Profiles of Governors

Mrs Sarah Speck (Chair)

Sarah has worked in the NHS since 2012, her first role was as a member of the board of the Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups before moving the National Guardian's Office and most recently, NHS England's National Patient Safety Team. Sarah is a plant biologist and holds an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London. Having transitioned from plant science research to a corporate affairs career, she led communications, marketing and public relations programmes for Defra's Animal and Plant Health Agency and global agribusiness, Syngenta. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Sarah is a board member of Mercian Educational Trust, a multi-academy trust responsible for the education of more than 1300 primary school aged children. Sarah joined the Board of the University of Worcester in 2013 and became Chair of the Board in August 2022.

Gemma Allcott

Gemma is the Vice President Education at Worcester Students' Union and one of three student representatives on the Board of Governors. She is a sabbatical officer, who has completed her degree in BSc Hons Biochemistry. Gemma’s role at Worcester Students’ Union involves being the lead representative for Worcester students on matters relating to their academic experience.

Lerverne Barber

Lerverne is Head of the School of Sport and Exercise Science (SSES) and Principal Lecturer.  She has worked in education her whole career and has a wealth of experience in her subject area, having been a Secondary PE teacher, PE adviser and Ofsted Inspector. She has also worked as an independent PE Consultant leading projects and delivering training for organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust, the Qualification and Curriculum Authority and the Department for Education.  Lerverne has played a key role in developing the School's international profile in countries such as China and Japan, for work in inclusive sport and Adapted Physical Education. In 2015 she achieved the award of Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for her leadership of learning and teaching (SFHEA), followed by the award of National Teaching Fellow (NTF) in 2017. Lerverne is an Academic Staff governor and serves on the People & Culture Committee.

Dr Diana Beech

Diana is Chief Executive Officer of London Higher – the representative body for over 40 universities and higher education colleges across London. Previously, Diana was Policy Adviser for higher education to three consecutive UK Ministers for Universities and Science; a position she fulfilled after her role as the first Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). Diana has also recently served as Head of Government Affairs at the University of Warwick and was once Programme Manager in the Department for Education with specific responsibility for establishing the Office for Students (OfS). Diana holds a PhD in German Studies from the University of Cambridge and has held early-career academic appointments at universities in Canada, Germany and the UK. Diana is Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors and serves on the Audit Committee.

Mr Louis Coiffait

Louis Coiffait-Gunn, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Publishers Association

Passionate about improving policy with evidence and expertise. Career includes working with publishers, the UK government, universities, multinationals, professional associations, the media, and think tanks. Outside the day job he's a governor at Worcester and at a Tower Hamlets school. He was also chair of a students' union for three years. Louis became an independent governor in 2021 and serves on the Finance & Development Committee.

Elizabeth Davies-Ward

Experienced Head of School with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. I have a proven track record in building strong teams by adopting a strength based approach to leadership. I have a background in the management of quality and standards in Higher Education having occupied the role of Head of Quality in the Institute of Health for a number of years. I have a proven track record in change management. I have a positive leadership style and and I'm committed to the principles of authentic leadership.

Mr Sean Devlin

Sean retired after 44 years in secondary education in 2017. He enjoyed a career in a variety of schools in Papua New Guinea and England. His career started as a V.S.O teacher and culminated with 15 years as Principal of Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College in Worcester. His main teaching subjects were Economics, Politics and Sociology. He feels fortunate to have had a very satisfying and challenging career. He is currently a Schools and Parish Volunteer with CAFOD, Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of Worcester Sixth Form College and Vice-Chair of the St. Teresa of Calcutta Multi Academy in Birmingham. Sean is an Independent governor and serves on the People & Culture committee.

Mrs Diana Gant

Diana retired from teaching in 2009; for the last 9 years of her career she was Headmistress of the Mount School in York. She was a governor of York St John University for 9 years until she returned to Worcester in 2014, having been Head of Religious Studies at the King's School in the 1980s. She also volunteers with the Maggs Day Centre and Worcester Cathedral Education Department.  Diana joined the Board of Governors as an independent governor in August 2015 and is Vice Chair of the Board.

