DESIGN DUNDEE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Role of Managing Director of Sage Gateshead
Abigail Pogson took up the role of Managing Director of Sage Gateshead in May 2015. Abigail was born and grew up in Yorkshire. Following a degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University and an MA in Cultural Management at City University, she began working in the arts. Combining a commitment to developing artists and supporting them to create great work with a passion for ensuring that the arts can be accessed by as many people as possible, she has worked for English National Opera, Music Theatre Wales and the Society for the Promotion of New Music.
In 2007/8 she was a Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme. She joined Sage Gateshead from Spitalfields Music, a charity based in east London. Serving the local area with the highest quality music in two annual festivals and a year-round Learning and Participation Programme, Spitalfields Music enjoys an international reputation for its quality, reach and innovation.
Adele has been developing innovative cultural projects and community learning and teaching rooted in equalities for over 30 years. She co-founded Glasgow Women's Library in 1991 and is currently a Co-Director.
Trained as a designer at Glasgow School of Art (where she subsequently taught Gender, Art and Culture) Adele's work spans the development of innovation housing projects including Take Root, research (including ongoing work on Feminist Leadership Following a Clore Leadership Fellowship in 2018/2019), publishing, collaborations with a wide range of creatives and work as a movement leader addressing inequalities in the cultural sector. Adele was Scotswoman of the Year in 2016.
Amanda Levete is a Stirling Prize winning architect, and founder and principal of AL_A, an international award-winning architecture studio. Recently completed projects include the Victoria & Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter (2017) in London; MAAT (2016) a Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, commissioned by EDP; Central Embassy (2017), a 1.5 million sq ft luxury shopping mall and hotel in Bangkok; a media campus and headquarters building for Sky (2016) in London. Ongoing commissions include the Paisley Museum in Scotland; a centre for the cancer care charity Maggie's in Southampton; two buildings for Wadham College, Oxford; three hospital buildings in Cyprus; a headquarters building in Brussels; and a theatre in Barcelona. Amanda is a regular radio and TV broadcaster, writes for a number of publications and lectures throughout the world. In 2017 she was recognised in the Queen's Birthday honours list and made a CBE for services to architecture. In 2018 she was awarded the Jane Drew Prize and in 2019 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Job Titles:
- Majesty 's Chief Inspector
Amanda Spielman is Her Majesty's Chief Inspector at Ofsted, responsible for the inspection of schools, colleges, apprenticeships, adult education, nurseries, childminders and children's social care.
Before this she was chair of Ofqual, the qualifications regulator, and research and policy director at the academy chain Ark Schools. Her early career was in strategy consulting, finance and investment at KPMG, Kleinwort Benson, Mercer Management Consulting and Nomura International.
She has also been a council member at Brunel University London and the Institute of Education, a director of the Wales Millennium Centre, and a school governor.
Job Titles:
- Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising
Barry Ferguson joined V&A Dundee as Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships in August 2017. Barry and his team are responsible for private sector income from individual donors, trusts & foundation and corporate sponsors, which makes up around a third of the funding required to operate the museum annually.
Barry was previously Director of Development at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has also worked at St Andrews, Abertay and Glasgow universities in various fundraising, alumni relations and student recruitment roles.
Barry is a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, a Fellow and Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a trustee of the St Johnstone Community Trust. He is also a member of the Guildry Incorporation of Dundee and of the Bonnetmakers and Dyers Crafts in the city.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Is Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts
Beth Bate is Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts. With large-scale gallery spaces, cinemas, a print studio and an award-winning learning programme, DCA attracts 400,000 visits a year.
Previously Beth was Director of Great North Run Culture in Newcastle and a consultant on curatorial and advocacy projects with organisations including The British Museum, Arts Council England, and Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.
Originally from Wales, Beth has a BA (Hons) in English with History of Art and an MA in Museum Studies. She is a Clore Fellow, a Trustee of Edinburgh Art Festival and a member of the Scotland Advisory Committee for the British Council. Beth was a selector for the British Pavilion‘s 2022 presentation of Sonia Boyce at Venice Biennale and is a member of the Art Fund's Steering Group on Touring and Shared Exhibitions Research. She is also part of the Dundee Partnership Cultural Strategy Group and the Tayside Regional Programming Group, was a selector for the Fleming Wyfold Art Prize in 2018 and is a member of the Scottish Parliament's Cross Party Group on Culture.
