David Ross Education Trust

In a Multi-academy Trust, a single Trust is responsible for a number of academies. The MAT consists of the members and the trustees.

Members

The members are akin to the shareholders of a company. They have ultimate control over the academy Trust, with the ability to appoint some of the trustees and the right to amend the trust’s articles of association.

The current Members can be found at the Our Team page.

Trustees

In the Trust, the purpose of governance is to provide:

strategic leadership
accountability and assurance
strategic engagement

The Trust Board has collective accountability and strategic responsibility for the Trust. It has a focus on ensuring the Trust delivers an excellent education to pupils while maintaining effective financial management and must ensure compliance with:

the Trust’s charitable objects
regulatory, contractual and statutory requirements
the Trust's funding agreement

A current list of Trustees can be found at the Our Team page.

Local governors

Individuals who sit on local Academy Scrutiny Committees (ASCs) are referred to as ‘local governors’. This is because trustees can delegate governance functions to the local level. Trustees have complete discretion over what is delegated to each Academy Scrutiny Committee.

Local governors are at the heart of the Trust.

We have approximately 300 parents, business people and educationalists who volunteer their time and expertise for the benefit of our young people.

Harnessing their talents and recognising and acknowledging the impact that they have is critical. As a result, a great deal of work has been undertaken to refine roles and responsibilities, and support governors to help their academies become Outstanding.

The documents below outline how the relationships between the three groups work.

Articles of Association

dret articles of association.pdf

Scheme of Delegation

dret scheme of delegation.pdf

Terms of Office

Trust Board

Name	Term (yrs)	Current Serving Term	Type/ Appointed by	Appointed	Date Term Due to End	Roles Held
Will Bickford Smith	4 years	First	Sponsor	01 Sep 2023	31 Aug 2027
Christine Counsell	4 years	Second	Sponsor	21 Mar 2023	21 Mar 2027
Richard Emerton	4 years	Second	Sponsor	19 Feb 2022	19 Feb 2026	Co-Chair of Finance & Resource Committee Chair of Remuneration & Nominations Committee HR Lead Trustee
David Hall	4 years	Second	Sponsor	27 Nov 2021	27 Nov 2025	Co-Chair of Finance & Resource Committee Finance Lead Trustee
Joanne Hoareau	4 years	Second	Sponsor	06 Feb 2021	5 Feb 2025
Nigel Langstaff	4 years	Second	Sponsor	27 Nov 2021	27 Nov 2025	Chair of Risk & Audit Committee Audit and Cyber/IT Lead Trustee
Tracey Maloney	4 years	Second	Sponsor	27 Jun 2021	27 Jun 2025	Vice Chair Chair of Education Committee SEND and Safeguarding Lead Trustee
David Ross	Indefinite	Not applicable	Sponsor	09 May 2007	Not applicable	Chair

Former Trustees (served in the previous 12 months)

Name	Term (yrs)	Terms Served	Type/Appointed by	Appointed	Resignation Date
Peter Cantley	Indefinite	N/A	Diocese	27 Sep 2020	09 Jan 2024
Peter French	Indefinite	N/A	Diocese	10 Jan 2024	30 April 2024

Members

Name	Date of appointment
Peter Cantley (Diocese of Peterborough)	27 Sep 2020
Chris Houlding	06 Jan 2022
David Overton	19 Feb 2014
David Ross	09 May 2007
Caroline Ryder	16 Nov 2023
Joanne Hoareau (The Ross Foundation)	06 Feb 2017

Former Members (served in the previous 12 months)

No members have left the Trust in the previous 12 months.

Declarations of Interest Including Governance Roles in Other Educational Institutions

