Vice-President and Chairman of Governors

William is a graduate of Oxford University and is Chairman of Bridgepoint. Bridgepoint is one of the world’s leading private market investors providing capital for growth companies across Europe, the US and Asia. He is also currently a Non-Executive Director of both the Berkeley Group plc, the FTSE 100 property company, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Europe’s largest comprehensive cancer centre. Two of William’s daughters were at Wellington in the Anglesey.

Ex-officio Governor

The Duke was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.  He has worked for a number of non-profit or charitable organisations.  He was Chairman of the Patrons of British Art at the Tate Gallery (1987–90), a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art (1992–97), Chairman of the British-Spanish Tertulias (1993–98) and Trustee of the Phoenix Trust (1996 to 2001).  He was appointed OBE in 1999 for services to British-Spanish relations.  He has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire since 1999.  He served as a Commissioner of English Heritage from 2003 to 2007.  He was Chairman of the Governing Council of King’s College London from 2007 to 2016.  Since 2015 the Duke has been a Member of the House of Lords.  He is High Steward of Winchester Cathedral.

The Duke is a member of the Nominations Committee.

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL is the founder of Cobra Beer and Chairman of Molson Coors Cobra India. In June 2020, he was appointed President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Karan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree from Osmania University in Hyderabad and moved to London. He then graduated in law from the University of Cambridge as a student of Sidney Sussex College. During his time at Cambridge, Karan was a member of the university’s polo team and was awarded a Half-Blue.

Karan founded Cobra Beer in 1989 with the idea to produce a beer suitable for drinking with Indian curry.
In 2004 Karan was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to business and entrepreneurship, and in 2006 he was appointed an Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and created Baron Bilimoria of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

In Parliament, Karan is active in a wide range of matters including commerce, entrepreneurship, diplomacy, defence, the European Union, the Armed Forces, education, culture, minorities’ contributions, and academia.

Ron joined the Governing Body in 2011. Ron began his career in the field of motorsport more than 50 years ago, and was the Founding Shareholder, Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Technology Group for over 36 years. He was a pioneering force in the sport, which saw him reinvent McLaren into a dominant competitor in Formula One, as well as a successful commercial automaker and diversified technology group, thus creating one of the most powerful and successful teams in modern sport. His personal achievement as the most successful team leader in the history of Formula One racing remains unparalleled.

Ron has always been passionate about developing the next generation; whether it be fostering the skills of legendary driving talents such as Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton and pushing engineers to challenge technological boundaries during his time in motorsport. Since selling his shareholding in the McLaren Technology Group in 2017, Ron’s focus on the next generation has seen him take on mentorship roles in helping young people towards achieving their aspirations, as well as his involvement with various government directives and programmes in several capacities, sharing his expertise and working for the good of the future and future generations.

Ron continues to pursue new business opportunities and endeavours to make a societal and personal impact through his Foundation.

Ron is a former Wellington College parent. Ron is a member of the Nominations Committee.

James joined the Governing Body in 2021. He was educated at Blackrock College in Dublin and graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1984 with degrees in Engineering and Mathematics. He also completed a Masters in Military History in 2019 at the University of Buckingham.

James worked for over 30 years in investment banking with management roles at Citibank, Union Bank of Switzerland, Goldman Sachs and Lloyds Banking Group. He has acted on Risk, Compliance and Regulatory committees. Since leaving executive life, he has taken board roles at Standard & Poors Global Ratings, the National Theatre and Trinity College Dublin, where he sits on the Endowment Investment Committee. He is also the founder and director of Martello Financial Services which supplies expert witnesses to the legal community and their clients to help resolve disputes in financial services.

James’s daughter and two sons attended Wellington. James chairs the Business & Finance Committee.

Emma’s early career in HR sparked an interest in the psychology of wellbeing and the role leaders, teachers and parents play in promoting thriving and emotional resilience for those around them.  She has a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD focused on wellbeing.  Since setting up her own consultancy 15 years ago and co-founding a charity in the field, she has worked with a wide range of multi-national, public sector and educational organisations bringing this knowledge to life supporting leaders, educators and parents.

