Governors

Luke is an Old Bancroftian, having been the recipient of a Drapers’ Scholarship, attending the School as one of the last generation of boarders in the 1970’s. He obtained a BEng at Imperial College before taking up a career in the City working in finance across banking, insurance and asset management.  He continues to work as a Non-Executive Director, chairing two listed companies in the financial services sector.

Recognising the importance that his Drapers’ funded education at Bancroft’s had played in his life, Luke joined the Drapers’ Company in 2013 in order to have the opportunity to “give something back”.  Luke serves on the Investment Committee, as a Court Assistant and, for 8 years, was one of the Drapers’ Council Members and Treasurer at Queen Mary University London.

Luke is married to Diana and they have two grown up children.  He splits his time between London and Bosham (on Chichester Harbour) where he enjoys his keen interest in sailing.

An entrepreneur, Barry left accountancy to develop businesses in fashion retail; wholesale; manufacturing; leisure and property. A Draper since 2008, he has served on the Company’s Charity committee and was a founder member of the Textile Working Group where he has led several initiatives to support young people’s career ambitions within the garment industry. He was admitted to the Livery in 2011.Barry divides his semi-retired time between consulting, investing and painting.

He has mentored students and has given lectures in the business of fashion at The Drapers’ Academy; Southampton Solent University and St Martin’s School of Fashion.

He was appointed MBE in 2011 for services to the fashion industry and awarded honorary Doctorate of Design by Southampton Solent University in 2014. He has spoken twice at House of Lords committee rooms on the subjects of crowdfunding and manufacturing.

Married to theatre lighting designer, David W Kidd, he has lived in Woodford Green for 10 years.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Barry is a member of our Education Committee and our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Steering Group.

Richard is a Chartered Building Surveyor and has run his own practice since 1988, with offices locally and in Central London. He was granted the Freedom of the City of London in 1985 after being involved in some significant projects whilst working for the Corporation of London and continues to be very much involved in the City.

Having been admitted into the Drapers’ Company, he was appointed as a Governor to the School in 2018 and is a member of the Estates Committee.

Richard attended Bancroft’s between 1972-1979. He is married to Susan and they have two children. They live in Woodford Green. He enjoys sport, music, art and messing around with old cars.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Richard is Chair of our Estates and Prep Committees and is our Welfare, Health and Safety link Governor.

Richard was educated at Tonbridge School, the University of Greenwich and City University (now Bayes) Business School.

He also attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1994 after which he served as an officer in the 9^th/12^th Royal Lancers. Transitioning from an army career Richard completed an MBA and has subsequently worked in investment management, managing portfolios and advising clients. His current role is with CCLA working predominantly with charities, endowments and public sector investors.

Richard is a trustee of the Forces Employment Charity (originally The Officers’ Association) and previously sat on the investment committee of the Drapers’ Company which he has been a member of since 1991. He is married with two daughters and in his spare time enjoys playing golf, sailing and skiing as well as competing in the occasional triathlon.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Richard is Chair of our Finance Committee.

Richard was awarded a scholarship to Westminster, before reading Physics at Oxford University BA (Hons), MA (Oxon).

Richard has over 20 years advisory and consulting experience, working in the City for Barclays, Credit Suisse and Cazenove, as well as working in advisory at big 4 financial services firms, KPMG and PWC, in both the UK and Middle East. Richard has built experience across a range of sectors, but with specific specialisms in the games industry and crowdfunding. Throughout his career he has been involved in advising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and early-stage businesses, both public and private.

Of late, having returned from the Middle East in 2013, Richard has explored the more cutting edge areas of finance, working for a hedge fund, as Strategy Director for a crowdfunding company and most recently as Head of Consulting for Edison Group, a leading independent provider of equity research and investment intelligence.

Richard has a degree in Physics from Oxford University and lives in Kent with his wife and two children. He enjoys sports of all kinds as well as adventure and travelling, ever since working for the Foreign Office in the Falkland Islands and the British Antarctic Territories in his gap year.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Richard is Vice Chair of Governors.

At post-16, Lizzie Wingham studied Theatre at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and went on to complete her BA in Theatre Studies at University of Surrey.  Lizzie graduated with her Masters degree in Broadcast and Film Management from Bournemouth University.

Lizzie is an experienced creative television producer and has recently been appointed as Deputy Editor for BBC Three. Overseeing a team in development and production, focused on programming for 16-34 year olds, BBC Three’s weekly reach across Facebook alone is averaging at 54m people globally a week. This keeps Lizzie up to date with the latest trends, issues amongst a younger demographic and most importantly all the necessary jargon that accompanies it. She has a track record in working with both established and new presenting talent and has spent her career specializing in developing and launching first time factual television series such as Married at First Sight (C4), George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (C4) and Wainwright Walks (BBC2).

Both her father and grandfather attended Bancroft’s.  In the unlikely event of some spare time, Lizzie enjoys running, fell walking, reading fiction and acting as a mentor for projects in the both the media and educational sectors.

In her role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Lizzie is a member of our Education Committee and is our Safeguarding link Governor for both Prep and Senior Schools.

Duncan is the father of four Old Bancroftians and has a daughter-in-law who is an OB.

As a parent, he had over two decades’ engagement with the School. He sat on a Scout committee and sports tour committee. He was involved as a helper on many Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. He also stood on the touchline at West Grove for many years.

Duncan moved to the area when training as a chartered accountant with PwC having read law at Manchester. He has worked in financial services in the City for most of his career. He was, until recently, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. He has sat on the board of public and private companies.

He has lived in Loughton with his wife Gail for 35 years.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Duncan is a member of our Estates and Finance Committees.

Prof Matt Fossey is an experienced social scientist with a background in NHS mental health provision, policy development and service improvement.

Further to DoH work on veteran and military family mental health, in 2014 he established the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research and in 2022 the Centre for Military Women’s Research. He is the author of nearly 100 papers and reports on topics ranging from liaison psychiatry measurement to military children’s social media communication. He is the co-chair of the NATO research group on sexual violence, the social sciences research advisor for the Anglia Ruskin University school of medicine and ARU professor of public services research.

In his role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Matt is a member of our Education Committee and our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Steering Group.

Claire is a qualified solicitor with experience of corporate and commercial transactions in large City of London law firms and, after ceasing to practise, was involved in the training and development of professional services staff. Having taken a career break to be with her children, she most recently worked as Clerk to the Governors at Chigwell School. Claire was a governor at Woodford County High School for 17 years. She sits as a magistrate and presiding justice on the East London bench.

Claire lives in Woodford and both her children attended Bancroft’s from the Alphas in the Prep through to the Sixth Form.

As a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Claire is a member of the Finance and Estates Committees.

Keshthra is a consultant Radiologist with a special interest in Breast Screening. Having grown up and gone to school in Leeds, West Yorkshire, she studied Dentistry and Medicine at King’s College, University of London. She is now the Clinical Director of Radiology across all site at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College, London (University of London).

Keshthra sits on the National Clinical Advisory Group for National Breast Screening and is the chair of the National Radiology Clinical Professional Group for NHS England.  These inform and advise the Department of Health and NHSE on guidance and policy.

She is married with two sons who attended Bancroft’s school until 2020.

In her role as a Governor of Bancroft’s School, Keshthra is Chair of both our Education Committee and our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Steering Group.