Governors and Staff

An old boy of Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Boys, a graduate of Manchester University with a degree in Medical Microbiology and an alumnus of the London Business School Sloan Fellowship Programme, Simon has spent 35 years as an executive or venture capital investor in life-science and technology firms.

As Chief Executive Officer he led ApaTech Ltd, an Elstree-based orthobiologics company, to significant global success prior to its sale to a US firm in 2010. Previously he was an Executive Director of Celltech Group plc and CEO, Celltech Pharmaceuticals. His early career was at Glaxo/Glaxo Wellcome plc in a series of senior UK and global sales, marketing, supply chain, business development and commercial strategy roles.

Simon is currently non-executive Chairman of OssDsign AB, a Swedish customised cranial implant business, Chairman of Oviva AG, a Swiss based diabetes and obesity management business, and Chairman of Ieso Digital Health, the leading UK provider of online mental healthcare. He also sits on the Board of ReNeuron plc, Europe’s leading stem cell business and BoneSupport AB, a Swedish orthopaedic business.

In addition to his role as Chairman of the Aske Board, Simon sits on the Court of Assistants of the Haberdashers’ Company and is currently 4th Warden. He was made OBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2016 for services to the life-science sector.

Margot Chaundler was educated at Roedean School and the University of Kent (History and English).  One of the first women to be appointed to the Administrative Class in the Ministry of Defence, she served in a range of appointments for 25 years and was awarded an OBE in 1991.  She was Bursar of St Paul’s Girls’ School from 1995 until 2008.

Margot is the Administrator of the NFL Trust, which supports needy girls at independent schools in the UK. She appraises Bursars, reviews schools’ support structures and helps with senior school appointments.  

She is a Liveryman of the Haberdashers’ Company and was a Governor of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Schools between 1992 and 2003. She was a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Haberdashers’ Adams’ Federation Trust from its formation to July 2016.

Recent School Governorships include Wellington College, Roedean and Eagle House Preparatory School.

Tim was born and educated in New Zealand and moved to the United Kingdom more than a decade ago. He practices as a solicitor specialising in financial services regulation and is a partner at an international law firm.

Prior to practising as a solicitor Tim worked for a number of different financial services regulators.  Tim is a Liveryman of the Haberdashers’ Company and is married with two young sons.

Hetti Afolami was educated at St Mary’s School, Calne and then Durham University where she read History and Politics. She subsequently qualified as a solicitor with Allen & Overy LLP where she specialised in litigation and international arbitration.

Following a Masters in Public International Law from King’s College, London, Hetti joined the Government Legal Department’s Immigration Litigation team where she acted for the Home Office in defending challenges to their immigration decisions.

Hetti has since qualified as a mediator and now runs In Place of Strife, The Mediation Chambers which assists individuals and businesses in resolving their disputes.  Hetti is a Director of the Civil Mediation Council on behalf of In Place of Strife and chairs their Government Liaison Working Group.

Hetti is a Liveryman of the Haberdashers’ Company. She served as the Haberdasher Governor of St John the Baptist School, Hoxton for 9 years.  Hetti is married with three young sons. 

Shruti attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls from 1990 – 1997, after which she studied Law at Downing College, Cambridge.  She began her career as a trainee lawyer at Allen & Overy in 2002, specialising in credit derivatives and capital markets (involving drafting almost all of the standard documentation in this area over the last decade). She is now the Head of Fuse, Allen & Overy’s tech innovation space which opened in September 2017, which is aimed at identifying LegalTech companies which are relevant to its lawyers and clients.  During 2018, she has been awarded a TechWomen50 Award and a Fastcase 50 Award as well as being included in the Lawyers Hot 100 list, Brummell Magazine’s 30 Inspirational Women list and Management Today’s Power Part Timers List.

Outside of Allen & Overy, Shruti has three children (aged 8, 6, and 2) and used her most recent maternity leave to undertake the FT Diploma in Non-Executive Directorships and a 3 month course for entrepreneurs at Google Campus, as well as being selected to partake in the Judicial Support Scheme, which is aimed at increasing diversity in the judiciary.  She also manages a sector-agnostic portfolio of private investments and recently appeared on BBC 2’s “Million Pound Menu” as a restaurant investor.