Emma’s experience focuses on sharing the practical skills of emotional resilience and wellbeing,  She has trained thousands of educators, leaders and parents and developed programmes to support schools and organisations who recognise the importance of wellbeing, emotional resilience and thriving – often working alongside academic partners to evaluate what makes a difference.  Emma is also a Governor of Dr Challoner’s Grammar School and a Trustee of Family Links – a charity promoting emotional health within families.

Felicity joined the Governing Body in 2015. Educated at Lawnside School, Gt Malvern and Exeter University (English and French Law) and qualifying as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and avocat au Barreau de Paris, Felicity then spent five years working for Clifford Chance in Paris and Tokyo before returning to London to set up their social responsibility programme and becoming a Director of The Corporate Responsibility Group. She joined US law firm White & Case in 2000 as Director of Pro Bono and in 2013 became Executive Director of Lawyers Without Borders UK. She is currently International Pro Bono Director at Ropes & Gray. Her three children attended Eagle House with two boys going on to Wellington.

Felicity chairs the Pastoral & Safeguarding Committee and is a member of the International Board.

Christie first joined the Governing Body in 2002 and served until 2010 when she stood down due to temporarily re-locating to California.  She re-joined in 2021 to Chair the Education Committee.  She is an Old Wellingtonian and was Head Girl and a member of the Upper Sixth.

Following her undergraduate degree in Maths at Oxford, Christie did a PGCE and then taught maths first at Southfields Community College and then at Tiffin Girls School.  She then returned to Oxford to study first an MSc and then a DPhil in Theoretical Computer Science.  Following Post-Doctoral Research positions in Oxford and Warwick she moved to St Andrews where she founded the university’s Mathematics Support Centre.  She is now Deputy Director of The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge.

Christie’s passion for education continues and she recently completed the Executive MBA at the Judge Business School, Cambridge, doing her studies alongside her day job.

Jill joined the Governing Body in 2018. She attended Benenden School and graduated from Durham University with a BA degree in Economics (2:1), where she also won the Adam Smith Economics Prize.

After university, Jill joined S. G. Warburg & Co Ltd in Corporate Finance where she stayed until 1995. After a career break to look after her young children, she joined UBS AG as a Managing Director in 2001 as Client Adviser to the CEO of UBS Investment Bank and thereafter spent ten years in Group Strategy.  Since leaving UBS in 2012, Jill has held a number of non-executive positions including being a Member of the Council of the National Trust, a Member of the Council at Durham University, a Non-Executive Director at the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales), a Non Executive Director of the Competition and Markets Authority and Board roles at listed investment and property companies including Ruffer Investment Company. She was appointed by H. M. Treasury as an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England in 2018 and has been reappointed for a second term.

Jill is married and has six children. Her interests include finance and financial regulation, economics, public policy, consumer protection and competition regulation, long distance running, skiing, wildlife conservation and research into cancer.

Jill’s business, strategy and regulatory experience is a strength on the Governing Body both with its UK interests in independent and state schools and internationally. She chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Business & Finance and Nominations Committees and the International Board.

Emma joined the Governing Body in 2020. She attended Bedford High School and graduated from Liverpool University with a BA (Hons) in German and Dutch. She then gained her PGCE at Birmingham University.

Emma started her teaching career in 1986 at the Royal High School where she was a teacher of German. She was promoted to the roles of Housemistress, Head of Sixth Form and Deputy Head and finally to Head from 1994 to 1997.

In 1997 Emma became the Head at Downe House, a leading senior girls’ boarding school, and has remained in post until the present. During this time, Emma has been a Governor of eleven different prep schools and two senior public schools; she has also served on the Board of ISEB (Independent Schools Education Board) and more recently joined the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation and Emmott Foundation Boards.

Emma is a member of the Education and Pastoral & Safeguarding Committees.

Mark joined the Governing Body in 2018. He is an Old Wellingtonian and a former Wellington College parent. 

Graduating from Bristol University in 1985, he was called to the Bar in 1986. He was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2004 and Queen’s Counsel in 2006. Mark’s practice encompasses Crime, Financial Crime, Professional Discipline, Sport and Reputation Management.  

