Board membership
Founder members
Additional Information about Founder Members can be found below when clicking their photograph.
Founder Members (ID 1251)
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Archbishop Bernard LongleyChair
Archbishop Bernard Longley
Bernard Longley, 9th Archbishop of Birmingham, is Chair of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Dialogue and Unity and Episcopal Liaison to the Travellers’ Issues Working Group.
Archbishop Longley also sits on the Mixed Commission of the Conference of Religious. Archbishop Longley was appointed by Pope Benedict as a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and the co-Chairman of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), with oversight of the third phase of Anglican-Catholic dialogue.
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Steve BellMember and Director of Education
Steve Bell
Steve is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Painsley Catholic Academy- a multi academy company comprising of 16 schools in Staffordshire.
Steve joined the Diocesan Education Service (DES) on an initial two-year part time secondment. As Director of Education, Steve's role is to promote, communicate and implement the Archbishop’s vision for Catholic education in the Archdiocese.
The role aims to build capacity, trust and strong relationships within the Archdiocesan family of schools; facilitating collaboration between MACs and schools to achieve continual school improvement and raise aspirations to be the school of choice for parents and children in the local area.
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Jacqui FrancisMember
Jacqui Francis
Trustee, Archdiocese of Birmingham
Trustee of The Cole Charitable Trust
Trustee of The Birmingham and Midland Institute
Appointed by Archbishop of Birmingham -
Kari GordonMember
Kari Gordon
Director and part owner of ITG Resources Limited (company number 06045013)
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Eric KirwanMember
Eric Kirwan
Eric Kirwan is the Chief Operating Officer for the Archdiocese, with effect from Monday 8 March 2021.
Currently the Chair of Directors at Holy Family Catholic Multi-Academy Company (MAC) in Warwickshire. Prior to taking up this role he was a successful Chief Executive Officer with experience in both the private and charity sectors.
He is a parishioner and church warden at St Francis Catholic Church in Kenilworth and has been active in the parish community for many years. Prior to his role at the Holy Family MAC, Eric was CEO at Modulex A/S in Denmark for several years.
Eric also holds the role of Non Executive Director at Snap Vision, UK. A role held since 2012 at an award-winning visual search and AI company. -
Chris LoughranMember
Chris Loughran
Trustee, Archdiocese of Birmingham
Director of Avalanche Capital Limited
Employee of Trafalgar Workforce Solutions, providing services to Deloitte LLP.
Director of two family companies; Luchrain Investments Limited and Luchrain Trading Limited.
Director of Portway Community Rugby Limited, a company limited by guarantee, owner of the land on which Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Football Club play.
Trustee of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.Trustee of CBSO Development Trust
Trustee of The Lord Mayor of Birmingham's charity -
Peter Vella,Member
Peter Vella,
Trustee, Archdiocese of Birmingham
Appointed by Archbishop of Birmingham
Peter has enjoyed a varied career, predominantly across travel, tourism, aviation, construction and education sectors. He spent twelve years as an executive director of Birmingham Airport Ltd, five years with Interserve plc operating as CEO of a group of companies building schools in Leeds, St Helens and Sandwell followed by four years as Director for the Malta Tourism Authority in the UK and Ireland. Peter served a school governor from 1999 until 2007. In 2014 he founded an academy trust based in Leeds and was appointed as its first CEO.
Peter has also held a number of non-executive directorships including six years with Marketing Birmingham. He has extensive experience of working across the private, public and charity sectors. Peter currently serves as a non-executive director for HotelshopUK Ltd and is a fellow member of the Institute of Travel and Tourism. In 2016 Peter was invested as a Knight of Magistral Grace for The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta and plays an active part within the organisation.
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Canon. Jonathan VeaseyMember
Canon. Jonathan Veasey
Parish Priest of Sacred Heart and Holy Souls
Priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
He trained for the priesthood at St. Mary's College Oscott and completed his studies at the Catholic  University of Leuven, Belgium.
Since 1994 he has worked with the Catholic Schools' in the Archdiocese of Birmingham serving as  Primary School RE Adviser.
Served as Director of the Diocesan Education Service.
In 2011 amalgamated the Diocesan Department of Religious Education and the Diocesan Schools'
Commission into one organisation and served as the Director of the Diocesan Education Service  until 2018.
Continues to lead the Diocesan Academy Strategy as Chair of the Diocesan Academy Strategy  Board.
Foundation Directors
The Board of Directors meets regularly. It consists of five Foundation Directors who have been appointed by the Diocese.
You can use the links below to find out more about each Director.
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Paul GlennFoundation Director
Paul Glenn
Born and educated in Coventry ( Bablake GS), Paul graduated from Lanchester Polytechnic ( now Coventry University ) with a BA (Hons) in Business Studies.
Paul joined the St Thomas More ESC as a Foundation Governor in May 2021 before his appointment as a Foundation Director of the Holy Spirit MAC in December 2021.
Retiring in March 2021, Paul worked for 43 years in a variety of business roles spanning procurement and export sales and marketing. In this capacity, Paul worked at board level for some 30 years as part of executive leadership teams to formulate and deliver long term strategic business plans. In his role before retiring Paul led a 30 strong global sales team spread across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, India, China , Japan and S E Asia selling capital equipment for Quality Control applications in the FMCG sectors. He travelled extensively for over 30 years to all these areas gaining a broad experience of diverse business environments and cultures.
Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and business experience to the MAC in development and implementation of continued school improvement.
Paul has taken part in Safer Recruitment Training and is Safeguarding Director to ensure safeguarding across the MAC.