Steven is an Old Haberdasher (1980 – 1991).   He is the Founding Partner of Geneva Capital Partners LLP an FCA regulated hedge fund.  He previously worked as an investment banker at Nomura and Barclays Capital before moving to The Royal Bank of Scotland where he became the Global Head of the Principal Strategies Group, the bank’s proprietary bond trading business.
 
During his time at the school, Steven was active in a host of extracurricular activities and particularly enjoyed his time in the RAF cadets where he went on to lead the CCF as Under Officer.  He passed out from RMA Sandhurst as a TA infantry officer, whilst at the Manchester Metropolitan University and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Business.
 
Outside work, Steven regularly plays water polo, a sport he has enjoyed since school.  Steven has four children, with his son and two eldest daughters currently at Haberdashers.

Yvonne’s career has been as a teacher, Headmistress, publisher and writer. She was Head of the City of London School for Girls (1995 – 2007) and Head of St. Helen’s, Northwood (1987-1995). She is a passionate Educationalist and set up and co-ordinated a number of Independent and State School Partnerships, including one with Eton College and schools in Slough and another with schools in the Haberdashers’ Federation. She advises schools on change management and leadership; appraises Heads and Senior Managers and is a public speaker.

Yvonne is immediate Past Master of the Company of Educators, a JP in the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Innholders and a Governor of Berkhamsted School, Brighton University and on the Court of City University. She was recently made a Fellow of the College of Teachers.  Yvonne is also a member of the Education Panel for the Wolfson Foundation and a Trustee of the 9/11 London Project and of the Charity, Tomorrow’s Achievers. 

She was awarded an OBE in 2008 for her services to education in London.

Before starting her family and political career, Caroline Clapper worked predominantly in the Film and Advertising Industry, lastly for the Scottish Media Group. More recently, she is a 3-term County Councillor for Hertfordshire and 2-term Borough Councillor for Hertsmere, representing Radlett, Aldenham and Elstree. She is the Cabinet Member responsible for Leisure, Culture and Heath, and is closely involved in local Planning and Highways issues. She sits on the Boards of both Elstree Studios and Aldenham County Park, and sits on the Education and Public Health Committees at County Council.

Caroline was previously a School Governor at Aldenham School, as well as at HJPS and Woodridge Junior School. Caroline is married to her husband Michael Clapper (an Habs Old Boy) and they have 3 children - 2 of which are currently at Habs; one at the Girls, and one at the Boys.

Professor Lawrence Goldman was a pupil at the Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, Elstree, between 1968 and 1975. He read History at Cambridge and on graduation went to study at Yale University on a Harkness Fellowship. He was a Junior Research Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge (1982-5) and Fellow and Tutor in Modern History, and latterly Vice-Master, at St. Peter’s College, Oxford between 1990 and 2014 where he taught modern British and American History.

Between 2004 and 2014 he was also the Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, a compilation of biographical essays on more than 58,000 figures in British History, the longest single work in the history of the English language. In 2014 he took up a new appointment as Director of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, which is located in Senate House, Bloomsbury.

He has published on the history of social science, workers’ education, nineteenth century politics and Victorian intellectual life. He has contributed a variety of biographies to the Oxford DNB including the life of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. His most recent book was a full-scale biography of the historian and political thinker, R. H. Tawney published in 2013. 

Educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, Helen is a Real Estate and Construction  consultant who has worked for major investors, occupiers, education and public sector clients. With a background in commercial property, she was Head of  JLL’s Project & Development Services team and sat on the UK Executive Board, Project & Development Services Global Board and Chaired the JLL Gender Balance Group.
 
Having attained a BSc (Hons) in Building Surveying, Helen qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and was later appointed a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. She served as Chair of the RICS Building Surveying Professional Group for three terms. She is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
 
Helen was appointed a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors in 2007. Through the Academy Ambassadors Programme, she has been a Non-Executive Director and member of the Aquinas Academy Trust since 2015.  In 2017 she was made a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and appointed to the Property Committee.  In 2019 she was elected to the Court of Assistants.

Julian was born in Beckenham, Kent and now lives in Weybridge, Surrey with his wife Caroline and four daughters. He attended school at Sevenoaks then studied business at Thames Polytechnic.   His early career was at the Confederation of British Industry where he ran their commercial activities before moving into publishing with a small fast growing start up and then Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

In 2005 he formed Panacea Publishing International and bought Business Traveller from Euromoney.  He is today the Managing Director of Panacea and travels frequently to events and the Panacea offices overseas.  He is also Director of a small property investment company. 