Job Titles:
- Global Co - Head of HSBC 's Securities Services
Allegra is Global Co-Head of HSBC's Securities Services. With some USD8 trillion of assets under custody, HSBC has one of the largest Securities Services platforms across the financial industry. Previously, Allegra was Head of the Financial Institutions Group, EMEA and Global Head of the Public Sector Group. Prior to joining HSBC in 2013, Allegra spent 12 years at UBS, where she co-led UBS's EMEA Debt Capital Markets business, was Global Head of Public Sector Fixed Income and Vice Chair of Global Capital Markets.
Allegra was a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Asset Management UK (2016 - 2018) and a Board Member of the International Capital Market Association (2011 - 2013). Allegra has won numerous industry awards including "Most influential woman in European Investment Banking" in 2011 and has been recognised in the annual "Top 100 women in European Finance" awards every year since 2008.
Job Titles:
- Director of Programme
- Is Director of Programme
Caroline Grewar is Director of Programme. In this role Caroline is responsible for the strategic leadership of the public programme, which builds upon the vision for V&A Dundee and fulfils the museum's mission and objectives. Key to this ambition is the close working relationships between the Exhibitions and Learning teams, resulting in an integrated public programme which contributes to an inspiring future vision for the museum.
Caroline has worked in the culture sector for almost twenty years, beginning her career at the British Institute of Florence, Italy. In 2006 Caroline joined V&A South Kensington where she worked across capital projects, major exhibition delivery and international touring exhibitions. Before joining V&A Dundee, Caroline was Head of Exhibitions at the Design Museum where she worked with Zaha Hadid Architects, Barber Osgerby and Sir Paul Smith.
Chris led the work of the committee (the UK's statutory climate advisers) to recommend a ‘Net Zero' target for the UK, the world's first legislated Net Zero target. He has since directed the development of detailed pathways for the UK to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2021, he presented the UK's third climate change risk assessment, with detailed analysis and advice on the extensive risks facing the UK from climate change.
Chris has held senior roles in central government, including HM Treasury and as Director for Energy and Climate Change in the Scottish Government. He is a regular commentator in national and international media and featured in David Attenborough's documentary, Climate Change - The Facts.
Job Titles:
- Director of Audiences & Media
- Is Director of Audiences
Claire Eva is Director of Audiences and Media for V&A Dundee. This role leads the development and implementation of audience development, media, marketing, digital and IT strategies, onsite and online.
Passionate about the arts and culture, Claire has spent her career in major institutions including Tate, 14-18 NOW, Serpentine Galleries, Hayward Gallery and Arnolfini. Her experience spans the visual arts, music, dance, film, festivals, digital and live events.
Claire completed her BA Honours degree in Art and Related Arts at the West Sussex Institute and studied marketing at University of the West of England, Bristol. Claire has served on the boards for the Arts Marketing Association, the Audience Agency and Dundee Ceramics Workshop.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
David Bomford has been the Secretary-General of the International Institute for Conservation; editor of the international journal Studies in Conservation; Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford; and has had visiting professorships in conservation and art history in Mexico City, in Sao Paolo, and at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, National Gallery, Washington. He has many academic interests, including the study of unfinished art.
Job Titles:
- Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Job Titles:
- Director of V & a East. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dr Casely-Hayford joined the V&A as Director of V&A East in March 2020. He is a curator and cultural historian who writes, lectures and broadcasts widely on culture, having presented a number of series for Sky, BBC radio and television and other channels. Formerly Executive Director of Arts Strategy, Arts Council England, (Britain's major Art's funder) and Ex-Director of the Institute of International Contemporary Art, he has offered leadership to both large and medium scale organizations including the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. He has served on the boards of many cultural institutions, including the National Trust and the National Portrait Gallery. Gus has lectured widely on culture, including periods at Sotheby's Institute, Goldsmiths, Birkbeck, City University, University of Westminster and SOAS. He has advised national and international bodies on heritage and culture including the United Nations and the Canadian, Dutch and Norwegian Arts Councils. In 2005 he deployed these leadership, curatorial, fundraising, communications skills to organize the biggest celebration of Africa Britain has ever hosted when more than 150 organizations put on over 1000 exhibitions and events.