He is a trustee of the Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation and the Hazelhurst Trust. He sits on the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission and chairs the MCC’s Disciplinary Panel. 

Mark chairs the Social Responsibility & Community Committee and is a member of the Nominations Committee.  

Ginny joined the Governing Body in 2015.  She is Headteacher at St Crispin’s School in Wokingham which is a happy and thriving large mixed comprehensive secondary school.  Her leadership is rated at outstanding and is described by OFSTED as providing “… absolute clarity on the school’s focus for improvement and has created the conditions for all staff to feel included in driving standards forward”.

As well as a serving headteacher, Ginny is also the Executive Headteacher for The Circle Trust which is a Multi-Academy Trust of currently of six schools (and growing!) comprising of approx. 3,500 students and is the Chair of the Wokingham Federation of Secondary Schools.

Ginny is a Leadership Coach and regular speaker at PIXL partnership (Partners in Excellence) conferences, a state school partnership organisation of 1,400 secondary schools, 450 sixth forms and 900 primary schools.

Ginny is a member of the Education and Pastoral & Safeguarding Committees.

Helen joined the Governing Body in 2017. She attended Harrogate Ladies College and Stockton Sixth Form before going on to study Natural Sciences and Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University. Helen started her career with Mars where she spent 19 years, culminating in her role as European Marketing Director, leading category strategy development across Europe. She joined Lloyds TSB in 2003 as Director of Group Marketing responsible for the group brand portfolio and marketing and the retail customer experience. She then spent five years as Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Yell Group UK driving the transformation of the business from a print publisher to a digital marketing services organisation for SMEs. Helen has additionally served as a non-executive director on the main board of the Department of Work and Pensions and worked for the Cabinet office. She also sits on the Henley Business School Strategic Advisory Board. Since stepping down from Yell Plc, Helen has taken a number of Non-Executive roles. She is Senior Independent Director at Kin and Carta Plc and Reach Plc and is a NED and Remuneration Committee Chair at Skipton Building Society and IG Group PLC.

Helen is a former Wellington College parent. Helen chairs the International Board and is a member of the Business & Finance Committee.

Tom Strathclyde joined the Governing Body in 2011 and is an Old Wellingtonian (OW). He entered the House of Lords in 1986. In 1988 he became a Government Whip and was promoted to Minister for Tourism in 1989, and then to Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries at the Scottish Office between 1990 and 1992. After the 1992 General Election he moved to the Department for the Environment, and then became Minister for State for Small Firms and Consumer Affairs at the Department of Trade and Industry.

In 1994, John Major made him Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. He continued as Chief Whip into Opposition in 1997 – joining the Shadow Cabinet – until his appointment as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords in 1998 (a position he retained until the formation of the Coalition Government in May 2010). He was appointed Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 12th May 2010 and was Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords until January 2013. He has been a Privy Counsellor since 1995.

Tom is a member of the International Board.

Chris joined the Governing Body in 2021 and became Chair of the Eagle House Steering Group in January 2023. He is an OW and has an MA in Military Studies.

Chris spent 39 years in the Army. As a young officer, he spent time in Germany, Northern Ireland, Botswana and Norway. After Staff College and a tour in the MOD, he took command of 9 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers when they deployed to Bosnia and then Kosovo.  On promotion, he commanded 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) during the Second Gulf War.  He later commanded 8 Force Engineer Brigade for 2 years which included 6 months in Afghanistan in 2009.  After time back in the MOD, he was promoted in 2013 to command the Army Recruiting and Training Division.  He joined the Army Board in 2016 and was the Army’s Director of Capability from then until Summer 2019.  He was promoted to Lieutenant General and became Deputy Chief of the General Staff in August 2019. He left the Army on completion of that tour in December 2022.

Beyond Wellington and Eagle House, Chris is now a Senior Advisor to PA Consulting Group  and a NED for a Private Equity backed broadband provider.

Chris was appointed an MBE in 2000, OBE in 2003, CBE in 2010 and KBE in 2021. He was also appointed a Commander of the US Legion of Merit in 2022.  He is married and has two daughters.