Governance

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The Members comprise Chester Diocesan Board of Education (DBE), two individual Members of the DBE, the chair of the Directors and additional Members may be appointed by current Members with the consent of the DBE. The Members set the vision and strategic direction of CDAT and they appoint the Directors, apart from the Chief Executive Officer and co-opted Directors who are appointed by the current Directors with the consent of the DBE.

The Chair of the Directors is John Mason.

Role	Name	Date Appointed	Business and Pecuniary Interest
The Bishop of Chester	The Rt Revd Mark Tanner	26th March 2021	Bishop of Chester
Chester Diocesan Board of Education	Sharon Hudson	18th December 2024	Diocesan Board of Education
The Diocesan Corporate Member	Sue Noakes	18th December 2024
The Chair of Trustees	John Mason	21st September 2021	Ex-offico Member as Chair of Directors
The Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education	The Venerable Dr Michael Gilbertson	13th December 2018	Archdeacon of Chester & Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education

The Directors of the Company

The Directors comprise those appointed by the Members, the Chief Executive Officer and co-opted Directors who are appointed by the current Directors with the consent of the DBE. Within the vision and strategic direction established by the Members, the Directors are responsible for the running of CDAT, although they can delegate functions to committees or individual Directors (including the Chief Executive Officer).

Directors are trustees of the charity and must ensure CDAT complies with the requirements of charity law. They are also Directors of the company and must ensure CDAT complies with the company law. The term of office of every Director (except the Chief Executive Officer) is four years. The Chief Executive Officer is always a Director.

The current Directors are:

John Mason (Chair)

Alison Beasley

Louise Corlett

Neil Dixon (CEO)

Vicky Dunbar

Philip Eastwood

David Felix

Beth Holdcroft

Mike Holland

Ralph Mainard

Chris Penn

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Our register of business interests and information on attendance at meetings for the most recent reporting year can be found here.

Meet the Directors

John Mason

Chair
John Mason was appointed as a CDAT Trustee in September 2021 and has been the Chair of its Board since September 2022. He started his professional career in 1980 as a research physicist before moving into financial and project management. In 1996 he took part in a management buyout of LGC which became a large international technical services business. After a period as the Secretary of the Diocese of Chester starting in 2006, he subsequently returned to the commercial world as the Finance Director of a medical devices start-up until 2019. He has been a lay member of the Church of England's General Synod since 2010, is a Director of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, and remains an active member of his local church having been its treasurer for over 20 years. He is currently its PCC Secretary.

Alison Beasley

Alison is an experienced School Business Manager and qualified Chartered Accountant. She has a strong commercial background as a partner in a firm of accountants with clients in many different sectors. For the last ten years Alison has been the business manager at The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School, heading up a support team of 70 and overseeing an annual budget of £6m, together with significant capital and development projects.

Louise Corlett

Vicky Dunbar

Vicky is Chartered MCIPD has a range of work experience in human resources. She took up her current role in the private sector in 2018, having initially joined the company as an HR Manager in 2012. Husco is a large international company specializing in hydraulic and electro-mechanical control systems.

Philip Eastwood

Philip has worked in education for the last 27 years. He has extensive experience teaching across the full primary age range and at senior leadership level with varied roles including that of SENCO, curriculum lead, Advanced Skills Teacher, Training School manager and Teaching School lead. Philip has successfully led on a number of leadership development programmes and facilitates a wide range of CPD opportunities for school staff. In his current role Philip combines his school leadership role with leading a successful School Based teacher training programme with a particular interest in supporting ECTs. He also has many years’ experience serving as a school Governor in a number of church schools.

David Felix

David is a retired Vicar and has served as a primary and secondary school governor for most of the last 30 years, mainly as Chair. He also served as the Diocesan representative on Halton LEA. He is very concerned about the roles schools have in their communities and how those relationships can be used and developed.

Beth Holdcroft

Beth has worked in education for the last 21 years and since 2021 has worked as a Senior Policy and Strategy Advisor for the Department for Education. Prior to this she taught in a wide range of primary schools and held various senior leadership roles, including Deputy headteacher. Alongside teaching, she has been a school governor and a director for another academy trust.

Mike Holland

Mike Holland has been a member of the CDAT board since 2015. He has worked in education for 37 years, including 18 years as a Headteacher at a Cheshire Church of England secondary school. He attends St John's church in Hartford and in his spare time volunteers for the National Trust. He is a long suffering but loyal supporter of Walsall Football Club.

Ralph Mainard

Ralph retired from working at Dulwich College in 2015 and moved from London to Chester. He now sits on a number of Multi Academy Trusts in the North West as a Trustee and Director. He also acts as an advisor to one of London's large independent prep schools. He is a Senior Associate at AQA. He is the Head Server at Chester Cathedral.

Chris Penn

Chris is Director of Education for the Diocese of Chester, and has held the post since 2017. He has an extensive background and experience in education, spanning over 25 years and has worked in a number of senior roles and settings, predominantly in the primary phase, including ten years as headteacher of a Church of England primary school. Chris leads the Diocesan Board of Education team of officers, providing a range of services and support to schools, working alongside strategic partners that include local authorities, Academy Trusts, the Regional Director's office and the Church of England Education Office.

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