Trust Board

Name	Entity	Nature	Notes	From	To
Will Bickford Smith	Department for Education	Schools Policy Advisor to the Education Secretary	-	30/05/2023	-
Christine Counsell	Polyphony Ltd	Director	-	07/10/2004	-
	Polyphony Ltd	Husband is a Director (Stephen Layton)	-	07/10/2004	-
	Christine Counsell Education Consultant	Self employed sole trader	Training & consultancy in curriculum and teacher development.	01/01/2019	-
	Opening Worlds Ltd	Director	Primary curriculum company since March 2021	11/03/2021	-
	Department for Education	Lead drafter of the Government’s Model history curriculum	-	05/07/2022	-
Richard Emerton	RPE Consulting	Business or finance interests	Owner	16/03/2024	-
	Korn Ferry	Employee	Consultancy organisation	01/09/2010	02/01/2024
David Hall	Deloitte LLP	Retired partner with pension	-	01/01/2002	-
	JCB Academy	Paid Financial Consultant	Single academy school with significant apprenticeship schemes since 2017	01/01/2017	-
	Keele University	Honorary Treasurer and Lay Member of Council	-	01/09/2018	-
	Ballyclare Group Limited (formerly Best Dressed Group and Simon Jersey)	Paid Financial Consultant	-	01/12/2018	-
	Robinson Webster (Holdings) Limited - trading as Jigsaw	Non-Executive Director	-	01/03/2019	27/04/2020
	New Schools Network	Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee	-	08/06/2021	-
Joanne Hoareau	Ross Foundation (DRET Sponsor)	Manager	Formerly David Ross Foundation	01/01/2014	-
	Frank Field Education Trust	Trustee	-	01/01/2017	-
	DRET	Trustee	-	03/04/2017	-
	New Schools Network	Consultant	-	01/09/2022	-
	Nevill Holt Festival Ltd	Director	-	23/01/2023	-
	Bobby Moore Academy	Governor	-	24/10/2019	23/10/2023
Nigel Langstaff	Lotuschart Limited	Director	Property Management Company	25/02/1998	-
	River Farm Foundation	Trustee	-	17/08/2009	-
	Autumn Stone Foundation	Trustee	-	16/12/2014	-
	Renaissance Foundation	Trustee	-	14/09/2016	-
	Ensemble Pour La Difference (UK)	Trustee	Charity	01/03/2017	-
	TalkTalk Telecomms Group PLC	Non-Executive Director	-	15/11/2017	12/03/2021
	School Space Ltd	Minor Shareholder (1.2%)	-	01/01/2018	-
	BookTrust	Trustee	-	25/06/2021	-
Tracey Maloney	Buckingham University	Lecturer and Tutor PGCE, MA and Med programmes	-	01/01/2016	-
	London Grid for Learning	English and Literacy Consultant	-	01/04/2019	-
	T Maloney Ltd	Director	Consultancy Company	26/09/2011	-
	Uppingham School	Spouse is the Headmaster	-	01/01/2016	-
	Lodge Park Academy (DRET)	Chair of Governors	-	29/11/2021	-
	eQualitas	Consultant	-	01/01/2010	-
	Board of English Association	Trustee and Fellow	-	01/12/2020	-
	E-Qualitas	ITT Director	-	01/03/2022	-
	Thomas Middlecott Academy	Other governance role	-	10/05/2023	-
David Ross	Nevill Holt Festival Ltd	Founder	-	-	-
	Mountain Berg Holdings Limited	Beneficial owner	Including ownership of Mountain Berg Limited and Kandahar No. 2 Limited and group companies.	15/11/2011	-
	National Portrait Gallery	Chair and Trustee	-	-	-
	Serpentine Gallery	Member of Gallery Council	-	-	-
	Acresfield Capital LLP	Director	-	20/09/2000	-
	Ballyclare Group Limited	Ultimate Beneficial owner	Formerly Best Dressed Group Limited, formerly Uniform Brands Limited, and group companies including Simon Jersey.	-	-
	Nevill Holt Hall Farm (including Park Farm).	Proprietor	Park Farm is now operated by Great Easton Trading Limited, a company limited by guarantee in which David Ross has no beneficial interest and in which he holds no formal position.	-	-
	British Paralympic Association	Director	-	15/10/2019	-
	Nottingham University	Development Committee Chair and a member of the University Council	-	01/01/2009	-
	Ross Foundation	Director and trustee	Formerly David Ross Foundation	03/07/2007	-
	Mountain Berg Ltd (FK Oval (2245) Ltd)	Director	-	17/11/2011	-
	New Schools Network	Director	-	26/02/2016	-
	Holyoaks Farm Limited	Director	-	24/09/2014	-
	British Olympic Foundation	Chair	-	22/05/2022	-
	The Jigsaw Foundation for the Creative Arts Limited	Director	Company limited by guarantee which will, in due course, seek registration with the Charities Commission to be a registered Charity	02/12/2022	-
	Frank Field Education Trust	Trustee	-	07/12/2015	06/12/2018
	Human Love	Director and Trustee	-	01/02/2018	15/01/2021
	Royal Opera House	Chair	-	01/09/2020	13/05/2021
	British Olympic Association	Director	-	02/06/2011	24/09/2021

Former Trustees (served in the previous 12 months)