Before family life got rather busy he served for 23 years in the TA/Army Reserve and enjoyed diving, shooting, sailing and tennis.  Today apart from family his interests include food and wine, walking and squash.

Emma lives in Tooting, and is married with two sons, aged 8 and 5 years old. Emma attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls from 1982 - 1995 and was appointed Head Girl in 1994. She studied French and German at Balliol College, Oxford, where she was also the first female Organ Scholar. In 1999, she started her career in advertising, and has worked at M&C Saatchi, Lowe, TBWA, AMV BBDO, and is now Head of Account Management at J. Walter Thompson.

In 2018, Emma launched Mind Your Own Business, a South London support network for women who want to start their own business and Time for Music, a music well-being initiative for the corporate world.  

Pooja was a pupil at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls from 1995 to 2004. Upon leaving school, she joined the Haberdashers' Company as an apprentice and is currently a liveryman of the Company. After her years at Habs, Pooja went on to read English at Trinity College, Cambridge and then trained as a solicitor. Having begun her career working at city law firms, Allen & Overy and Macfarlanes, Pooja now works as a finance lawyer at Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator.

Prior to becoming a solicitor, Pooja qualified as a teacher through the Teach First programme, teaching English at a secondary school in Kilburn, London. Teaching and education remain interests of hers as well as volunteering.
 

Leanne was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls. She subsequently studied Mathematics and Psychology at Manchester University.  

Leanne works independently, running her own FD Consultancy for a portfolio of small and medium sized businesses, spanning a range of industries. She began her career at PwC, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1993. After then spending a number of years in commercial strategy roles including working within the retail sector at both Arcadia Group Plc and Dixons Stores Group Plc, Leanne returned to the world of Practice, where she took her commercial experience and training within industry and began her Consultancy career, advising companies on their financial planning, strategy, growth, profitability and business development.  

Leanne has a keen interest in education and was previously a school governor at a St Mary's CofE High School in Hendon.

Leanne is married with 2 daughters, one of whom currently attends the Girls' School.

Claire was educated at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls and was one of the inaugural pupils of the Prep department at Monmouth.  She then studied Marketing and German at Strathclyde University.

After 4 years at Coats Viyella where she was Sales Director of a hosiery division, she joined Mars Inc.  Claire spent 11 years at Mars in a number of commercial roles, and across three Mars divisions [petfood, food and confectionary].  

In 2009 she set up her own soft drinks company - Breckland Orchard, based just outside Cambridge. Breckland Orchard drinks are sold in cafes, delis and restaurants right across the UK, as well as being exported to 10 overseas markets.

Jonny was educated at Bradford Boys Grammar. He read Engineering and Law at CambridgeUniversity (1982-85) and attended the Wharton Advanced Management Programme in 2012.

Jonny is a Partner at Clifford Chance and is the Global Head of Private Equity, with that
practice being ranked Band 1 globally. The practice covers 87 Partners and approximately 250 lawyers in 16 countries. Jonny remains actively involved, advising Private Equity houses and corporate groups, leading investment transactions and client relationships as well as management.

Jonny is a trustee and investment committee member of Social Business Trust, supporting the growth of social enterprises with business expertise.

Jonny and his wife, who is a doctor, have four children, three having been previously at
Haberdashers' Boys' School and one daughter who is currently at Haberdashers' Girls' School.

Robert was a pupil at the Boys’ School from 1975-1986.   He studied at the London School of Economics and has an MBA from the University of Warwick.  Robert is a Chartered Accountant (FCA), having worked at Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, and now KPMG where he leads their global Private Equity practice.

He has been involved with various charitable activities including academic and social welfare institutions, as a trustee and treasurer.  

Robert is married with two sons who previously attended the Boys’ School, and a daughter currently at the Girls’ School.

A proud Yorkshire lass, Helen was educated at Leeds Girls’ High School and read Geography at Durham.  Her initial career was in journalism, research and PR in the UK, briefly the US and then for the European Commission in Brussels.  On returning to the UK she moved into advertising and then, spurred on by her part time MBA at Bradford Management School, into Human Capital consulting. 

