Alasdair Simmons
Alasdair Simmons joined the College as a Governor in 2021. He is a qualified accountant and accomplished project manager with expertise in project recovery and stakeholder management.
Having worked across multiple Business Sectors, he has detailed knowledge of a wide variety of finance and EPM applications, including IT architecture, support and implementation.
Richard Dimbleby
Richard joined The Bedford College Group in May 2018 for a 4-year term. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Corporation, Chair of the Curriculum & Quality Committee and a member of the Governance Committee.
Richard has wide experience of teaching and management in Further and Higher Education in the UK and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has taught English, communications, education and management. He was Principal at Strode College in Somerset and Principal & Chief Executive at The Bournemouth and Poole College.
Richard has also been a part-time college inspector and a consultant for the Association of Colleges and has been a Governor at the Arts University Bournemouth and at Weymouth College.
Outside education, Richard was a Director and President of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a Trustee of several charities. He is also co-author of four books on communication, a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Tracy Cowan
Sheila Selwood MBE
Sheila moved into education over 30 years ago, initially as a primary school Finance Secretary and a secondary school Business Manager, also clerking both respective Governing Bodies. In 2004 she joined West Herts College as Director of Governance, which had just received poor inspection and audit outcomes. Over the next 7 years, the college and its governance went from satisfactory to a sustained outstanding.
During this time, she also worked as a national and regional associate, delivering governance workshops, inductions, one to one support and qualification programmes. This work continued in her roles as an independent governance advisor and regional associate for ACER and AOSEC.
Sheila has also been Vice-Chair of the National Clerks Network, Chair of the ACER Clerks Regional Network, and a member of the AoC Governor Council. In 2015 she was awarded an MBE for services to Further Education.
Sheila joined the board of Bedford College in August 2015 and is currently the Vice Chair of the Corporation appointed for a 2-year term from 1 August 2021.
Her free time activities include swimming, walking, rock music and travelling whenever she can.
Yiannis Koursis OBE
Yiannis has over 26 years of senior leadership experience both in the private sector and in Further Education colleges across the UK. Before entering the Further Education world, his early career was spent in managing Hotels for National and multinational companies. In 2005 he moved out of the profession to work in Further Education in a variety of roles before moving into Senior Leadership during his time in London.
He joined The Bedford College Group (TBCG) in November 2023. Before joining TBCG, Yiannis was CEO at Barnsley College. Under Yiannis’ leadership, Barnsley College received an Outstanding rating from Ofsted and is a National Association of Colleges Beacon Award winner.
Yiannis is active in a range of networks, and strategic groups and has extensive non-executive experience both regionally and nationally. He is a Regional Councillor at the CBI, a Chartered Manager and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management, a member of the Lifelong Learning Institute advisory group and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He also sits as a Board Member of the Bedford Town Deal Board, is a board member of the Associations of Colleges 2030 strategy board, and is a member of the British Computing Society Schools & Colleges Committee. Through partnership, he has experience in bringing people together and inspiring meaningful results for all stakeholders.
Yiannis was awarded an OBE in the Birthday’s Honours in June 2022 for services to Further Education.
He is dedicated to supporting students and colleagues in realising their potential and committed to strengthening links which enable the achievement of inclusive growth in the community and across the region.
Luke Ferebee
Luke joined as a Governor of the Bedford College Group in 2021 for a term of 4 years and is a member of the Audit Committee. Prior to the appointment at the Bedford College Group, Luke was an external Governor at Milton Keynes College, and was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
An Audit Assistant Manager at KPMG, he has several years of experience delivering assurance services to a variety of private, listed, and public sector corporations in London and the surrounding regions, including colleges and universities. He is a Chartered Accountant, and member of the ICAEW.
Outside of work, Luke enjoys various sports, often regular runs and ski trips to the French alps.
Ann Harris OBE
Ann was a career civil servant latterly holding senior civil service roles in finance, programme management and delivery. Ann’s roles in a non-executive capacity include Chair of the Pensions Advisory Service, Non-Executive board member and Audit, Risk and Assurance chair of Money and Pension service, Defence Business Services. Ann has also worked in the voluntary sector as Chair of Dunstable Citizens Advice. She currently holds two non-executive roles as Board member and chair of Audit and risk committee for Social Work England and Sheffield NHS Foundation Trust.