Member	Entity	Nature	From	To
Peter Cantley - Diocese of Peterborough	Peterborough Diocesan Board of Education	Director of Education who oversees marketing and delivery of the SLA with schools	01/01/2018	-
	Peterborough Diocese Education Trust	Trustee	15/03/2018	30/09/2020
	Peterborough Diocese Church Schools Trust	Director/ Trustee	02/05/2018	-
	William Law CE Primary School	Member	02/05/2018	31/05/2021
	Guilsborough Multi-Academy Trust	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Pathfinder Schools	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Innovate Multi-Academy Trust	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Learning for Life Education Trust	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Nene Education Trust	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Rutland Learning Trust	Member	12/09/2018	-
	St Mary’s Church of England Primary Academy	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Hartwell Primary School	Member	12/09/2018	-
	Evolve Church Academies Trust	Member	13/09/2018	-
	Peterborough Diocese Education Trust	Member	30/09/2020	-
Peter French - Diocese of Peterborough	Labour Party / UNITE	Member	01/10/2018	-
	Rutland Learning Trust	Director	04/04/2019	-
	Innovate MAT	Director	04/04/2019	-
	Evolve MAT	Director	04/04/2019	-
	Peterborough Diocese	Deputy Director of Education	25/04/2020	-
	Learning for Life Trust	Director	25/04/2020	-
	Nene Education Trust	Director	01/09/2022	-
	Newborough iEB	Other governance role	18/03/2024	-
	Hamstead Hall Academy Trust	Trustee / Member	01/10/2018	31/12/2018
	Barchelai Trust	Trustee	01/10/2018	31/12/2018

Members

Name	Entity	Nature	Notes	From	To
Peter Cantley - Diocese of Peterborough	Peterborough Diocesan Board of Education	Director of Education who oversees marketing and delivery of the SLA with schools	-	01/01/2018	-
	Peterborough Diocese Education Trust	Trustee	-	15/03/2018	30/09/2020
	William Law CE Primary School	Member	-	02/05/2018	31/05/2021
	Peterborough Diocese Church Schools Trust	Director/ Trustee	-	02/05/2018	-
	Pathfinder Schools	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Rutland Learning Trust	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Guilsborough Multi-Academy Trust	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Learning for Life Education Trust	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Innovate Multi-Academy Trust	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Nene Education Trust	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	St Mary’s Church of England Primary Academy	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Hartwell Primary School	Member	-	12/09/2018	-
	Evolve Church Academies Trust	Member	-	13/09/2018	-
	Peterborough Diocese Education Trust	Member	-	30/09/2020	-
Chris Houlding	Whitgift Foundation	Governor	-	01/03/2001	-
	Whitgift Foundation	Chairman of the Court of Governors	-	01/03/2015	-
	David Ross	Consultant	Contracted to provide broad consultancy to David Ross' private investment office	20/03/2019	24/04/2023
	10SJP Limited	Employee	-	24/04/2023	-
David Overton	-	Relative of Chair	Second Cousin of David Ross (Trust Chairman and Trust Member)	-	-
	Woodward Corporation	Honorary Fellow	-	01/01/1990	-
	David Ross Foundation	Trustee	-	-	-
	Great Bradley Farms Company	Director	-	-	-
Joanne Hoareau - The Ross Foundation	Ross Foundation (DRET Sponsor)	Manager	Formerly David Ross Foundation	01/01/2014	-
	Frank Field Education Trust	Trustee	-	01/01/2017	-
	DRET	Trustee	-	03/04/2017	-
	New Schools Network	Consultant	-	01/09/2022	-
	Nevill Holt Festival Ltd	Director	-	23/01/2023	-
	Bobby Moore Academy	Governor	-	24/10/2019	23/10/2023
David Ross	Nevill Holt Festival Ltd	Founder	-	-	-
	Mountain Berg Holdings Limited	Beneficial owner	Including ownership of Mountain Berg Limited and Kandahar No. 2 Limited and group companies.	15/11/2011	-
	National Portrait Gallery	Chair and Trustee	-	-	-
	Serpentine Gallery	Member of Gallery Council	-	-	-
	Acresfield Capital LLP	Director	-	20/09/2000	-
	Ballyclare Group Limited	Ultimate Beneficial owner	Formerly Best Dressed Group Limited, formerly Uniform Brands Limited, and group companies including Simon Jersey.	-	-
	Nevill Holt Hall Farm (including Park Farm).	Proprietor	Park Farm is now operated by Great Easton Trading Limited, a company limited by guarantee in which David Ross has no beneficial interest and in which he holds no formal position.	-	-
	British Paralympic Association	Director	-	15/10/2019	-
	Nottingham University	Development Committee Chair and a member of the University Council	-	01/01/2009	-
	Ross Foundation	Director and trustee	Formerly David Ross Foundation	03/07/2007	-
	Mountain Berg Ltd (FK Oval (2245) Ltd)	Director	-	17/11/2011	-
	New Schools Network	Director	-	26/02/2016	-
	Holyoaks Farm Limited	Director	-	24/09/2014	-
	British Olympic Foundation	Chair	-	22/05/2022	-
	The Jigsaw Foundation for the Creative Arts Limited	Director	Company limited by guarantee which will, in due course, seek registration with the Charities Commission to be a registered Charity	02/12/2022	-
	Frank Field Education Trust	Trustee	-	07/12/2015	06/12/2018
	Human Love	Director and Trustee	-	01/02/2018	15/01/2021
	Royal Opera House	Chair	-	01/09/2020	13/05/2021
	British Olympic Association	Director	-	02/06/2011	24/09/2021

Former Members (served in the previous 12 months)

No members have left the Trust in the previous 12 months.