Gus gained a PhD from SOAS and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship. He is a Cultural Fellow of King's College London.
Job Titles:
- Director of Learning and National Programmes.
Dr Helen Charman FRSA, MA, Dip is Director of Learning, National Programmes and Young V&A at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London where she has worked since 2018. A creative and cultural learning professional for 30 years, her specialist field is design-led museum education. Helen's professional portfolio encompasses schools, universities, galleries, museums, festival organizations, local authorities and charities. She was a founder member of the education team at Tate Modern in 1999 and on the directorate that mobilized the new Design Museum, London where she worked from 2007 - 2018.
She gained her Doctorate in Education and MA History of Art from the University College London: the Institute of Education and Birkbeck College. Alongside roles in the cultural sector in the UK, US and Australia, she has a keen interest in development education and has volunteered overseas in this capacity. She is a parent-governor of Forest Hill Community School in south-east London, on the Advisory Education Board for the Arts Council of England's Durham Commission on Creativity in Education and a Trustee of the Chelsea Physic Garden. Her remit at the Victoria and Albert Museum includes leadership of the £13.5 M transformation of the former V&A Museum of Childhood into Young V&A in London's Bethnal Green, which will be the nation's premier national museum and creative powerhouse designed with and for the young, due to reopen in 2023. The broader scope of her role includes overall responsibility for Learning, Interpretation, V&A Academy and National Programmes.
Job Titles:
- Fellow at St Antony 's College
Job Titles:
- Vice Chancellor of the RCA
Paul Thompson is Vice Chancellor of the RCA. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Bristol, as well as master's and doctoral degrees from the University of East Anglia. Prior to his appointment at the RCA, Paul was Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Prior to his position at the Cooper-Hewitt, Paul was Director of the Design Museum in London, from 1992 to 2001, and before that, he was Curator of Contemporary Design there, from 1988 to 1992. From 1987 to 1988, Paul worked at the Design Council. Outside the world of galleries and museums, he has worked diligently to heighten awareness of the role design plays within an increasingly global society. In 2000 Paul Thompson was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Art for services to art and design education.
Job Titles:
- Director of Design, Estate, and Public Programme
Dr Philippa Simpson took up post in December 2018. She leads the Design Studio, the Estate including all Capital Projects, and the Public Programme including exhibitions.
Philippa studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Edinburgh, where she gained her BA Hons and MSc Res in History of Art. Having worked for a short time in the commercial art sector, she moved into museums as a curator at Tate, working on a range of international exhibitions and gallery projects while completing her PhD at the Courtauld on display culture and the genesis of the public gallery. She then moved to Royal Museums Greenwich to establish and manage an international touring exhibition programme. In 2014 Philippa joined the V&A to deliver a number of capital projects, including the Exhibition Road Quarter.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Editor
- Member of the Executive Board
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director. Photograph by Will Whittaker
Dr Tristram Hunt is the Director of the V&A - the world's leading museum of art, design and performance. Since taking up the post in 2017, Dr Hunt has championed design education in UK schools, encouraged debate around the history of the museum's global collections and overseen the transition to a multi-site museum, with the opening of V&A Dundee, the creation of Young V&A (formerly V&A Museum of Childhood), and the development of V&A East - a new museum and open access collections centre in Stratford, East London. Prior to joining the V&A, Dr Hunt was Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central and Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He has a doctorate in Victorian history from Cambridge University, has worked as a Senior Lecturer in History at Queen Mary University of London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In addition to numerous radio and TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 4, he is the author of several books, including Ten Cities That Made an Empire (2014), The Lives of the Objects (2019) telling the story of the V&A collection, and, most recently, The Radical Potter: Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain (2021).
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Chief Operating Officer
- V & a Dundee in 2018 As Chief Operating Officer
Graeme Cumming joined V&A Dundee in 2018 as Chief Operating Officer. Graeme leads on the museum's strategic and corporate planning, and is responsible for setting sustainable budgets and monitoring performance. He also has oversight of commercial strategy, health and safety and HR.