For 14 years she was CEO of a specialist firm within the Omnicom Group where she became well known as a speaker and author on employee engagement, culture and organisational change. In 2015 she ran her own consulting business for a short time before being tempted back into corporate life as a Partner for the global branding and management consultancy Prophet for whom she travels extensively.

Helen and her husband Ian have two daughters both of whom were educated at the girls’ school from 1996 to 2011 – from Rainbow all the way through to A level.  During virtually all that time they were active committee members of the St. Catherine Parents’ Guild – Ian notably running the bar and/or Pimms tent at many a school event!  Helen was Chair of the Guild from 2008 to 2011.

Margaret attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls between 1970 and 1977 so was a pupil at the time the school moved from Acton to Elstree.  She read Geography at Swansea University and subsequently trained as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse (now PwC) and then worked as an accountant in Hertfordshire for many years.  She and her husband (a former Habs boy) have three girls and two boys who all went to the Elstree schools.

Margaret built up and ran a family buy to let portfolio in St Albans where she lives, and was a non-executive director of Quantum Care Ltd, a 1,000 bed not for profit provider of residential care for the elderly in Hertfordshire for seven years.  Much of Margaret's time nowadays is spent running a 2000-acre mixed farm in Dorset which she owns with her husband.  The farm supplies milk to Marks and Spencers and oats to Jordans, as well as growing a range of crops and being in a Higher Level environmental scheme.

Recent developments include a very successful holiday let business from redundant farm buildings.  Margaret was a farmer representative for the milk pool and learnt to deliver lambs during the recent lambing season.

Educated at Eton College and then Bristol University he has worked for Accenture and Capgemini for 23 years. He is now running Capgemini’s UK digital practice helping organisations provide new experiences, innovation, services and insight in an increasingly on-line world.

He was a school governor on the strategy committee for the Haberdasher Aske Federation for 6 years. He is a Liveryman of the Haberdashers’ Company. His interests include rackets, squash, tennis, skiing, windsurfing and travel.

Alex is married to Rachel and has two boys Ben and Tom

Bernadette was educated at Thornton College, UK and St Peter’s Diocesan School, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and the University of Kent (History and Philosophy).

Bernadette began her career in education at a London comprehensive and was then appointed to the newly formed staff body at the Harris City Technology College in Croydon.  While at the CTC, an innovative educational environment, Bernadette combined middle management responsibilities with studying for a MA in Education.

Middle and senior management posts leading on academic and curriculum matters at Wallington High School for Girls, a grammar school in Sutton, followed until in 2005 she was appointed Deputy Head Academic at St. Helen and St. Katharine (SHSK), Abingdon. Bernadette was appointed Deputy Head at SHSK in 2011 where her responsibilities include curriculum, assessment and provision for the most able, she also line manages the academic Heads of Department.

She is married with two children, a son educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford and now studying medicine and a daughter at SHSK.

Sophia works at Google and currently advises their largest advertising partners across the Retail and Technology sectors on all aspects of their digital, data and technology strategy. She began her career in the creative industry, working for M&C Saatchi where she led relationships for clients before moving into global and corporate development.

Through her career Sophia has worked in a local, global and EMEA remit, and has lived in New York as well as London. She is a Marketing Academy Scholar (alumni), DMA & E-Commerce Awards Judge and recipient of the 35 under 35 Management Today/Sunday Times award.

She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, then took an Art Foundation Diploma at Bower Ashton Bristol before attending the University of Edinburgh to study English Literature (MA Hons).

David is Head of Real Estate and Leisure Sectors within Santander Corporate & Investment Bank.  Prior to that he was the Group Treasurer for Grosvenor Group (the largest privately-owned international property management and development company) for 7 years, where he set up the group treasury function and looked after and structured the financing arrangements for the group averaging £1.3bn per annum.

Other roles have included Syngenta AG, (the largest global Agrochemical business) where he held a number of senior positions over 4 years helping set up their Treasury operations after the company was formed from the demerger of Novartis and Zeneca.  He started his career in 1987 with a 12-year spell at Marks and Spencer where he held numerous accounting roles before finding his feet in corporate finance and left to join Marconi treasury where he spent 2 fascinating years from 1999.

He is a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.  

David’s first love was music – he studied at the Purcell School of Music and trained as a violinist.  He is married with two daughters who currently attend the Girls’ School.