Our People

For 20 years she opened to the public her Grade I Georgian home, Hagley Hall, and developed a flourishing functions business. She was executive chairman of the British Casino Association for 9 years, taking the industry through the passage of the 2005 Gambling Act. Until 2007 she was Chairman of Heart Radio in the Midlands and sat on the board of Heart London and for 6 years was then Deputy Chairman of Pagefield Communications. She has been an adviser to Ernst & Young, City Private Bank and Park Resorts and sat on the Linley Advisory Board.
In the public sector, inter alia, she has served on the boards of Historic Royal Palaces, the Victoria & Albert Museum, English Heritage, British Waterways and worked as a Special Adviser to the Culture Secretary. She currently sits on the board of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and chairs their Development Board. She chairs the Museum Prize Trust and sits on the board of the Historic Houses Association.
She was awarded a CBE in 2014 for services to Tourism.

She was Director of Marketing, Press and Business Information at the British Retail Consortium and more recently was Head of Patron Membership at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Additionally, she headed up the membership and marketing divisions at the Fostering Network and the Booksellers Association.
Gill has also been a charity trustee for the charity Re-Solv and was Company Secretary for the charity World Book Day.
Having gained a BA from the University of London straight after leaving school, Gill was fortunate to be offered an ‘earn and learn’ opportunity to gain an MBA while working full time.

From a beginning in marketing, Victoria deliberately broadened her skills and experience through financial analysis, M&A, investor relations, corporate communications and operational management. She has been instrumental in two business start-ups, campaigns on environmental issues and writes unpublished novels as a hobby.

The originator of the concept for The 5% Club and now its Chair, Victoria is a passionate believer in the power of lifelong education as a driver of individual achievement – and the obligation on those who fulfil their ambitions, to help others share in the same opportunities.

Yvonne is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, with a background in manufacturing and management consultancy. Whilst working full-time, she studied for an MBA and moved into the STEM sector to establish the Science and Engineering (now STEM) Ambassadors volunteering programme in 2002. She moved to STEM Learning in 2010, and has been instrumental in the organisation’s earn and learn journey, including the introduction of apprenticeships across the business .

Yvonne retains a strong personal passion for engaging young people (particularly girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds) in understanding the opportunities, enjoyment and excitement that STEM-related careers – particularly in the engineering and manufacturing sectors – can provide.

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During his career, he spearheaded the hosting of Britain’s Presidency of the EC, the worldwide re-launch of British Airways and the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony. He was director of the Golden Jubilee Concerts at Buckingham Palace in 2000 and has worked with the office of HRH the Prince of Wales since 2004. Sir Michael was the Chief Executive of the Diamond Jubilee Thames River Pageant and chaired the companies which handled both the Royal launch of The Shard, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. In September 2012, he was knighted by the Queen for his work on the Diamond Jubilee.

He sits on the board of GEMS Education, Grace Blue, CTN and Populus and is a Trustee of The Varkey Foundation, International Rescue Committee, and The Oracle Cancer Trust.

Stephen’s most recent management role at KPMG was running the Large Corporates audit business in London – his part of the business had some 300 people under training contracts at any one time: both graduates and school leavers. He is now an independent consultant working with businesses in the UK and mainland Europe.