in seniors competitions.

Stefan lives with his wife in Barnes where they brought up their three children who all attended Ibstock. Having had such a long association with the School, he was delighted to be appointed as Chair of Governors in September 2023.

Nancy Raines

Nancy is a former Ibstock parent and has been a Governor since 2020. Nancy grew up in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada speaking English and French and has lived in London since 1990. She holds a Bachelor of Administration (Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Cum Laude) from the University of Ottawa. Her younger son is a former Ibstock Head Boy who graduated from Imperial College School of Medicine in 2022. 

Nancy is Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors and Safeguarding Governor.

Richard Simm

After graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of York, Richard joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) - becoming a member of the ICAEW & CIOT and advising some of the largest private businesses in the U.K. for over 14 years. Richard now heads the private office finance team for a leading U.K. investor, with a focus on championing new technology. Richard is passionate about the positive opportunities that technology can bring when combined with strong, supportive educational institutions. Protecting children whilst enabling them to engage with new technological horizons is a key focus for Richard.

Richard Chairs the F&GP Committee at Ibstock and sits on the Remuneration Committee.

Rachel Pickthall

Rachel has over 30 years’ experience of working in Marketing & Communications in the UK and the Middle East. She is a former VP of Merrill Lynch, Head of Marketing for Holborn Assets UAE and Global Marketing Director for Gabbitas Educational Consultants. She continues to provide marketing consultancy services to small businesses in London and volunteers for the Met Police whilst enjoying a wide range of sport, especially tennis.

With her 3 children educated in the independent sector in the UK and overseas, Rachel is passionate about ensuring both girls and boys enjoy a joyous educational experience in a healthy, safe and equal environment.

Peter Atherton

Peter began his career in the energy industry. He then worked for some 20 years as an equity analyst at leading investment banks covering the energy and renewable sectors. Today, he advises corporates and governments on financing of the energy transition. For the last decade Peter has been a governor and chair of finance at a free school located in Bermondsey.

Peter has a son who attends Ibstock.

Jeffrey Corrigan

Jeffrey is the founder and Managing Director of Broadview Energy Limited, which develops, owns and operates wind farms across the UK, as well as managing the Eolian Group of renewable energy funds. Prior to that he spent a number of years in financial services, in Toronto, Singapore and London, and attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Jeffrey has a keen interest in renewable energy and sustainability and is an avid skier and cyclist.

Jeffrey’s son attended Ibstock.

Alyssa Curry

Alyssa is a qualified barrister. She has spent the majority of her career in the Civil Service advising Ministers and Government Departments on high profile legal matters, including as a legal adviser to the UK Brexit negotiation delegation. As Deputy Counsel for Human Rights and International Law in the House of Commons, Alyssa now advises MPs and peers at the heart of Britain’s democracy.

Alyssa was herself a pupil at Ibstock from nursery to Sixth Form.

Mitchell Harris

Mitchell is a Director at Hakluyt & Company, where he advises corporates and investors in the life sciences on decisions in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, policy and regulations. Prior to Hakluyt, he worked in leadership roles at venture and growth-stage biotechnologies, including as Chief Strategy Officer at Genomics plc and Global Head of Emerging Business Lines at Abcam (NASDAQ: ABCM). Earlier in his career he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, specialising in strategy and transactions pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries; and prior to that he was an official in the UK Cabinet Office. Mitchell is a policy fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge; a graduate of the University of Oxford; and an alumnus of Ibstock Place School.

Mitchell is passionate about education and has worked with several schools in the private and state sectors on university admissions, and career guidance.

Matthew Jelley

Matthew has 23 years' experience in the independent education sector, and is currently deputy head of Holme Grange, an ISA 3-16 coeducational school in Berkshire, where he has been in post since 2017, supporting a period of change and significant growth in the pupil roll. Prior to that he has held senior leadership positions in a number of schools across the 3-18 age range, whilst teaching English as his subject specialism. Matthew is also a serving ISI team inspector.

Matthew is married with 3 children. He enjoys sport, arts and culture, and passionately believes in safeguarding the future of these facets of school curriculum, whilst embracing the opportunities that technological advancements provide. Matthew attended the University of East Anglia, studying English and American Literature and has a PGCE from the same institution. More recently he completed a Masters in Educational Leadership from Buckingham University.

Carole Jenkinson

After leaving university, Carole embarked on a career with the British Council, organising short courses in the UK for overseas trainees as part of the Overseas Development Agency’s work. After having 2 children, Carole retrained as a teacher, spending the next 30 years largely in primary and prep educational settings culminating in 20 years of headship.

Despite a background in maths and science, Carole is passionate about the Arts and spends a great deal of her free time exploring all that London has to offer. With an overwhelming passion for giving children as broad an education as possible, Carole is delighted to be part of Ibstock.

Carole is the Chair of the Education Committee of the Board of Governors.

Sergio Jovele

Sergio is Head of EMEA Fundraising for Cerberus and leads capital raising efforts for the Firm in Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining Cerberus in early 2020, he was a Partner at Partners Group and headed the firm’s London office.

Sergio spent 15 years at Partners Group and during his tenure, he led the Client Solutions Group in Europe and the Middle East as well as developed and oversaw some of the firm’s key client and consultant relations. He was also a member of the firm’s Global Executive Board, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Partners Group (UK) Ltd. Earlier in his career, Sergio was at Initiative Europe, a research and consulting firm for the private equity industry. He graduated from Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples (Italy), with a degree in English and American literature. He has published a number of academic papers and undertook extensive academic research.

Tony McCurley

Tony McCurley is a Chartered Surveyor with over 35 years’ experience in the property investment and development sector of the Central London market. He advises several leading institutional and private investors on investment policy and strategy. Tony has previously been a partner of BH2 and Knight Frank and was both Managing Director of CBRE’s Central London division and a member of its Executive Board. He set up his own advisory business, GM Real Estate which became the leading specialist practice in the City of London. He was appointed as a Senior Advisor to Deloitte LLP within their Family Office Group to advise their clients on property investment. He also acts as a Consultant to Oxygen Asset Management.

As a Governor, one of his particular focus areas is Ibstock’s real estate interests and its long-term strategic plan for the campus. He also actively participates in the various improvement projects seeking to further enhance the facilities for the future benefit of both the staff and the pupils.

Andrew Simms

After graduating with a degree in Computer Science, Andrew has spent a 20-year career in financial services, starting at Ernst and Young in 2003 where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and is a member of ICAS. Andrew has spent a large part of his career in equity research at Citi and has gained experience in investor relations and most recently, the investment banking division of Stifel.

Andrew is a keen follower of many sports and, as a Governor at Ibstock, is passionate that education and extra-curricular activities can be combined to create an environment for pupils to thrive, both academically and personally.

Oksana Stowe

Before her current work at Google, Oksana held a position as a partner at an early-stage investment fund and earned recognition as one of Europe's top female early-stage investors according to Business Insider. Additionally, Oksana serves as the founder and host of ESG in VC, a podcast and news platform dedicated to promoting awareness of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and its impact within the venture capital community.

Prior to transitioning to the world of venture capital, Oksana gained valuable experience at renowned financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Moelis & Co, where she specialised in M&A investment banking. During her time at Oakley Capital, she provided strategic counsel to rapidly growing disruptors such as The Hut Group and Just Eat.

 

 

Explore Ibstock Place School