John became a member of Paradigm Trust in February 2020.

John is a retired senior manager who spent his career at the leading edge of developing and supporting software solutions in the challenging environment of global telecommunications. He blends experience of organisational transformation, culture change, and project management with a very strong awareness of the challenges in Primary and Secondary schools.

John was a governor at Ipswich Academy’s precursor schools for over 40 years, with roles including Vice-chair and Chair of the governing body, and chair of the Finance Committee. He was also a governor at his children’s primary school, St Helens, from 1980 for over 30 years, many as Chair of Governors. He was instrumental in working to transform Holywells High School to Ipswich Academy and was a founder of the ASSET (IPAT) Multi-academy Trust. Although no longer a governor, John continues to help Ipswich Academy as Chair of the Community Forum and leading a team of maths mentors.

In order to tackle embedded low literacy in disadvantaged areas of Ipswich, in 2016 John set up the Let’s Talk Reading charity, which he chairs, and which now works with 15 schools, 40 early years settings and a number of partner agencies and charities. He also set up sister charity, Read Easy Ipswich in 2018 to help to deal with adult literacy problems. He has interests in an educational project involving 16 disadvantaged schools in Delhi.

John worked for BT for over 30 years, leading software engineering research and development related to new telephone exchanges, network management systems, software architectures and latterly leading BT’s UK network strategy unit. He retired from BT in 2000. In 1995, he was appointed a non-executive Director of the Indian BT joint venture company, Mahindra-BT; then became its COO in 2000 and CEO between 2001 and 2004, positioning it for its public flotation as Tech Mahindra.

John is a strong advocate of carbon reduction and is rapidly changing his lifestyle appropriately. Apart from his family, his main interest is music: playing in a woodwind quintet and a saxophone quartet.

Val became a member in 2024.

She initially joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in December 2016 and was the Trust’s link director for Ipswich Academy.

After starting out as a secondary English specialist, she worked as a freelance proof-reader and editor and held a full time editorial post with a small specialist publishing company for several years, before moving into the City to take up the position of Deputy Director-General at the Business Services Association, working in London and Brussels.

She enjoys a freelance career, working with a number of smaller charities, and is a Liveryman and Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Educators.

Val stepped down from her role as a director on 24 April 2024.

On standing down, Val expressed an interest in becoming a Member of the Trust. The Members resolved to appoint Val as a Member in June 2024.

Jeff is one of the members and joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in September 2013.

Until September 2024 Jeff was vice chairman of the Board and also chaired the operations and finance committee. He was the Trust’s link director for Culloden Primary Academy also until September 2024.

Jeff was a governor at his daughters’ primary school in Redbridge for 10 years before moving to Tower Hamlets.  There he was introduced to Old Ford Primary School where he became a governor, a role he held for six years, eventually becoming the vice chair of governors.  Jeff next became chair of the local governing body at Culloden Primary Academy and interim chair at Solebay Primary Academy until the Trust’s governance structure was revised in September 2015.

Until his retirement in 2014, Jeff was a director of BMS Group, one of the world’s leading reinsurance brokers. During his career spanning 40 years, working within the London insurance market, Jeff held a number of posts including IT director and group marketing and communications director.

Jeff was appointed as a director by the members when the company was formed on 2 April 2013. He served for three terms and stood down from his role as a director on 1 April 2025. Jeff remains a Member of the Trust.

Les is a member and rejoined the board of Paradigm Trust in July 2023 after previously serving one term of office from May 2018 – May 2022. 

Les currently holds a number of non-executive and consultancy posts, predominantly in the publishing and media production sectors, where he worked for some decades.

Before stepping down from his last full-time managing director role, Les was a director in a number of media production SME businesses, specialising in restructuring, growth, acquisition, and stakeholder value realisation. He has been involved in start-up companies, growing from base to multi-million pound organisations.

Les is also a business mentor for the Prince’s Trust.

Les is the Trust’s link director for Murrayfield Primary Academy.

Denise is one of the members and joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in September 2013.

She is also the chair of the education committee. She is the Link Director for Solebay Primary Academy.

Denise Syndercombe-Court lives in Tower Hamlets and was a governor at Culloden Primary School for over twenty years.  She joined the governing body as a parent governor when her eldest son started at the school and retained her interest in primary education as chair of the governing body for more than fifteen years.  Professionally she is a scientist and was educated at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Currently she is an academic at King’s College London.

Denise’s term of office is four years. She was appointed as a director by the members when the company was formed on 2 April 2013. She has since been re-appointed as a director, by the members, and is currently serving her fourth term. Denise is the Trust’s link director for Solebay Primary Academy.

Pauline became a member in November 2021.

She joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in October 2013 and in addition to her director role was the chair of the audit and risk committee and the link director for Solebay Primary Academy. Pauline served for a period of two terms which concluded in October 2021. On standing down, Pauline expressed an interest in becoming a Member of the Trust. The Members resolved to appoint Pauline as a Member in November 2021.