Graeme is a Chartered Accountant and worked at PwC in Birmingham. He has had senior roles in public listed bodies in England and Scotland in sectors that include universities, arts, culture and regeneration.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Dundee City Council
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Greg Colgan was appointed to the post of Chief Executive of Dundee City Council in December 2020.
Prior to this Greg, held the post of Executive Director of Corporate Services from 2017 to 202. This post involved being the Section 95 Officer for the Council, and Treasurer of the Tayside Pension Fund. Prior to this, Greg held a number of other positions within the Council, such as Head of Customer Services & IT, Head of Corporate Debt & Welfare Reform and Finance & Corporate Services Manager (Housing).
Prior to joining the Council in 2009, Greg worked in a Housing Association as Finance & IT Manager. Greg trained as an Accountant with a Global Manufacturing and Engineering Organisation.
Greg is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Housing and also the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Principal and Vice - Chancellor of the University of Dundee
Iain Gillespie was appointed Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee in January 2021.
Prior to that Iain was Pro Vice Chancellor, Research and Enterprise at the University of Leicester. Iain led their £100M Space Park development and the university's Global Strategy, including Joint Education initiatives with Dalian University of Technology and with Chongqing Medical University as well as the establishment of the sector-leading Nairobi Alliance in partnership with leading African universities.
He was formerly Director of Science and Innovation at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and was lead director for international research across all seven UK research councils.
Prior to NERC, Iain was Visiting Professor in innovation in the life sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He spent 10 years at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development leading work on science, technology and innovation and more than a decade in UK central government.
James is a Barrister with more than 15 years of experience of representing businesses nationally and internationally. He is General Counsel & Company Secretary of Treatwell operating in the wellness, beauty and tech space. He has led legal departments for IKEA and INGKA representing the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada.
He has served internationally as a Director on Boards operating in the fields of investment, tech, solar, wind and forestry. James has also championed and led initiatives on diversity and inclusion, supporting businesses on equity and equality. James currently supports CW Mind as a non-executive director- a mental health charity specialising in care for children and adults.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Board
- Acting Director of Collections
James Robinson, Acting Director of Collections. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
James Robinson has worked at the V&A since 2019 when he was appointed Keeper of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass, now the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department. He has extensive experience in regional and national museums in a range of positions at Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, the Museum of London, the British Museum, National Museums Scotland and the Burrell Collection, Glasgow.
James is an established authority in medieval material culture having published and lectured widely on a variety of topics in the field. As senior curator of late medieval collections at the British Museum, he led the refurbishment of the Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Gallery of Late Medieval Europe (2009) and co-curated with partners in Baltimore and Cleveland the critically acclaimed exhibition, Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe (2011). He left the British Museum in 2012 to take up the position of Keeper of Art and Design at National Museums Scotland, where he was responsible for delivering four galleries of Decorative Art, Design and Fashion (2016). Immediately prior to joining the V&A, James was Director of the Burrell Renaissance, Glasgow where he oversaw the £68.25m modernisation of the Burrell Collection.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Resources. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Jane Ellis joined the V&A in March 2019 as Director of Finance and Resources. Before joining the V&A, Jane was Director of Corporate Services at the Science Museum Group, where she held a wide portfolio with responsibility for finance, technology and legal activities as well as leading on strategic income generation for the group. Jane developed her career in the cultural sector at the National Gallery, where she became Director of Finance and IT. She previously held accountancy roles at Deutsche Bank and at BMW, having undertaken her professional training at Arthur Andersen.
Jane has a degree in English literature from Cambridge University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Job Titles:
- Director of Development
- Member of the Executive Board
- Director of Development of the V & a
Jane Lawson, Director of Development. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Jane Lawson, who was appointed Director of Development of the V&A in 2005, joined the museum in 2002, shortly after which she became the Deputy Director of Development. Jane's department fundraises on behalf of the Museum raising funds for capital projects, acquisitions, exhibitions, conservation and learning programmes. The department also runs the Membership programme, the Director's Circle, Museum Events and Corporate Partnerships.
After completing her early education in Ireland, Jane gained a degree in History from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She began her career in book publishing, working in editorial roles on non-fiction titles at both Methuen and Penguin Books before moving to a Public Affairs role at Shell UK Limited.
Jane is a past Trustee of the Fashion Arts Foundation, a British Fashion Council initiative for the Cultural Olympiad in 2012 and is currently a trustee of Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity.