Paul is a member of the Catholic Life, Standards and Strategy and the Finance & Audit Committees.
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Michael GreenFoundation Director
Michael Green
Michael joined the Holy Spirt Multi Academy in 2021, in the role of Foundation Governor at St. Thomas More Catholic Academy and Sixth Form College. In 2022, he became Chair of the Education Standards Committee at St. Thomas More School with special responsibility for Safeguarding and SEND, before his appointment to the board in October 2023.
Professionally, Michael completed an electrical engineering apprenticeship with the Royal Signals, before his current employment at a local engineering company, where he has worked for over 25 years.
Michael is also a member of His Majesty’s local government and in this role, he has gained experience on Employment and Planning Committees as well as sitting on the local Business and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Panel. He is also a volunteer school admissions panel member for Warwickshire County Council and has completed formal training in admissions law.
Michael attends of Our Lady of the Angels church, where he is President of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. An organisation that is committed to alleviating poverty in all its forms.
Michael is Vice Chair of the Catholic Life Committee and a member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
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Peter KinghamCo-opted Board Director
Peter Kingham
Peter Kingham has dedicated over four decades to the field of education, making significant contributions throughout his career. He served as Headteacher of an outstanding local secondary school and subsequently took on the role of Executive Head of three schools in Warwickshire. His leadership skills were further recognized when he became the Education Director for a large national Multi Academy Trust, overseeing more than 30 secondary and primary academies. Peter was one of the first of eighty National Leaders of Education.
One of Peter's notable achievements was his appointment as Principal of a joint Catholic and Anglican Academy. He was pivotal in guiding the academy from its inception to a successful establishment. In recent years, Peter transitioned into a consultancy role, offering his expertise to various schools and focusing on training senior leaders and new heads. Peter is Ofsted-trained and has undertaken several reviews in overseas schools.
Peter resides in Nuneaton with his wife and their American Cocker Spaniel, Pebbles. Outside of his professional endeavours, he enjoys photography and has a passion for driving classic cars, with a particular fondness for Porsche models.
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Kevin MoranFoundation Director
Kevin Moran
Kevin joined the Holy Spirit MAC in 2015 as a role of Foundation Governor at St. Benedicts School in Atherstone, where he was also Chair of the Educations Standards Committee.
Kevin has a background in the Hospitality Industry both here in the UK and abroad, Kevin started his teaching career at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College Nuneaton and then moved to Walsall College where he became an Assistant Principal for Marketing and had a responsibility for the Faculty of Service Industries.
He was also Managing Director for the College Company.
Kevin then went on to work at the University College Birmingham where he was involved with a HEFCE Lifelong Learning project which developed partnerships with all the Universities and Colleges in Birmingham and the Black Country. The aim was to develop Progression Agreements for vocational learners enabling them to progress from Further Education on to Higher Education.
He was then appointed as Business Development Manager with special responsibility for Higher Level Apprenticeships.
Kevin has a MA in Education from the University of Leicester and attends St Benedict’s Church in Atherstone.
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Avril StaleyFoundation Director - Vice Chair
Avril Staley
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Avril has been on the board of Directors since the Holy Spirit MAC formed back in 2015. Previous to this Avril was a governor at Our Lady & St Joseph Catholic Academy. Since then, Avril has developed a depth of knowledge and understanding around governance and a great deal of insight into our five schools. Avril has two children at our school and attended two of our MAC schools herself.
Professionally, Avril has been working in the field of HR for over 20 years, specialising in Organisational Development and Talent Management and is also an accredited career and business coach. Avril currently works at Coventry University where she is Head of Organisation Development, Talent and Learning, and is responsible for leading her team to implement the talent strategy across the University Group. This includes, Executive development and succession planning, Talent Acquisition, Leadership Development, and all staff digital and core learning.
Avril also ran her own consultancy business for 6 years working with and coaching senior leaders across many different sectors and organisations. Previously to this Avril held senior leadership roles within the people/HR functions at large multi-site and global organisations.
Avril is committed to running the Holy Spirit MAC ensuring it continues to provide an outstanding education and environment for all our children.
Avril is a member of the Standard and Strategy Committee.
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Philip RichardsonFoundation Director - Chair
Philip Richardson
Philip joined the Holy Spirit Multi Academy in 2019 as a role of a Foundation Governor at St Thomas More Catholic Academy and Sixth Form College. Whist in this role Philip has assisted the school in setting its School Improvement Plan and has undertaken audits into key areas of improvement.
Philip has recently retired as the Director of Democracy, planning and public Protection at Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, along with being a practising Barrister fulfilling the role of Solicitor to the council.
Philip also has a ILM level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching & Mentoring along with being the chair of the Chinthowa Development Trust, which is a UK charity, working to support orphans in Malawi.
Philip has extensive facilities management experience, undertaking regular Health and Safety training with the council.
Attendance at the Board Committee meetings can be found below:
The Board Core Committees
Committee | Membership |
Finance, Audit & Risk |
Paul Glenn (Vice Chair) Michael Green (Chair) Sinead Smith Julie Sewell (Presenting/Observing) Phil Richardson |
Catholic Life |
Paul Glenn (Chair) Sinead Smith Avril Staley Michael Green (Vice Chair) Phil Richardson |
Standards & Strategy |
Paul Glenn (Vice-chair) Peter Kingham Kevin Moran Sinead Smith Avril Staley (Chair) |
Pay Committee |
Michael Green Avril Staley (Vice Chair) Phil Richardson (Chair) Martin Jones & Jim Foley - Independent Consultant |
Safeguarding Director – Paul Glenn