Professor David Green CBE

Professor David Green is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Worcester. He has been the University’s executive head since 2003 and is accountable to the University’s Board of Governors for the strategic leadership, overall performance and management of the University. He led Worcester to successful applications for full University title in 2005, and for Research Degree Awarding Powers in 2010. David is a member of the Board of Universities UK and GuildHE. 

Mr Mike Hardy

Mike has spent most of his professional career in the public sector working primarily within the Criminal Justice System. Following his training and qualifying as a Probation Officer Mike has worked in the high security custodial estate and led teams working within the community on public protection. His interest in Substance Misuse - treatment and services - has seen Mike lead national and international policy initiatives to help reduce the harmful effects illicit drugs and alcohol can have. Mike currently is a Civil Servant working for the Ministry of Justice.

Mike is a Chartered Manager, holds a MSc in Management and Organisational development and a Social Science Graduate.

Away from work Mike enjoys sport, the arts and of course helping the University of Worcester to continue to thrive in whatever way he can.

Mike has been associated with the Worcester area for 35 years and is delighted to form part of the Board of Governors.

Mr Tim Heywood FRSA

Tim is a lawyer whose practice covers both the public and private sectors.

He was a senior civil servant and Whitehall lawyer advising the government on its major projects and national policy initiatives from ‘Building Schools for the Future’ and numerous Private Finance  Initiative (PFI) projects (including the construction of the GCHQ Headquarters in Cheltenham) to major IT infrastructure programmes for schools, hospitals and government departments. He has also advised on and had a hand in shaping legislation on devolution, the NHS; human rights and the regulation of investigatory powers.

He was director of commercial law at the Treasury Solicitor’s Department and Deputy Legal Adviser at GCHQ. He was also general counsel at what is now the National Cyber Security Centre.

He is a Partner at Gunnercooke llp where he specialises in public procurement; public law; subsidy control; information law; cyber; technology and regulatory issues.

He has held a number of senior leadership positions including a non-executive directorship of an NHS Trust and has chaired or been a member of numerous committees ( public and private sector) including Audit Committees, Governance and Risk, and Remuneration Committees. He is currently a member of the Law Society’s Technology & Law Committee.

Dr Claire Jones

Claire Jones is a local GP, and has worked in Worcester for 22 yrs. She has a special interest in medical research, and is a GP Research Champion for the NIHR ( National Institute of Health Research).  She joined the Board in 2020 and is a member of the People & Culture committee.

Mr Nadeem Khan

Nadeem is a District Judge based in Worcester having previously qualified as a solicitor in 1999.  He has a particular focus on civil and family law with a particular specialism in Children Law. He has previously been a charity trustee for the East Midlands Christian fellowship and was a founding member of the voluntary organisation Indus Project in Derby. Nadeem joined the Board in 2017/18 and is Chair of the People & Culture Committee.

Meg Lee

Meg is the Vice President Student Activities within the Students’ Union. After three years, she has just finished her degree in Education Studies. Meg’s role is to liaise with the committees of sports clubs and societies promoting engagement within the student body. Meg also takes the lead on fundraising and TeamWorc Action.

Al Linforth

Al is the President at Worcester Students’ Union. Al’s role is to champion the rights, welfare, and diversity of our students. They will be making sure all students feel empowered and run campaigns helping students speak up for issues that matter to them. Al has just completed their BA (Hons) in Drama and Performance graduating with a first-class degree.

Carolyn Moir

As the Head of Student Evaluation & Enhancement at the University of Worcester, Carolyn is responsible for managing and coordinating student surveys across the institution, supporting the annual evaluation process for courses, and providing analysis and reporting on key data. With over 20 years in project and operations management roles she has extensive experience of working to develop new processes, networks, and reporting structures across organisations. She works with colleagues across the University on a range of quality enhancement projects focused on the student experience and supporting the wider goals of the institution.  Carolyn joined the Board of Governors as a staff member in August 2022 and serves on the Audit Committee.

Mrs Sally Morgan

Sally retired from a successful 37 year career in the financial services industry at the end of 2021. Initially trained in Corporate Lending at Lloyds Bank she then went on to hold many senior executive/ management roles including at Coventry Building Society and Nationwide (top 5 and top 30 respectively) and did interim roles as COO including two private equity companies; for the last 5 1/2 years Sally worked for the Tipton & Coseley Building Society as Operations Director, where she led significant transformation and digital strategy and served on the Board of Directors. She has previously been a Charity Trustee for the Arab Horse Society.

