Staff & Governors

His Grace The Duke of Westminster

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster inherited the title of Duke of Westminster on 9 August 2016, on the death of his father. We are honoured that the Duke has agreed to continue in the role of Patron of The King’s School.

Bishop of Chester

Mark Tanner has been Bishop of Chester since May 2020, succeeding the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster who retired in September 2019. He was consecrated as a Bishop at York Minster in October 2016 and was then appointed Bishop of Berwick of the Diocese of Newcastle.
He was born in Canada and educated at Loughborough Grammar School. He went on to study at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1992.
He was ordained in Chester in 1998 and both his children were born here. Following the announcement of his appointment he said “It is an honour and a joy to be appointed to the Diocese of Chester at such a key time in the life of our communities, nation, and Church.”

David Rowlands

farms Red Poll beef on the family farm in Mickle Trafford with his wife and son.

He chairs the Oldfield Educational Trust, and is a director of the farming charity, the Addington Fund. He is a Governor at two State schools, and is a former Chester City and Cheshire County Councillor. He was appointed to the Board of Governors at King’s as a nominative governor in June 2017.

David is Chair of Governors and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Hayley Jordan

spent 26 years in the military leaving in the rank of Major in 2014. During her military career she served in the Ministry of Defence in London, Northern Ireland, Germany, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving the military Hayley joined Terra Nova Preparatory School in East Cheshire as their Director of Finance and Operations/Bursar, before joining King’s in January 2019. All of her roles have given her experience in strategic leadership, finance and project management; she is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management and a Member of the City and Guilds in Strategic Leadership and Management.

In her spare time Hayley enjoys socialising, cycling and walking her slightly crazy labradoodle. She is married to Jason and together they have a son called Zach.

Hayley is Clerk to the Governors.

Richard Arnold

is the Group Managing Director of Manchester United FC. He was educated at King’s and the University of Bristol, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1996. Richard was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) from 1993 to 1999, and worked subsequently with Global Crossing Europe Ltd, and as Director of InterVoice Ltd. In 2007, he joined Manchester United as Group Commercial Director. He has two sons at King’s and lives in Cheshire.

Richard is Vice Chair of Governors and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Steve Docking

is the Headteacher of The Delamere CE Primary Academy. He is founder and a Director at St Martin's Academy, Chester and he is also CEO of The North West Academies Trust who sponsor the Oakview Academy in Winsford.

He is an experienced Headteacher, whose leadership and management has been developed across five schools and during time spent learning in South Africa, the USA and Holland. Significant achievements include moving a school from satisfactory to outstanding in under three years, and supporting St Martin's Academy to achieve outstanding in their first ever Ofsted inspection.

Steve is Chair of the Education Committee and sits on the Bursary and Partnerships Policy Committee. He is also our EYFS Governor.

Janet Carr

qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1983 and as well as acting for a general portfolio of clients, Janet specialises in acting for charities. She is a member of the Tax Faculty, the Charity & Voluntary Sector Group of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a Member of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners and the Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers. She also sits on the Diocese of Chester Finance and Central Services Committee as a professional adviser.

Janet is married with one teenage daughter. When she is not in the office Janet enjoys spending time with family and friends, taking part in church activities and going to the gym. She is also a keen theatre goer.

Janet is a member of the Finance & General Purpose Committee and the Risk and Compliance Committee.

Carol Edwards

trained to be a Probation Officer at Liverpool University and subsequently worked for Cheshire Probation Service in the criminal courts, and for CAFCASS in the family courts. After taking early retirement in 2009, she studied for a BA in English Literature at Chester University; this was followed by an MA and a lecturing post at Chester University.

She is a member of an independent ethics committee at Unilever and is a trustee of the Robert Oldfield Trust. When her children were at school, she was a parent governor at their infant, junior and secondary schools. She was appointed to the Board of Governors at King’s as a nominative governor in June 2017.

Carol is Chair of the Safeguarding Committee.

Sandra Verity

began her varied career on Sainsbury’s Graduate training scheme after gaining her degree at Reading University. Since then she has worked primarily in business and marketing consultancy, both for and with multinational and SMEs. More recently she has run her own management consultancy business working with companies in the North West. She has combined her work life with supporting her three children through school and University. Two attended The King’s School.

She is a Governor at Chester University, a Trustee of The Chester Clergy Family Trust and a Parish Councillor.

Sandra is Vice Chair of Governors, Chair of the Risk and Compliance Committee, and Chair of the Governance Committee.

Jon Walsh

is a father of two girls at King’s, currently in Willow Lodge. He studied at Durham University and then went on to work in industry. His experience over the last 25 years or more has been mainly in food and drink, on brands such as Nescafe, KitKat, John West and Pringles. Most recently he has worked at Meadow Foods, here in Chester. He also worked at Betfair.com during its initial launch phase. Before embarking on his main career, Jon spent a gap year teaching at a rural school in Zimbabwe.

