Amanda Montague - Chair

Amanda is a freelance consultant using her skills and experience to support organisations developing and implementing apprenticeships, employment and skills programmes. Amanda previously worked for the Skills Funding Agency and its' predecessor bodies for 20 plus years. She has a good working knowledge of skills policy and having worked in Essex for the last 10 years has developed a good understanding of the local skills issues and challenges. Amanda lives locally and her interests include the family pets, DIY and cars!

David Warnes - Principal

David Warnes has been working in the Further Education sector for over 25 years. After qualifying as a lecturer in 1996, he started his teaching career at Richmond upon Thames College. teaching A-levels. vocational courses and assessing Apprenticeships. He progressed into various management positions, including Curriculum Director of IT, Business, Travel, Sport and Leisure. He then went on to chair the national network of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) in Sport, before being seconded to work on the education programme for the London 2012 Olympics.

David has been the senior strategic lead for Apprenticeships, Business Development and HE at both East Surrey College and London South East College, and latterly Deputy Principal at West London College, before joining Chelmsford College as Principal and Chief Executive in October 2022.

David is a keen amateur gardener and walker, and particularly enjoys exploring the remote corners of the West coast of Scotland.

Fiona Chalk - Interim Clerk to the Corporation

Previously Director of Governance to a number of FE colleges and National Head of Governance Development at the Education & Training Foundation, Fiona works as a dynamic influencer and supporter of educational governance. She is an experienced board member, board consultant and board trainer and an accomplished presenter and speaker nationally and internationally on governance issues, a published researcher through the Further Education Trust for Leadership, (FETL), and a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD). Fiona works collaboratively with those tasked with the responsibility for governance, to confidently and comprehensively transform governance through the delivery of board reviews, governance support, resource development, and training, to ensure the provision of effective governance and leadership to improve outcomes for young people and adult learners.

Jenny Beaumont

Jenny moved from Devon to Essex and worked for 4 years at Chelmsford College. She subsequently worked for Essex County Council as a Training Manager and led a team of Learning & Development consultants working across the County. For the last 12 years Jenny has run her own business delivering Learning & Development solutions to a wide range of clients. Jenny has been an Essex school governor for 12 years and volunteers to support Sixth Form students in local secondary schools with interview skills development. Jenny is an experienced and accredited coach and a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. Jenny is a member of the Audit Committee.

Trevor Bolton

Trevor started his career in the merchant shipping industry before moving into education, working mainly in universities. He ‘retired’ in 2019 as a University Pro Vice Chancellor. Since then he has developed a portfolio career, running his own growing consultancy company and serving on several boards, including the Architectural Association. Trevor holds degrees from three universities including a PhD from Lancaster.Trevor joined the board in March 2020 and serves on the Audit Committee.

Alan Pitcher

Al has lived in Essex for most of his life and has worked within public service for over the last 20 years. He is an experienced leader; responsible for policy setting, investigation and critical decision making. As a qualified project manager, Al is also experienced in leading change, wide ranging stakeholder collaboration and performance management. Al joined the team of governors in 2022 and is a member of the Audit Committee. Away from work, Al helps to run a local amateur dramatics group and enjoys musical theatre.

Jan Church

Jan is the College’s Business Support Staff Governor. Jan joined Chelmsford College in 2004, as part of the Learning Technologies team and quickly moved to a Lead Role in the Learning Resource Centres. In 2013 with the new Assessment Centres on the horizon, Jan was offered a Lead Role and during this period achieved the Professional Certification to CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals). During 2015 Jan became the Co-ordinator for both Learning and Assessment Centres. Jan enjoys using technology and is passionate about sharing information to support learning. Jan collaborates with other colleges by being a member of JISC and has joined their Community of Practice where she takes an active role in discussions and sharing knowledge across the South East Region. Jan spends her spare time outdoors as much as possible and has a real passion for gardening.

Richard Davidson

Richard Davidson is a Director at Willmott Dixon Construction, responsible for business development, early tendering and market engagement. A strategic thinker and believer in constant improvement, Richard is frequently engaged in local and national initiatives turning his holistic thinking and energy to whichever challenge is presented.

He is involved with construction and development schemes across East Anglia and London, bringing his knowledge and expertise to those looking to pursue a green growth agenda. He is a passionate believer in the power of strong networks always taking the time to connect people, promoting collaboration as the most important factor in building successful outcomes. Away from work he is a married father of two, spends many hours cycling and running a local youth rugby club.