Sally joined the Board in August 2022 and is a member of the Finance and Development Committee.

Mr Asif Noorani

Asif co-founded Epiphany Productions to foster creativity and collaboration across the domains of art, science, engineering, and design.  As a seasoned business leader and board level advisor, his portfolio career across Europe and far east Asia, has cultivated inter disciplinary specialisms in behaviour change, imaginative problem solving and compelling storytelling.

As a Digital Democracy Champion for the Speaker's Digital Democracy Commission and author of two Digital Transformation Guides (produced with Wincanton PLC) he regularly speaks about the art of the possible and the mindset needed to embrace this.

Asif is an ambassador for the pioneering charities UK Youth and Action through Enterprise (sub-Saharan Africa).

Mr Darius Pocha

Darius is a British/Indian entrepreneur and adviser to UK Government on the use of digital in education, health, justice and environment. He is CEO of consultancy Create/Change.

From 2017-2020 Darius worked closely with policy teams in DfE on FE/HE and adult skills policy, including the design of T Levels and the National Skills Fund. He is a CAPE adviser to UCL on the application of artificial intelligence in public policy.

Darius also sits on the Board of Centre for Digital Public services, the arms-length body responsible for driving digital transformation in Wales.

Darius is an alumnus of University of Worcester where he gained a first class Honours in Art & Design with Psychology.

Marc Scriven

Marc Scriven is currently UW Director of Strength and Conditioning (S&C), and Head of S&C for two professional sport franchises; UW Worcester Wolves Ltd and Severn Stars VNSL Netball. In addition, Marc is a Governor for Aspire, a secondary age group, AP school in Worcester. Having been fortunate to enjoy a very successful personal and professional  career in sport, Marc now feels it a privilege to mentor students and young people at the beginning of their working lives. As a member of staff, Marc joined the University Board of Governors in 2018.     

Mr Ian Smith

Ian retired as the Chair of Bishop Fleming LLP, a top 30 firm of chartered accountants, where he had specific responsibility for the development of partners and senior management in 2022. He went to school in Worcester and has a geography degree from Durham University. He is a Trustee of The Rowlands Trust, Queen Elizabeth's Almshouses, The Kildare Trust and The Clothiers Company Charitable Foundation. He is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Advisor and has held a number of Non Executive roles. 

Mr Keith Sorrell

Keith is Chief Executive of Windsor Academy Trust. He became full time CEO in 2016 having previously served the dual role of CEO and  Headteacher at Windsor High School and Sixth Form since 2011.

Keith started his teaching career in Staffordshire and Birmingham before being appointed as Headteacher at Windsor High School in 1999. Keith achieved rapid success at the school, quickly moving it to an Ofsted Outstanding school and launching its highly successful sixth form in 2010. 

Windsor High School was one of the first nine trust schools that emerged in 2007 and Keith helped the DfE to further define and improve the academisation process as well as speaking at numerous national events about the benefits of collaboration.

Keith is a National Leader for Education and worked as a secondary headteacher consultant for the Department for Education between 2002 and 2005. During his consultancy for the DfE, Keith supported the high profile workforce reform agenda and Every Child Matters projects.  Keith also served on the Association of School and College Leaders council for over 10 years and on the Public and Parliamentary Committee.

Keith gained a BEd from Loughborough University in Physical Education and an MA from University of Warwick in research policy and methodology. Alongside an extensive teaching career, Keith was an International hockey coach. He took the England Men's team to the 1994 World Cup and the European Championships, Wales Ladies 1986 to 91 and was a GB Olympic selector between 1994 and 1996. He also coached Cannock Hockey Club to national titles and European finals from 1999 to 2002.

Mrs Lucy Taylor

Lucy worked as a police officer before qualifying as a solicitor in 2002, and worked in family, healthcare, inquests and mental health law in the North East and Midlands.  She has worked in governance within the NHS and in both school and university settings, having most recently worked as Head of Governance and Corporate Affairs at a Multi Academy Trust. Lucy has experience in complaints mediation and adjudication, and joins the Board in August 2022 as an independent governor.