Our Governors

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Rex left the British Army in 2013 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Rifles with plenty of experience in HR, estates, training, compliance and daily operations. Since then he has gained further valuable skills and experience working as an Operations and Academy Manager and then as a Programme Manager for HSBC in Business Support / Change Delivery.

After completing the Business Management Course at Manchester Business School, Rex worked as a bursar in full time and interim roles and developed his consulting work in the sector – building on his experience of managing budgets, people and estates.

Rex currently provides Advice and Guidance to Independent Schools and is also a Governor of Shrewsbury Colleges Group which helps broaden his experience in education and gives a little back to the County he now calls home.

Governoroffice@prestfelde.co.uk

David studied law at Christ Church, Oxford University. After graduating in 1992 he spent a year in rural Japan teaching in secondary schools. He has practised as a barrister since 1994. He specialises in clinical negligence and serious personal injury cases. David’s practice is nationwide. He is based at No 5 Chambers with branches in Birmingham London Bristol and Leicester. In March 2021, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel. He is married to Yuko and lives in Shrewsbury. They have two children, Dylan and Yasmin, both of whom went to Prestfelde. Dylan is now at Shrewsbury School and Yasmin is at Moreton Hall. In his spare time David tries to keep fit and enjoys running.

John attended Prestfelde for 12 months in 1982 before going on to Shrewsbury School. During this time, his family lived in Madrid, Barcelona and Melbourne, which gave John the opportunity to study a Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the University of Melbourne. After graduating, John returned to the UK with PWC before embarking on a career in Retail and Financial Services.  John is a motivated, energetic and entrepreneurial business leader with a wealth of commercial experience. He is a business transformation specialist with expertise in all key areas of transformation, including M&A, start-up, turnaround, growth, wind down and exit, for companies of all sizes, from small start-ups to some of the largest banks in the world. John is currently Group Mergers and Acquisitions Officer for a leading UK Law Firm. 

John is married to Mags and has three children, Ollie, Sophie and Monty, and four dogs. The family relocated to Shropshire in 2013 to enable the children to go to Prestfelde, before moving onto Shrewsbury School. John was appointed as governor in 2022 having been an active parent of the school since 2013. He has had a keen interest in the school ever since, recognising the work of all staff in delivering education at Prestfelde. John chairs the Marketing, Communication and Fundraising Committee. John and his wife have been key in engaging the parent community at many events throughout the years to support the school, as well as making personal donations to help fund capital projects such as the Blackburn Theatre.

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Holly Fitzgerald is the director of the Salopian Club managing alumni relations for Shrewsbury School, having previously worked as a search consultant for RS Academics advising schools on the appointment of headteachers and other senior leaders. She was a parent at Prestfelde from 2010 to 2017. Holly lives in Shrewsbury School where husband Paul is head of Classics. Prior to a career in head hunting, Holly worked as a TV reporter for the BBC and ITV in newsrooms across the country. In her spare time Holly enjoys attempting to get fit and being a member of a book club. She is also an unlikely but passionate supporter of Shrewsbury Town FC.

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Claire studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Pembroke College, Oxford before completing a PGCE and a MA in Learning and Teaching at the University of Nottingham. Since graduating in 2002, she has always worked in education. She began her teaching career at Loughborough Grammar School, before moving on to the Becket RC School in Nottingham, where she was Head of German. She joined Repton School in 2013, becoming Head of Modern Languages. In 2019, she took on the role of Housemistress of Field House, one of Repton's boarding houses for girls aged 13-18.  She is passionate about providing the highest standard of pastoral care for all the pupils in her boarding house and ensuring that every individual is able to thrive.

In her spare time, Claire enjoys playing netball and travelling with her family. She is married to Simon, and they have three young sons, Freddie, Tom and Max.

 

Governoroffice@prestfelde.co.uk

Mr. Barker was appointed to Council in 2019 and is a member of The Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Married to Sally, a solicitor, whose son, James, attended Prestfelde until 2017.

After Shrewsbury School, Tony trained as a Chartered Accountant, qualifying in 1982 and becoming a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1993. He became a Partner with a Shrewsbury based firm of Chartered Accountants in 1985, building an extensive portfolio of Personal and Corporate clients, both locally and nationally, offering financial, strategic planning and taxation advice.

He retired from his Accountancy Practice [June 2019] to pursue other business interests and Non Executive Directorships.

He has been The Honorary Treasurer of The League of Friends of The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for over 30 years. Awarded the Medal of The Order of Mercy at The London Guildhall in 2011.

Previously a Governor of Shrewsbury Sixth Form College and a Trustee of The Shrewsbury School Foundation. He is presently Treasurer of The Old Salopian Club.

Tony has a passion for sport, having represented Shropshire at Tennis, Football and Cricket. In his youth he played semi professional football and still plays National League Veterans Tennis.

Other interests include travel, golf, generally keeping tracks of their five children and of course, black Labrador, Sacha.

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Nicki’s career has always been in Education, starting as a PE teacher at Thomas Adams School in Wem, moving to Head of Department and then Head of Year. She always thoroughly enjoyed teaching, but her passion was always pastoral care so, when she was offered the role of Senior Houseparent in boarding, she jumped at the opportunity and hasn’t looked back since! Nicki is now Head of Boarding at the school, a role which is always busy and hugely rewarding. She says it is a privilege that parents put their trust in her to look after every aspect of their child’s life during term time and an honour to have the opportunity to get to know these young people, not only as pupils, but as individuals during their ‘down time.’  