Susan Hughes

Susan started her career in Personnel Management, initially in local government and then for two multinational companies. She then entered the world of academia, teaching in higher education and ultimately becoming Head of Department of Human Resource Management and Marketing in the Lord Ashcroft International Business School within Anglia Ruskin University. Latterly she has had a portfolio of work activities including management and education consultancy, professional development and assessment activities with a range of professional organisations and some part time teaching. Now semi-retired she still works closely with one professional body. Her experience of voluntary activities includes seven years as a school governor and five years as an independent member of the Essex Police Authority.

Sarah Noble

Sarah has extensive experience of working in colleges of Further and Higher Education in London and the South East. She has taught in a variety of areas within the field of Art and Design, as well as holding a number of management posts as Head of Department and Head of Faculty. She worked for many years for Pearson Edexcel focussing and leading on Quality Assurance as an advisor, Standards Verifier and Centre Quality Reviewer primarily for BTEC Qualifications. Until recently she was employed by Pearson as a Quality Management Reviewer for schools and FE colleges in the South and South East of England. Sarah lives in Chelmsford, is a Fellow of the RSA and a National Trust volunteer. Her wider interests include travel, gardens and garden photography, and creative work. She is Chair of the Quality and Learners Committee.

Christian Norman

Christian is a highly experienced leader and manager in the education sector having had a long career with Colchester Institute and previously with North Lindsey College. He has held a range of senior cross-college and departmental positions, including Curriculum Manager, Head of Centre and Director of Faculty where he focused on strategic and operational curriculum management. He has a broad knowledge of the post 16 education sector, quality improvement and general project management. He is a qualified teacher and has developed a large range of business courses from pre GCSE to postgraduate level. Christian formerly chaired the Colchester Aimhigher Partnership and is particularly keen that all students are inspired and have the opportunity to progress to achieve their goals. In addition, having established the Career Ready Business programme at Colchester Institute, he remains on their ‘Business and IT Local Advisory Board’ and also volunteers as a Speaker for Guide Dogs.

Jaya Patten

Jaya comes from a Corporate and Investment Banking background. He held senior leadership and transactor roles in Fixed Income Capital markets at leading American and European financial institutions in Europe and Asia for over twenty five years. He set up his own financial markets consultancy in 2011, advising financial institutions in Europe and emerging markets in areas around capacity building and technical assistance. He is also a member of the subject matter expert panel of a couple of global consultancies in US (Gerson Lehrman Group) and Singapore (Asean Advisory). More recently Jaya has been involved in Expert Witness assignments in financial litigation and regulatory investigations in Europe. These carry important lessons learnt applications to improve Governance, Risk and Compliance frameworks. He is a founding member of the International RegTech association (Zurich, Switzerland).

Paddy Reilly

Paddy is Chief Executive of University of East London Students' Union. He has worked in five universities and students' unions, including being Director of student life in the University of Essex and Chief Executive of Durham Students' Union and University of Suffolk Students' Union. He has been a governor in two universities and two primary schools. Paddy is a member of the Quality and Learners Committee and is one of the governor Champions for Maths, English and Extended Learning. His wider interests include rugby (Connacht abú!) and walking.

Barbara Vohmann

Currently a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, Barbara has undertaken a number of university roles, including department senior pastoral tutor, assessment officer, and admissions tutor. Barbara's current research interests are around undergraduate assessment, enhancing support for the undergraduate learning experience, the learning environment, the provision of feedback to enhance learning, and the professional practice dimension of the built environment undergraduate learning experience. Previously, her research explored relationships between pedagogic practice and primary school buildings. She has also been examiner at other institutions. Barbara enjoys gardening in her spare time.

Doug Zeeman

Doug is a highly experienced contracts officer with a long career with BAE Systems (formerly GEC Marconi), focusing on defence engineering and electronics. He has a wide knowledge of commercial contracts and general project management. He is a professionally qualified manager and had a vast technical exposure to negotiating techniques, contract law, exporting, research & development, as well as employment law and practice. In his work, he has had to deal on complex and commercially sensitive contracts with various Governments, European Space Agency and the European Union. Doug is a member of the Audit Committee.

Jon Selvage

Jon is an Advanced Practitioner specialising in Educational Technology. This role includes leading the staff and student Digital Innovation Team at Chelmsford College. Additionally, he teaches on the Graphic & Digital Design pathway, while supporting other courses within the Art & Media department.