Jonathan Anderson is one of the leading fashion designers of his generation, earning both critical acclaim and commercial success with the collections he designs for his eponymous label, JW Anderson, and as creative director of the LVMH-owned Spanish luxury house LOEWE.
Anderson attended the London College of Fashion and launched his own menswear collection in 2008, under the JW Anderson label. In 2010, he expanded into womenswear and in 2013 was named the creative director of Loewe. Two years later, in 2015, he became the first fashion designer to be awarded both Men's and Womenswear Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council. Over the course of his career, Anderson has also collaborated on collections and products for brands including Converse, Coca-Cola, Topshop and Uniqlo, among others.
Outside the world of fashion, Anderson is a dedicated supporter of art and craft. In 2016, he founded the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, the world's first international award for contemporary craft and, in 2017, he curated Disobedient Bodies, an exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire.
Born in Northern Ireland in 1984 Jonathan is the son of Irish rugby player, Willie Anderson, and Heather Buckley, who worked as a secondary school teacher.
Job Titles:
- Head of Human Resources
- Director of People and Change
- V & a As Head of Human Resources
Judy Roberts joined the V&A as Head of Human Resources in September 2016. Judy started her career in biochemistry, however moved into the travel and tourism industry and subsequently specialised in Human Resources (HR). Judy has remained within HR, working across different industries in the UK and Continental Europe, including travel, financial services, the police service and latterly at English Heritage where she was Head of HR, for the newly formed charity business. Judy is a chartered member of the CIPD and has a BSc in Psychology.
Job Titles:
- Journalist, Executive Producer
Kavita Puri is an award-winning BBC journalist, executive producer and broadcaster. She presents documentaries on Radio 4 and the World Service including The Inquiry. She devised, wrote and presented the landmark three-part series Partition Voices for Radio 4, which won the Royal Historical Society's Radio and Podcast Award and its overall Public History Prize. She wrote the critically-acclaimed book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories based on the series. It is being adapted for the stage by the Donmar Warehouse with Tara Theatre. She is the creator and presenter of the Radio 4 series Three Pounds in My Pocket, which charts the social history of British South Asians from the post-war years. It is on its fifth series. She writes and lectures on this subject. While editor of Our World, its foreign documentaries were recognised with awards including the Royal Television Society and the Foreign Press Association. Kavita was named Journalist of the Year by the Asian Media Awards. She worked for many years at Newsnight and studied Law at Cambridge University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director of ArkDes
Kieran Long has been the director of ArkDes, the national museum of architecture and design in Stockholm, Sweden, since 2017.
Under his directorship, he has overseen an internationally significant and successful programme of exhibitions and events and has developed the museum into a hub of practice-based research contributing to debates nationally about design, architecture and the future of Swedish cities. Before he moved to Sweden, Kieran was Keeper of the department of Design, Architecture and Digital at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. He has over 20 years of experience in architecture, design and museums, as a BBC broadcaster, journalist, author, critic, educator, public speaker and curator.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of V & a Dundee
Leonie Bell has been Director of V&A Dundee, Scotland's design museum, since October 2020. As Director, she is responsible for leading the organisation from its spectacular home in Dundee's reimagined waterfront, for delivering the museum's vision to inspire and empower through design, and for championing design and designers and the infinite possibilities they bring as catalysts of creativity and change.
Leonie works closely with the Board, museum team, stakeholders and partners to ensure that V&A Dundee continues to grow as a world-class design museum, is an everyday part of life in Dundee, welcomes visitors from around the world, and runs programmes that reach out across Dundee, Scotland, the UK and the world, generating joy and sparking curiosity in design.
Leonie has had a wide variety of leadership roles from the Future Paisley Partnership at Renfrewshire Council, Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City.
She is also a trustee of the Edinburgh International Festival, a Design Economy Ambassador for the Design Council, member of the Theophano Foundation's Prize Advisory Council, and an Honorary Professor of Design at the University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Professor Liz Bacon Is Principal and Vice - Chancellor of Abertay University
Professor Liz Bacon is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University.
Liz is a National Teaching Fellow, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Trustee of Bletchley Park Trust. She is a past President of EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education), a past President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and a past Chair of both the BCS Academy of Computing, and CPHC (Council of Professors and Heads of Computing).