Nicki likes to spend her spare time with her husband, Mark and their two children, Aimee and Oliver, although they are not really children anymore! They have a cockerpoo named Oscar who loves long walks! Nicki enjoys spending time with family and friends, particularly if it involves a nice meal! If there’s any time left in the week, she will try to keep fit by running. 

Nicki is delighted to have been asked to join Prestfelde’s Board of Governors and will do her best to support the staff and pupils with her expertise in Safeguarding and Boarding. 

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Richard attended Prestfelde back in the 1970’s.  He and his wife, Lindsay, have three children, Olivia, William and George; William and George currently attend the school.

Following five years at Shrewsbury School, Richard gained a degree in English literature at Bristol University.  After University he worked for Bass, Mattel and Hallmark in sales, marketing and General Management roles.  During that time he also gained an MBA from Reading University.

Richard spent two years heading up the sales and marketing teams within a division of Rentokil-Initial during a significant phase of the company’s turnaround. He was then approached to become Managing Director of a company called Ecolution based near London, which was an equity backed venture in the Renewables/Construction sector. This company has become the largest in their sector and Richard is still active on the Board. During this time, Richard became a Fellow and Chartered Director within the Institute of Directors.

Two years ago, Richard and his family moved from Wiltshire up to Shrewsbury to join Rubery Owen as Group CEO.

Governoroffice@prestfelde.co.uk

Member of Education, Pastoral and Spiritual Committee

Mr Winkley was appointed to Council in September 2018.  He took up the position of Headmaster of Shrewsbury School in September 2018.

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Abby is Deputy Head (Academic) at Sedbergh School, having previously been Deputy Head (Academic) at The Grange Junior School in Hartford. She has a wide range of educational experience in Grammar, State and Independent settings and prior to her Deputy Headships, held roles including Housemistress, Head of Year and Teaching and Learning Lead.

Abigail graduated with a BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Birmingham, and following some time in the private sector, returned to education to complete her PGCE from Oxford University.  This was quickly followed by a Masters in Education from the Open University in 2010. Particular interests in education are digital transformation within educational settings and the development of teaching and learning from both a staff and pupil perspective. 

Governoroffice@prestfelde.co.uk

Mrs. Thorn was appointed to Council in July 2018. Mrs. Thorn and her husband, Mark who is a consulting engineer have two children who both attended Prestfelde. During their time at the school Mandy was involved in the Friends of Prestfelde. Mrs. Thorn is chairman of her Shropshire based company as well as having significant outside interests including being the new President of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce.  She has been involved in local and national care sector representative organisations as well as local and regional business forums. She was awarded an MBE for services to dementia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Tim was appointed to Council in January 2010. His involvement with Prestfelde goes back to 2006 when his daughter started at the school to be followed by his son who is in Year 5. Tim received his Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Liverpool College University (1973-78) and was awarded the Alumni prize in his final year for best original research paper.  From 1979-80 he was House Officer and SHO in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.  In 1980 he entered General Dental practice as Associate, subsequently Partner, now Owner and Clinical Director of St John’s Hill Dental Practice. The Practice has been awarded the British Dental Association Good practice Award since 2005 and Denplan Excel Accreditation since 2010. The Practice was finalist in National Private Practice of the Year awards in 2005 and was second in the country for “Most Attractive Practice”. Tim has been voted-in every 4 years for the last 16 as Chairman of Shropshire Local Dental Committee and has served on a variety of healthcare Committees over the years negotiating with PCTs etc. He is a founder board member of the Shropshire Education Conference Centre and helped to raise £2.7M to build this post-grad medical education centre and registered Charity. He is now Chairman of the board of directors of the centre which is very successful in terms of both occupancy and profitability, enabling re-investment in the facility to ensure sustainability, e.g. latest video- conferencing facilities now being installed.  Tim has two children and his interests include skiing, vintage cars and rallies, his family and their dogs.

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Martin joined Prestfelde School Council in March 2017. He is senior business leader with extensive experience across finance and business operations gained from both senior line finance roles in industry and a successful consulting career spanning PwC, IBM and Ernest & Young. In Martin’s current role as partner at Ernst & Young he has played a significant part in helping grow EY’s advisory business, through developing new accounts and new capabilities. He helps some of the largest UK and global organisations deal with and navigate the most challenging issues they face. Martin is a qualified CIMA accountant, who was born and educated in the UK, and has worked in the US, Switzerland and across Europe. He is married to Ann and has a son, James who went to Prestfelde. Outside of work, Martin is currently well through his training for his private pilot licence. 

 

Governor office@prestfelde.co.uk

Ed is Deputy Head (Academic) at Rugby School, having previously been Head of Sixth Form and Head of Middle School. Ed began his career teaching History at Abingdon School, where he became a Housemaster. 

Ed is married to Natasha and has three children, Tom, Matilda and Sofie. He has a degree in History from Durham University and an MSc in Teaching and Learning from Oxford University. In his spare time Ed enjoys reading, running and travel.