Cliff Wragg
Cliff joined the Corporation of The Bedford College Group in July 2019 for a 4-year term. He is currently a member of the Resources Committee.
Cliff’s career has been spent in the university sector, where he has served as an HR Director, (with a keen interest in staff development) and then as University Secretary and Clerk to the Board. Subsequently, he has worked as a freelance management consultant, working with universities around the globe. He developed and ran a benchmarking programme for university management with Commonwealth universities, as well as carrying out a range of consultancies dealing with HR, change management and governance issues.
Cliff chaired a national Association for University Administrators, and is now an Honorary Life Member and Fellow of the AUA.
Outside of work, Cliff has for many years been an ITF and LTA licenced tennis official, both as an umpire and as a referee (including having umpired at many Wimbledon Championships).
Dennis Buckley
Dennis joined the Corporation of the Bedford College Group in August 2020 for a term of 4 years and is a member of the Audit Committee. He is a veteran of the financial markets having worked in banking and finance for over 48 years, mostly in the City of London together with stints in the UAE and Los Angeles and extensive business travel within Europe and Asia.
He is still active in working with, and arranging finance for, companies located in Germany and Spain from his office and home in Central Bedfordshire.
His experience over the years has covered a wide range of commercial and investment banking products, and one of the reasons he was prepared and pleased to become a Governor of the Corporation of the BCG is his desire to assist the younger generation in their quest for a career.
Kasar Singh
Kasar has over 30 years of experience: leading strategic transformation initiatives, across a number of countries in FinTech, Financial Services, Mobile Telecommunications, e-commerce and consulting; advising boards; and driving initiatives from inception through to full execution – to achieve desired results.
A Warwick Business School MBA with a BSc (Hons) in Physics from Durham University, he is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. Kasar has also been a Mentor of Warwick Business School MBA students for the past fifteen years and has a passion for supporting social mobility through education.
Kasar has also been a Non-Exec Director of The Mead Educational Trust for over five years, where in addition to being on their Board he chairs their Finance Committee.
Cathy Barr
Cathy started out as a qualified teacher of modern foreign languages teaching in and around London.
Before the merger with Advantage Schools, Cathy was chief executive officer of The Shared Learning Trust. Prior to this she held leadership roles, including assistant headteacher and deputy headteacher in secondary schools, and was Principal of The Stockwood Park Academy for a number of years. Her responsibilities as deputy CEO include quality assurance and working with individual academies to improve the quality of education and raise achievement.
Cathy is also an Ofsted inspector and trustee of HertsCam – a teacher-led CPD organisation.
Cathy is a member of the Curriculum & Quality Committee and EDI link.
Lee Fellows
Lee began his career as an engineering technician in the UK civil service (Ministry of Defence), where he developed a strong foundation in engineering system performance and project execution. This experience progressed him into project management, honing his skills in resource allocation, budgeting and stakeholder engagement.
Seeking broader challenges, Lee moved to Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defence contractor in 2008. He progressed from Project Manager to Executive Roles, leading critical projects that integrated innovation with strategic vision, further enhancing his expertise in large-scale defence programs. Lee ultimately led the Lockheed Martin Ampthill site as Vice President and Managing director for 4 years.
Currently on a career break, Lee supports various charities in non-executive roles, including the Bedford College Group (Lee is an Alumni). This opportunity allows him to give back to the community and promote educational initiatives in STEM fields. Deeply committed to inspiring the next generation of engineers and leaders, he advocates for diversity and inclusion in technology and engineering.
Faheem Mir
Faheem is an accomplished Non-Executive Director and agile transformation leader with over 24 years in governance, financial assurance, and digital transformation. Faheem has spearheaded global projects in financial transformation, cost assurance and process automation, delivering multi-million-pound savings, working with prominent telecom companies across the UK, Europe, US and India.
As a former Chair of Central Bedfordshire College and Chair of Finance & Resources Committee, he has extensive governance experience in board best practices and facilitated a successful merger. Known for his strategic insight, he excels in creating collaborative, high-performance environments across culturally diverse teams. Faheem is a recipient of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship award.
Varsha Mistry
Varsha has 25 years of global operations experience, excelling in driving organisational and digital transformation. Dedicated to operational excellence and strategic success, Varsha is known for fostering high-performance teams, effectively engaging stakeholders, and solving problems. She leads diverse, cross-functional teams.
