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.

The Right Reverend Dr Peter Forster

read Chemistry at Merton College, Oxford, and then studied Theology at Edinburgh University. He was a Curate in Liverpool before being appointed Senior Tutor at St John's College, Durham University.

Before becoming Bishop of Chester in 1996, he was Vicar of Beverley Minster. He has wide educational interests and was formerly Chair of Governors at a local Academy.

The Very Reverend Gordon McPhate

is Dean of Chester. He is also Visiting Professor of Theology at University College, Chester, specialising in Medical Ethics.

He held academic appointments in Physiology and Pathology at the Universities of Cambridge, London and St Andrews and was also Consultant Clinical Pathologist to Fife Hospitals until 2002. He served as a priest in the diocese of Southwark and in the diocese of St Andrews between 1979 and 2002.

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 and chairs the Audit & Compliance Committee.

Stephen Cross

has been Clerk to the Governors since 2002. He retired from the Police Service after 31 years, having specialised in the criminal investigation of serious crime, fraud and drug-related crime, as well as being national hostage negotiator.

Following his retirement from the Police, Stephen graduated in Law and is now the in-house lawyer for the Countess of Chester Hospital, a Governor of the Deeside Group of Colleges in North East Wales and Chair of their Audit Committee. He is a reader and server at Chester Cathedral.

Graham Ramsbottom

has three children at King's, and is Chief Executive of the Wheatsheaf Group, a division of the Grosvenor Estate. He served in the Royal Navy before studying Land Management, spent seven years with Strutt and Parker, becoming a partner in 1999, and was a Director of the property division of the Co-operative Group.

He joined the Grosvenor Estate in 2009, becoming CEO of their Wheatsheaf Group in 2011.

He is the current Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee.

Ian O'Doherty

is Chief Executive designate of Park Group, one of the UK’s leading multi-retailer voucher and prepaid gift card businesses. Ian previously held the position of Chief Executive of MBNA Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of America. A civil engineer by training with degrees from University College Dublin and the University of Missouri, he also holds an MBA from Boston College.

He has been a King's parent, and a Governor since 2013 and is the current Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

Jon Billowes

is Professor of Physics at the University of Manchester, Head of Nuclear Physics Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy and was the first Director of Education in the Dalton Nuclear Institute.

He came to Manchester in 1986 following post-doctorate research at Oxford University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Before his academic career he served in the Royal Navy, and he retains an active interest – and still participates - in rowing.

He is the current Chair of the Education Committee.

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.

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.

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.

Ruth Ashford

Professor Ruth Ashford holds a PhD in Consumer Behaviour from University of Lancaster. She has recently become the Consultant Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Chester. She was previously Dean and Pro Vice Chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was also the Chief Examiner of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Senior Examiner for University of Cambridge International and Board member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools. Ruth's father attended the King's School in the 1940s and still has very fond memories.

Nick Wood

is a former pupil of King’s, a graduate of Liverpool University where he read Urban Estate Management, and a qualified Chartered Surveyor. He is currently a Senior Surveyor with the Connells Group specialising in residential valuation surveying in the Chester area.

He is a trustee of Chester Municipal Charities, which supports local charity and education initiatives, including the School’s bursary and scholarship system, and is responsible for the Charity’s diverse city centre property portfolio. He was appointed to the Board of Governors at King’s in 2016 and has been actively involved in the School’s development strategy.

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.

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.

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.