Pauline is a Chartered Accountant who, prior to retirement, was a senior partner in PwC and their UK head of public policy and regulatory affairs.  She is now the inaugural chair of the UK Accounting Standards Endorsement Board and a member of The Pensions Regulator’s Determinations Panel.  She is also chair of the governing body of Middleton School, a special needs primary school in Ware, Hertfordshire.

Alistair became a member of Paradigm Trust in May 2018.

He retired from the international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills in 2017 where he was partnership secretary for 22 years.

Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills he was in government service, principally with the Royal Navy serving at sea, in NATO Headquarters in Brussels and in the Ministry of Defence, London. He was Equerry and Assistant Private Secretary to HRH the Prince of Wales from 1989 to 1991.

Alistair has experience of contributing to and supporting a number of boards and senior committees during expansion and times of change.

Bill is chief executive and an ex officio director.

He has almost 20 years’ experience of working with schools (both primary and secondary) across a wide range of roles: headteacher; chair of governors; trustee of a multi-academy trust; company secretary and, latterly, as chief operating officer for Paradigm Trust.

As a headteacher, Bill brought his school out of special measures, delivered a step change in pupil outcomes and achieved an outstanding inspection judgment for leadership and management. Prior to his teaching career, Bill worked for three years within a global IT strategy consultancy. He has also held various roles within the Department for Education, including working as a policy fellow, with a particular focus on developing a school-led system; inspection reform and workload reduction.

Bill is a passionate advocate of Paradigm’s vision of giving children the educational opportunities they deserve, and a firm believer that the key to great outcomes is great teaching.

Jo Brown joined the Trust as a Parent Director in February 2024.

Jo is a parent of two children, both of whom attend a Paradigm school. Jo was previously chair of the Academy Council at Murrayfield Primary Academy (MPA) for several years and stood down when her youngest son moved to secondary school. As chair of the Academy Council, Jo was closely involved with MPA attending academy council meetings, and joint academy council meetings with other Trust schools and also played a part in the Principal recruitment process at MPA.

Jo is currently working as a full-time gardener for her own gardening business. Before she had children she spent 14 years at Ipswich Hospital where she was a team manager and in charge of the staffing team for over 200 nurses and administration staff. This involved managing ward openings, and budgets for the staffing team and ensuring the staff were working within safe working hours.

Dave joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in January 2017.

Dave holds a number of consulting, non executive, and executive roles. He is Non Executive director for Health Enterprise East, an NHS based Intellectual property company, Director of Castle Crag Communications, a Digital Communications Consultancy company, and a trustee of both the Suffolk Community Foundation and Let’s Talk Reading, an Ipswich charity focussed on improving literacy in the town. He is deputy chairman of the board of Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation trust, where he is also chair of the performance committee and chair of the strategic projects committee which oversaw the recent move of the hospital to the Cambridge Bio Medical Campus.

Prior to this, Dave held a range of executive roles at BT over a 35 year career.

Dave’s term of office is four years. He was appointed as a co-opted director by the Trust Board on 11 January 2017. He is the Trust’s link director for Woodbridge Road Academy, and Chair of the OFC.

Vicki joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in December 2016.

Additionally she is a member of the operations and finance committee.

Vicki is a Senior Executive at Lloyds Banking Group and is currently responsible for Digital Banking for the Commercial Bank. Her career spans over 25 years, predominately in Consumer Lending. She started her career at Robert Fleming, heading to MBNA to launch the Credit Card business in the UK, then joined LloydsTSB to work in the Retail Product marketing team focusing on Lending. Vicki moved away from Bank for 10 years working at GE Capital and Santander, but returned back into the LBG Group in 2014.

In addition to being a working mother, Vicki is an active Digital Ambassador for the East of England, a role focused on supporting Digital and Financial Inclusion. This covers work in schools across the region, as well as Adults and Small Businesses education to increase awareness and understanding.

Vicki’s term of office is four years. She was appointed as a co-opted director by the Trust Board on 14 December 2016 and is currently serving her second term.

Paul has wide-ranging experience as a General Manager and a Finance Director in a number of Retail businesses.

In a thirty-year executive career in the Retail Sector, he was the Managing Director of Homebase and Habitat, GUS Home Shopping and Shoe Express/Shoe City, and the Finance Director of Argos, Debenhams, and Burton Menswear.

As a Non-Executive Paul sits on the Boards of Peabody, the London Housing Association, where he chairs the Audit Committee and the Customer Services Committee, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, where he chairs the Audit Committee and Black Stork, a charity dedicated to improving rehabilitation after traumatic injury.

In his plural career, Paul looks to bring his commercial experience to bear in organisations with a social purpose.
He is particularly interested in Risk Management, Organisational Change, Customercentricity, and Effective Service Delivery.