Varsha has a degree in BSc Computer Science/Software Engineering and has studied and worked in California.
With a passion for fostering academic excellence Varsha was keen to volunteer with The Bedford College Group because of its commitment to widening accessibility to education and training, innovation and community engagement.
David Moran
David Moran is an accomplished Chief Financial Officer with extensive experience in public sector financial leadership. With a background in both studying and teaching accountancy, David is committed to supporting education that fosters financial literacy and professional development.
Having studied accountancy at further education colleges, David understands the pivotal role they play in shaping career trajectories. His experience includes teaching accountancy across GCSE, A Level, and AAT at Watford College, which has given him valuable insight into the academic needs of students pursuing finance-related careers.
David has since built a successful career as an interim Chief Financial Officer, holding senior roles across various public sector organisations. He currently serves as Interim CFO for Wiltshire Police, where he provides strategic financial leadership and oversight. His professional expertise encompasses strategic financial planning, transformation, change management, and risk governance, all of which inform his contributions as a governor.
David is passionate about leveraging his financial acumen to guide The Bedford College Group in maintaining high educational standards and achieving long-term sustainability.
John Butcher
John joined the Bedford College Group Board in November 2023 for a four-year term. He currently sits on the Curriculum & Quality Committee and is the Skills link.
John has a background in Further Education and has gained extensive experience in the Higher Education sector. He worked as a Professor of Inclusive Teaching at the Open University and served as a Director of Access, Open and Cross-curricular innovation. In this role, he was responsible for the university’s Access Programme throughout the UK and was the lead for the research and scholarship centre for Widening Participation. John strongly advocates for the significant role that post-compulsory education plays in providing transformative opportunities for all.
Tom Dove-Wallington
Tom has had a varied career. His first degree was in hotel and catering management, but for the past fifteen years, his career has been focussed in corporate Learning and Development and Human Resources. He has achieved a Masters in Personnel and Development, is a chartered member of the CIPD, and is currently studying for his LLM in Employment Law.
Tom is experienced working in global companies and culturally diverse environments in the private sector. He has extensive experience in digital learning technologies, instructional design, performance management and employee engagement.
Tom studied at Tresham College many years ago and is glad to be back in a role that can support both current and future students.
Laura-Jane Rawlings MBE
Laura-Jane is a passionate campaigner for youth employment and the rights for all young people to access employment and have their voices heard on the issues that affect them. Laura-Jane believes that it is for all of us to create a youth friendly society so that young people can fulfil their potential.
Laura-Jane founded Youth Employment UK in 2012, believing that there was a need to put young people at the heart of youth employment policy and services on a local and national level. Youth Employment UK is a not-for-profit, social enterprise supporting young people, employers, educators, third sector organisations and policy colleagues.
Recognised as a leading youth employment expert Laura-Jane provides support, insight and expertise to many groups Co-Founder & Chair of the Youth Employment Group, Secretariat and Advisor to the APPG for Youth Employment, a founding Board Member of the Youth Futures Foundation, and was a secondary school governor for 6 years.
Noor Nazir
Noor joined the board in September 2023. In her role as Head of Community, she is passionate about supporting learners in receiving high-quality education and encouraging opportunities for both students and staff.
In 2015, Noor joined Central Bedfordshire College as a Teaching Assistant, working her way through various job roles to her current position as Head of Department. As an advocate for inclusivity and diversity, Noor is an active member in the local community, her efforts in this area were recognized when she was awarded 2023 Equality and Diversity Champion, as well as her department winning the Pride of CBC Awards (2021-2022) in Community Services for staff excellence.
Being fluent in four languages has allowed Noor to engage with minorities in her community, a skill that has enabled her to build relationships and promote fair education. In her spare time, Noor enjoys reading and travelling and is an active member of the charity Edhi Welfare Organization.
Shaun Wilson
Shaun is the Course Manager for Access to HE – lecturer in Psychology & social sciences, a role he has held for 4 years and has worked in various roles and departments at Northamptonshire campuses for 15 years, including in Construction.
Shaun is passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of students and staff and has delivered Mental Health England’s Youth Mental health first aid course across the group for the last 7 years and is also the Men’s Health Lead.
He is keen to ensure The Bedford College Group promotes and recognises the benefits of an environment that promotes staff and student wellbeing and proactively supports student and staff mental fitness and wellbeing.
Titus Logan