Liz is a Professor of Computer Science with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, and is a worldwide speaker on a range of topics, including preparing staff and students for the fourth industrial revolution's impact on teaching, learning and work, and improving diversity and participation in STEM, particularly among women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Throughout her career, Liz has worked to improve quality and standards in higher education, including a focus on degree accreditation standards in computer science both in the UK and internationally.
Marc is a former partner and head of investor relations at CVC Capital Partners (1999 - 2018). He also worked for Citicorp in New York, Paris and London (1985 - 98) and The Colorado Springs School, Colorado (1980 - 82).
Job Titles:
- Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Nigel is a Chartered Surveyor and Head of Development and a member of the Group Executive Committee at The British Land Company Plc.
Job Titles:
- Director of Design, Estate & FuturePlan. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- WPP Fellow
Rachel's career has focused on strategic research, supporting clients with simple but effective ways to improve their communications. She is a Director at communications consultancy Message House, where she concentrates on the importance of language, messaging and tone to drive audience understanding and engagement.
As a former WPP Fellow, Rachel brings to the Board a strong understanding of the inter-disciplinary nature of communications.
She has always been passionate about the visual arts - particularly Surrealism and architecture - and has contributed to the sector in several ways. In 2019 she came to the end of two terms on the Board of the Tate Gallery Members Council and has previously worked voluntarily with the Art Fund, The Photographer's Gallery and Kids in Museums. She has recently also served on the Board of the Hebrides Ensemble. In 2011, she achieved the Christie's Foundation Certificate in Art Business, with Distinction.
Rusty has been a collector since he was at Bristol University and used to buy antique silver and jewellery at auction rooms and fairs in the West Country. He has also collected Regency furniture, English watercolours and, over the last 20 years, paintings by the Bloomsbury set, Modern British artists, as well as Contemporary Art and Pottery.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder of the International Concierge Group Quintessentially
Sir Ben Elliot is the co-founder of the international concierge group Quintessentially, which he started in London in 2000. Ben also co-founded Hawthorn Advisors, a corporate communications business, in 2013.
He is the Founding Trustee of Quintessentially Foundation, which works with numerous charities with a mission to help children and young people living in poverty. Since he founded the Foundation, it has raised more than £14m for various charitable causes. Sir Ben is the Chairman of the Philanthropy Board of the Royal Albert Hall and a Trustee of The Eranda Rothschild Foundation. He served as Chairman of the Conservative Party between 2019 and 2022, and was the Government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion from 2018 to 2022. He is also the Honorary Treasurer of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and is a UK partner of the world-renowned restaurant Din Tai Fung. He graduated with a BSc in politics from the University of Bristol and is married with two children.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Job Titles:
- Appointed Trustee November 2012, Appointed Chair November 2015, Reappointed Chair November 2019
- Chairman of HRH the Prince of Wales' Campaign for Wool
- Editorial Director, Managing Director, President and Chairman
Sir Nicholas Coleridge was for 30 years successively Editorial Director, Managing Director, President and Chairman of Conde Nast, the magazine company which publishes 140 titles in 30 markets including Vogue, Vanity Fair, House & Garden, Tatler, The World of Interiors, Condé Nast Traveller, Glamour, GQ, Brides, Wired and Love.
Sir Nicholas is currently Chairman of HRH The Prince of Wales' Campaign for Wool, an Ambassador for the Landmark Trust, and a Patron of the Elephant Family. Sir Nicholas has been Chairman of the British Fashion Council and Chairman of the Professional Publishers Association. He was founding Chairman of Fashion Rocks which raised more than £3 million for The Prince's Trust charity and was on the Advisory Board for the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium. He has been a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art, a member of the Trading Board of The Prince's Trust and a Director of PressBof, the parent organisation of the Press Complaints Commission.
He was the 1982 British Press Awards Young Journalist of the Year, as a columnist at the Evening Standard, and was given the Mark Boxer Lifetime Achievement Award for magazine journalism by the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2001. In 2013, he was awarded the Marcus Morris Lifetime Achievement Award for publishing by the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). In June 2017, he was inducted into the Professional Publishers Association's Hall of Fame by Lord Heseltine. Sir Nicholas was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.