Paul was appointed as a Director on 23rd April 2021 and is currently serving his second term. He is the Trust’s link director for Piper’s Vale Primary Academy and was appointed as vice chair of the Board from September 2024.

Dawud Marsh joined the Trust as a Parent Director on 16 December 2022. 

Dawud is a co-director of a project for adults with learning difficulties and disabilities in Tower Hamlets called CORE Projects, which is a vocational training project that aims to support people towards greater independence and to have a voice about how they want to be supported in their lives. Dawud previously worked as a senior manager of a department for adults with learning disabilities in a further education college.

Dawud is also a trainer for the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and co-delivers workshops for parents/ carers and professionals around understanding and supporting people whose behaviour is considered challenging. Dawud has taught on teaching training programmes on classroom management and delivered presentations on dual diagnosis and safeguarding in the learning disability community.

Les rejoined the board of Paradigm Trust in July 2023 after previously serving one term of office from May 2018 – May 2022. 

Les currently holds a number of non-executive and consultancy posts, predominantly in the publishing and media production sectors, where he worked for some decades.

Before stepping down from his last full-time managing director role, Les was a director in a number of media production SME businesses, specialising in restructuring, growth, acquisition, and stakeholder value realisation. He has been involved in start-up companies, growing from base to multi-million pound organisations.

Les is also a business mentor for the Prince’s Trust.

Les is the Trust’s link director for Murrayfield Primary Academy.

Clive became a Director of the Trust in May 2025.

 Clive currently works as a Senior Partner at a Management Consultancy, focused on the Telecommunications sector, after working for BT and AT&T for over 35 years. Clive is also a Non-Executive Director for two government Arms Length Bodies – the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), and the Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS).

Clive left school at 16, starting working life as an apprentice at BT Research in Martlesham and studied at Suffolk College and then the University of Sheffield with BT. Clive lived and worked in Bristol and London before returning to Ipswich in 2000.

Alesa originally joined the board of Paradigm Trust as parent director in November 2017.

She is now serving her second term as a co-opted director.

Her first connection with the Trust was in 2009 when her eldest daughter started in Culloden’s nursery.  Soon after, Alesa was elected as parent governor, serving two terms of office before Culloden converted into an Academy and the Trust was formed.

Alesa was then involved in setting up Culloden’s Academy Council and was voted in as Chair by council members; a position which she still holds today. Over this time Alesa has worked closely with the Principal and staff, trying to improve parental engagement and responding positively to feedback received.Alesa’s daughters left Culloden with outstanding SATs results and credits this success to the outstanding teaching and care that they received whilst there.

Alesa has worked in East London schools for over 16 years and is a teacher at a local Tower Hamlets secondary school. Not only has this experience given her an understanding of the challenges that face local children and parents, but it has also shown her how the Trust’s ethos of having the highest of expectations for children and being committed to their education can dramatically change their lives.

She has seen for herself the importance of laying down a good foundation of teaching and learning at primary school which then enables children to thrive and be confident when making their transition into secondary education.

Denise is one of the members and joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in September 2013.

She is also the chair of the education committee. She is the Link Director for Solebay Primary Academy.

Denise Syndercombe-Court lives in Tower Hamlets and was a governor at Culloden Primary School for over twenty years.  She joined the governing body as a parent governor when her eldest son started at the school and retained her interest in primary education as chair of the governing body for more than fifteen years.  Professionally she is a scientist and was educated at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Currently she is an academic at King’s College London.

Denise’s term of office is four years. She was appointed as a director by the members when the company was formed on 2 April 2013. She has since been re-appointed as a director, by the members, and is currently serving her fourth term. Denise is the Trust’s link director for Solebay Primary Academy.

David joined the board of directors of Paradigm Trust in January 2014 and became the chair in July 2016.

He is a member of the operations and finance committee and is the trust’s link director for Old Ford Primary Academy.

David is a solicitor and, prior to his retirement, he was the joint CEO at international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was a member of the board and co-chaired the executive committee concentrating on the implementation of the firm’s strategy.

Prior to becoming managing partner of Herbert Smith in April 2008, he held a number of senior management positions, including leading Herbert Smith’s Asia operations (1997–2001) and Herbert Smith’s financial institutions’ group.

David joined Herbert Smith in 1981 and became a partner in 1989. Before working in Hong Kong, he advised on a series of major privatisations in the United Kingdom, including in the electricity and coal sectors. He also advised the UK government on the restructuring of British Nuclear Fuels plc and the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

David spent 8 years as a member of the Council at Queen Mary University of London and was elected a Fellow of Queen Mary in 2022; he was a member of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority for 6 years; and is a vice-chair of the board of trustees of United Response, a learning disabilities charity, and chair of its finance and resources committee. In 2022, he was appointed by the Secretary of State to the board of the Financial Reporting Council.