Trustees
Please click any names in the list below to learn more about our Trustees at Gordon's School
lieutenant general Richard cripwell cb, cbe
Chairman
Commissioned into the Corps of the Royal Engineers in August 1982 until February 2022, Lieutenant General Cripwell was Deputy Commander Allied Land Command, the standing headquarters for NATO land forces and was recently sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey, representative of the Crown in the Bailiwick. Married, with two children, Lieutenant General Cripwell is a keen sportsman
Mr Richard Whittington FCA DL
VICE CHAIRMAN, Awards Panel, Nominations, JF&E, FDc
A chartered accountant, Richard retired from KPMG where he was partner-in-charge of the Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare Group and simultaneously Global Head of Building and Construction. Until June 2021 was a non-executive director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Having been a trustee and treasurer, he is now Vice President of the Community Foundation for Surrey. He is vice chairman of Surrey Care Trust and chairman of The High Sheriff Youth Awards. He has lived in Surrey for over 30 years, was High Sheriff of Surrey 2016-17 and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey in 2017.
Mrs Jane Valner
CHAIR OF GOVERNORS; Awards Panel; Investment PaneL; SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE
Jane took a degree in Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and trained as a company lawyer in the city, working in the private company department on qualification. Subsequently she stayed at home to raise three sons and support her late husband’s career as a city litigation lawyer. She has lived in West End for more than 25 years and plays an active part in church life.
Mr Charles whiffin
TREASURER, CHAIRMAN of JF&E, FDC, Audit
Charles read Economics at the University of Southampton before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen. There followed a career spent mostly in industry as a finance director, including a period as Head of Finance of British Telecom's Property Division. He was Bursar of The Hawthorns School for eight years before retiring in 2016. Married with three adult children, he has lived in Bisley for over 35 years and is very active in the local church community. He formerly sang with the Gordon Singers.
Mr Tom Gordon
Trustee
Representative of the Gordon family. Currently works with Nomad Digital Ltd as a Global Bid Manager previously with De La Rue International, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, Oracle Corporation UK Ltd, EMC Europe Ltd UK and De Lage Landen Leasing. After completing PGCE taught in Czech Republic and Germany. Lives in Crowthorne and is a keen tennis player.
Mrs Lynn Bannister
vice-chair of governors; tRUSTEE; INVESTMENT PANEL
A parent of two former Gordon’s students and Chair of the Gordon’s School Parents’ Association 2011-2014. Lynn worked for British Airways for many years within different business areas of BA’s IT department and was an active ambassador for BA within schools, encouraging girls into a career in IT. She was a London 2012 Games Maker as a chaperone in the Aquatics Anti-Doping team. Lynn now works for Lloyds Banking Group as a Senior Cyber Security Manager with responsibility for protecting internet banking for Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and Halifax.
Mr Martin Barnes
trustee; nominations; FDC; JF&E
Martin is an engineer by background with a career across the energy sector including Renewable Energy. Martin was Governor between 2008 and 2022; he has had two children at Gordon’s and has lived in West End for 14 years. Martin is a member of the Foundation Development Committee and of the Joint Finance and Estates Committee as well as the Audit and Nominations Committees.
Mrs Anne Stephens
Trustee
Anne is mother of three alumni of Gordon's School in addition to living close to the school for over a decade. She has a history in corporate strategy for multinational organisations and is studying for a doctorate in consumer behaviour at Brighton University.
Major General Angus Fay CB MMAS FCILT FCMI
Trustee
Following a distinguished military career that included various senior appointments in military logistics and strategic analysis, Angus is now Vice President Strategic Development for World Fuel Services (February 2020). Also, Angus recently took over the role of Chairman of The RLC Foundation.
Mrs Deborah Mckenzie
Trustee
Elected trustee in January 2020, Deborah is currently Chief People Officer at NHSBT (Blood and Transplant). Prior to this, Deborah worked at Public Health England from 2013 and was Chief People Officer for PHE from June 2017. Previous roles include Director for Civil Service Leadership and Learning and Programme Director for Public Health and Social Care. Deborah studied at the University of Surrey and lives in Guildford.
Mrs Sally Hounsham
Trustee
Sally was elected trustee in June 2020 and appointed a Foundation Governor in November 2020. Parent of two Gordonians, Sally is a strong advocate for the value of a Gordon’s education beyond the classroom. Sally’s experience is in strategy and procurement, particularly for corporate travel and expense management but is now retired and focusing on voluntary work with several locally based community initiatives. Sally is a member of the Enterprise Committee.
MR PETER JONES
TRUSTEE
Peter was elected trustee in June 2020 but already knew Gordon’s as parent of two Gordonians. With over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry as board member and senior leader, most recently as Managing Director of Matthew Homes & Charles Gallagher Ltd, Peter’s knowledge is particularly relevant to supporting the development and improvement of facilities at Gordon’s School. Peter is a member of the Foundation Development Committee and of the Joint Finance and Estates Committee.
MR SHAHID AZEEM
TRUSTEE
Elected trustee in January 2021, Shahid is currently Managing Director of Arcom IT and of Folio3. He is Chairman of Woking Asian Business Forum and Chairman of Aldershot FC where is he using the power of sport to help integrate communities. Shahid is Vice President of the Community Foundation of Surrey and was 2020-21 High Sheriff of Surrey.
BRIGADIER JONATHAN MULLIN MBE
TRUSTEE; CCF LINK; MEMBER OF SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE
Jon enjoyed a full military career in the Royal Engineers retiring as a director of the European Defence Agency in Brussels. During his service across the world he deployed on operations to Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands and the Balkans. He subsequently worked for Bechtel. Jon lives close to Gordon’s School; in addition to helping support the development of Gordon’s he also looks forward to supporting the Gordon’s CCF.
MRS NEELAM DEVESHER
TRUSTEE
Neelam Devesher has lived in Surrey since 2007 and has worked in public sector organisations at senior management level. Neelam has set up numerous projects focused on improving the quality of life for the most vulnerable in our communities. She currently chairs the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum and also the Surrey Police Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. She is committed to finding solutions to help address inequity, racism and discrimination and is passionate about promoting equality of opportunity, inclusion and fairness for all diverse communities. Neelam is originally from Yorkshire and is of Indian heritage. In 2021 Neelam was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey.
Miss Jessica kruger
TRUSTEE
Elected January 2023, Gordonian, Jessica, was Head Girl of her year and left Gordon’s in 2016 to read Geography at the University of Exeter with a particular interest in climate modelling and renewable energy production. On graduating, she took on various roles at a primary school including managing their childcare facility before moving to her current position in April 2022 with Sweatcoin, leading on the company’s global CSR partnerships and initiatives. Jessica is also a member of the Gordonian Advisory Panel
Ex Officio: Mr Andrew Moss MEd
JF&E: Joint Finance and Estates Committee
FDC: Foundation Development Committee