Job Titles:
- Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing and Communications
- Member of the Executive Board
- Director of Audiences, Commercial and Digital
- Director of Audiences. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Sophie Brendel joined the V&A in late 2016 as Director of Marketing and Communications, and is now the Director of Audiences, Commercial and Digital, responsible for building the V&A's reach, brand and commercial income, and placing the visitor at the heart of the V&A.
Sophie leads the Marketing, Comms, Digital, Front of House, Retail, Catering, eCommerce and Brand Licensing teams across the V&A's family of museums, from the V&A in South Kensington, to Young V&A, V&A East, V&A Dundee and the V&A Gallery in Shenzhen, China.
Prior to joining the V&A, Sophie worked in a number of senior roles at the BBC and Thomson Reuters in the UK and USA. As Head of Digital Communications at the BBC, she led PR and communications for digital, technology and innovation across the BBC, as well as the BBC's corporate websites, blogs and social media activity. Highlights included the BBC's 2015 Make it Digital and micro:bit initiatives, BBC iPlayer, and the London 2012 Olympics.
Sophie has an MA in English Literature from Edinburgh University, and sits on a number of boards - including the cross-industry London Tourism Recovery Board, established during pandemic, and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. She is also a regular industry speaker and awards judge.
Tim Allan became chair of V&A Dundee in August 2019.
A graduate of the University of St Andrews, Tim is a private equity and property entrepreneur with many outside philanthropic interests. Tim is a founder of MFG, the largest forecourt owner and retailer in the UK, and he owns Tricorn Capital, a diversified private investment company with venture capital, private equity and commercial property interests. He has been a member of Court at the University of St Andrews since 2016.
Tim is a director of the Edinburgh-based Archangels angel investment syndicate and has invested widely in early stage Scottish technology businesses.
Tim holds The Queen's Award for Enterprise, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and serves as a Deputy Lieutenant for Clackmannanshire. He was awarded a CBE for services to business, charity and the arts in the New Year Honours List for 2022.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Deputy Director
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Executive Board
- Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Victoria
Tim Reeve, Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Tim Reeve has been Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world's leading museum of art, design and performance, since 2013.
Tim takes a strategic and operational overview of all museum activities, as well as directly leading the divisions responsible for the V&A's commercial and digital activities, exhibitions, FuturePlan, finance and resources, marketing and communications, security and visitor experience. He also leads the V&A's partnership with China Merchant's Group, which saw the creation of the new V&A Gallery at Design Society in Shenzhen, China, which opened in December 2017, and on the V&A's wider international strategy. Tim is also leading the development of a new 'V&A East' in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London, which will see a new research and collections centre alongside major new permanent gallery and exhibition spaces, as part of the East Bank cultural and educational legacy.
Before joining the V&A, Tim was Director of Historic Properties at English Heritage, responsible for the management of the 420 historic properties which make up the National Heritage Collection. His remit covered all aspects of the visitor experience, the long-term capital programme, and maintenance and conservation of the historic estate.
Tim is a graduate in Ancient History from Royal Holloway, University of London, and studied at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) and INSEAD on its International Executive Programme. He has also served as a trustee of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) and the National Memorial Arboretum. Currently he is a trustee of Painting in Hospitals and the Canal and River Trust, and a member of the Hunterian Strategic Development Board.
Zandra devises museum interventions, community conversations and digital initiatives. She works with The Hunterian collections to explore the multiple meanings, different perspectives and stories associated with them. Bringing many years of professional experience working in the social justice and equality field, promoting diversity and inclusion, she has a PGDip in Citizenship and Human Rights from Glasgow Caledonian University.
Previously, Zandra was the Community Campaigns Officer for the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights, responsible for coordinating Black History Month events programme in Scotland. For more than a decade, she has assisted the Scottish arts and heritage sector, helping to question working practices, involve new audiences and ensure that anti-racism, equality and diversity is at the heart of all they do.
Zewditu Gebreyohanes is the Director of Restore Trust and Executive Editor of the online history publication History Reclaimed. She is a Young Ambassador of the International Churchill Society.
Zewditu has been passionate about art and design from a young age and enjoys drawing, painting and sewing. She is of British-Ethiopian descent and speaks Amharic and Tigrinya.