Senior Executive Team

Name	Entity	Nature	Notes	From	To
Stuart Burns Chief Executive Officer	Nil	Nil	-	-	-
Maria Maltby Director of Governance and Company Secretary	Havelock Academy	Governor	-	14/06/2019	-
	Thomas Middlecott Academy	Governor	-	10/05/2023	-
	Lodge Park Academy	Governor	-	31/07/2023	-
Mark Neild Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Secondary Education	Thomas Middlecott Academy	Governor	-	10/05/2023	-
	Lodge Park Academy	Governor	-	31/07/2023	-
Rachel Ridgill Director of HR	Grace Dieu Netball Club	Chair and Coach	-	01/09/2015	-
	Goodyear	Shareholder	-	01/01/2020	-
	North West Leicestershire Netball	Vice Chair	-	01/08/2020	31/07/2023
	David Ross Education Trust	Son employed by the Trust	Son Harry worked with the Trust to support the mass COVID testing for 4 days during March 2021, 1 day at CWC and 3 days at LPA. Full recruitment checks were undertaken.	01/03/2021	31/03/2021
	England Netball Leicestershire	Volunteer - School coordinator	-	01/06/2022	-
	Coalville Youth Netball League	Chair	-	01/07/2022	-
	North West Leicestershire Netball League	Chair	-	01/08/2023	-
Simon Rose Director of Primary Education	Nevill Holt Community Arts	Director	-	26/10/2020	-
	Tristone Healthcare Ltd	Volunteer on Independent Safeguarding Board	-	03/12/2020	-
	Transforming Lives Education Trust (TLET)	Director	-	01/09/2022	-
	Peterborough Diocese Education Trust (PDET)	Director	-	16/09/2022	-
Jane Spencer Chief Financial Officer	The David Ross Education Trust	Employee	-	19/03/2018	-
	Charnwood College (DRET)	Governor	-	05/02/2019	06/04/2023
Peter Wilson Interim Chief Financial Officer	David Ross Education Services	Business or finance interests	Director	21/03/2024	-
Jonathan French Director of Operations	Nil	-	-	-	-

Academy Governing Bodies, Chairs and Principals

Please refer to each individual school's Governance page for an up to date list of their ASC members.

Contacting Us

The Director of Governance and Company Secretary (the Trust's Governance Professional) is Maria Maltby. Maria can be contacted at governance@dret.co.uk.

Trust Board and Committee Meetings

Trustee Attendance at Trust Board

Trustee	Attendance 2022/23	Attendance 2023/24
David Ross	6 of a possible 6	6 of a possible 6
Christine Counsell	5 of a possible 6	5 of a possible 6
David Hall	6 of a possible 6	6 of a possible 6
Joanne Hoareau	6 of a possible 6	6 of a possible 6
Will Bickford Smith	Not applicable, not in post	5 of a possible 6
Peter French	Not applicable, not in post	1 of a possible 1
Richard Emerton	5 of a possible 6	5 of a possible 6
Tracey Maloney	5 of a possible 6	6 of a possible 6
Nigel Langstaff	6 of a possible 6	5 of a possible 6
Peter Cantley	4 of a possible 6	3 of a possible 3

Trustee Attendance at Education Committee

Trustee	Attendance 2022/23	Attendance 2023/24
Tracey Maloney (Chair)	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4
Christine Counsell	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4
Will Bickford-Smith	Not applicable, not in post	4 of a possible 4
Sue Deane (Non-Trustee Member)	4 of a possible 4	2 of a possible 4

Trustee Attendance at Risk & Audit Committee

Trustee	Attendance 2022/23	Attendance 2023/24
Nigel Langstaff (Chair)	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4
Peter Cantley	4 of a possible 4	2 of a possible 2
Peter French	4 of a possible 4	1 of a possible 1
Bob Stannard (Non-Trustee Member)	1 of a possible 4	2 of a possible 3
Ben Brown (Non-Trustee Member)	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4

Trustee Attendance at Remuneration & Nomination Committee

Trustee	Attendance 2022/23	Attendance 2023/24
Richard Emerton (Chair)	1 of a possible 1	3 of a possible 3
David Ross	1 of a possible 1	3 of a possible 3
Joanne Hoareau	1 of a possible 1	3 of a possible 3

Trustee Attendance at Finance & Resource Committee

Trustee	Attendance 2022/23	Attendance 2023/24
David Hall (Co-Chair)	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4
Richard Emerton (Co-Chair)	4 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4
Joanne Hoareau	3 of a possible 4	3 of a possible 4
Nick Teagle (Non-Trustee Member)	3 of a possible 4	4 of a possible 4

David Ross Education Trust