Our Board of Trustees

Andrew Comyn

Chair

Andrew is the Deputy Chief Executive & Chief Financial Officer at Nottingham College. Andrew is an experienced commercial strategic finance and business advisor, possessing particular expertise within the professional services sector. His specialities span commercial finance (including M&A and funding), restructuring, insolvency operations, credit control and the legal sector.

Jo Bentley

Deputy Chair, Giving Back Group member

Jo is the Executive Director of Finance, Estates & Risk at Hopwood Hall College. Jo has worked at Hopwood Hall College & University Centre for over six years, initially arriving as Head of Finance. For the last four years, she has served as Executive Director of Finance, Estates & Risk. Jo started her career as a graduate trainee accountant in local government, gaining experience in internal audit and accounting departments.

Darren Lowe

Managing Director and trustee, ED&I sponsor

Darren has held the position of Managing Director for 7 years, at both Tenet Education Services and CPC from 2022. Darren is responsible for the strategic direction of the Group. He has over 30 years’ experience in procurement and finance across the Further Education and private sector, 25 of which are in management and leadership roles. Darren’s core skills are in procurement and leadership.

David Pullein

David is the Vice Principal at Leeds College of Building, Finance & Resources. David is passionate about the education sector, a passion reflected by the longevity of his working contributions, spanning almost four decades. To date, David has accrued more than 38 years of educational finance experience, with 33 of those spent within the sphere of Further Education.

Peter Kane

Health, safety & wellbeing and sustainability group sponsor

Peter is Head of Estates and FM at Belfast Metropolitan College. Peter possesses over 23 years’ experience in Project and Assets Management across both the social housing and education sectors. His responsibilities include delivery of the college asset management strategy, plus contract management of the college’s PFI/PPP contracts and overall estate operations, including health and safety/sustainability. Peter is the Board sponsor for health, safety and wellbeing and Sustainability.

Fatima Bensihem

GDPR sponsor, Giving Back Group member

Fatima is a Finance & Procurement Officer at the College of West Anglia. Fatima is the Board Sponsor for GDPR and supports our Giving Back Group. She adds her experience as a sales ledger, purchase ledger and general ledger officer, working with credit control, management accounts, procurement and insurance, as well as line managing the operational side of a business, with skills in computerised accounts.

Noel Cassidy

Chair of National Procurement Advisory Group (PAG)

Noel is a Procurement Manager at Cambridge Regional College. Noel brings 32 years’ experience of procurement, accumulated from his time spent working with the NHS, as well as within the education and private sectors. He has spent 15 years in procurement in the realm of Further Education and, as well as developing a personal passion for procurement itself, Noel is actively involved in mentoring, developing and sharing good procurement practice.

Lawrence Jenkins

Lawrence is Deputy Chief Executive at North Kent College. Lawrence is a member of the Chartered Institute of Global Management Accountants and has worked in Further Education for the past 20 years. He has significant experience in financial and change management, as well as building and resource development. Lawrence has also worked in a number of other sectors, including time at the National Trust, the NHS and in media and advertising.