Jon is Vice Chair of Governors, Chair of the Finance & General Purpose Committee, a member of the Governance Committee.

The Very Reverend Dr Tim Stratford

was ordained deacon in 1986, and priest in 1987.[4] After curacies in Mossley Hill and St Helens he was chaplain to David Sheppard, Bishop of Liverpool from 1991 to 1994. He was vicar of West Derby from 1994 to 2003 and Team Rector of Kirkby until 2012. He was Archdeacon of Leicester until his installation as Dean of Chester on 8 September 2018.

The Very Reverend Dr Stratford is a member of the Education Committee.

John Ebo

John Ebo has lived in Chester for some forty years, is married with two sons who are currently at university undertaking post-graduate and under-graduate studies respectively.

A former Lord Mayor of the City of Chester and first Chairman of Cheshire West and Chester Council, he served on the local councils for some three decades with responsibilities including Chairman of Environmental Service Committee and, later, Chairman of the Licensing Board. He is a Director of the Chester Bluecoat Charity. He has served as a Governor of a number of local schools, both Primary and Secondary, and is currently vice-Chairman of Newton Primary School Governors. He has extensive experience of the appointment of all levels of teaching and non-teaching staff.

In business he ran a successful Mortgage Brokerage working within the residential and commercial sectors. He has retired from this business and currently writes and speaks on Local Government.

John is a member of the Risk and Compliance Committee and is the Health and Safety Governor.

Andrew Bartley

At a young age, Andrew moved primary school to The King's School in Chester and stayed there for the rest of his school career. He then went to University in Manchester to study maths. He moved on to law at Christleton for his conversion and LPC and qualified as a Solicitor, gaining Higher Rights of Audience very soon after qualification. He then became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as sitting as a part time Judge.

Having been ranked for a number of years as a Leading Individual in the North West by Legal500 for Commercial Litigation, he retired from private practice and he is now a full time Judge in Manchester. He is married to Olivia, who works for the NHS, and has two children.

Andrew Bentley

Andrew is Storyhouse’s founding Chief Executive and has led the charity since its foundation. He is responsible for the success of its home in Chester, which welcomes over 1m visitors per year. He also created Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in 2010, now the UK's pre-eminent temporary open-air theatre.

Andrew trained as a musician and was Director of Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, which he re-built and re-launched. He has experience in both the cultural and private sectors, having co-founded and built Liverpool’s iconic Hope Street Hotel which, along with its restaurant, has won many national awards over the years, including the industry’s award for the UK’s Best New Hotel. He is a board member of UK Theatre. Andrew was awarded a BEM in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours List for services to arts and libraries.

Andrew is a member of the Finance & General Purpose Committee and Chair of the Bursary and Partnerships Policy Committee.

Charlotte Gillies

Charlotte left the King’s School in 2010 having joined as a Remove. She went on to study French and Spanish at King’s College London, spending a year abroad in Paris and Córdoba. After two years in the wine trade, including WSET wine qualifications, Charlotte completed an ACA training contract in the City to become a chartered accountant. She now works in finance for Grosvenor Europe, the European investment division of the Grosvenor Group, based in Mayfair.

Charlotte is a member of the Education Committee.

Fahmy Fahmy

Professor Fahmy is a Consultant Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon at the Countess of Chester hospital since 2001. His experience and work are both NHS and private. He was qualified in Egypt and trained in 1991 in the South East of England then, Yorkshire. His Plastic & Cosmetic surgery training continued in the South West of England until he had further experience in Taiwan, where he spent 3 months of intensive training in a specialist fellowship. In 2001, he became a Consultant in Chester and Wrexham.

He is an author of a number of publications and chapters in International Journals and Books of Plastic, Reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. He has a great interest in academic work and teaching. He is an examiner of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Edinburgh and was a former member of the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) for training in Plastic Surgery between 2007 and 2009. He has one son at King's school and a daughter studying Medicine in Cardiff.

Fahmy is a the Deputy Chair of the Safeguarding Committee.

Debbie Leonard

Debbie trained as a teacher in Physical Education and Mathematics in Leeds and subsequently taught in six independent schools in different parts of the country. Debbie began her career as a teacher in 1988 and took on her first leadership role in January 2001. From 2001 until August 2021, she held four senior leader roles, the last two being headships. The last headship role was at The Grange School, Hartford.

Debbie has been an ISI team inspector since 2007 and been a governor in a number of schools. Since September 2021, she has moved into Executive and Senior Leader coaching and educational consultancy.

Away from school, Debbie has a passion for all sports and outdoor activities. Her particular interest is in hockey and she has been a premier league coach for three top ladies’ teams in England.

Debbie is a member of the Education Committee.