‎ ‎

Finance, Property and People Committee

Mark Bennett has held senior positions in Google since 2015, and before that was Managing Director of Tesco Blinkbox Music and Head of Digital at Sainsbury’s.

He has also worked for Microsoft in a business development role and held commercial roles in the music industry. Mark is currently Vice President of “Android GTM” at Google, which he tells us is a role focused on improving Android’s competitiveness against Apple. As well as technical expertise, Mark has experience of managing large, multinational teams; of driving sales growth (including marketing and sales management); board level negotiations; strategy development; and financial management. Mark has a son and a daughter at the School.

Vice Chair and member of the Finance, Property and People Committee

Ellie Evans is Chief People Officer for Just Group plc. Ellie is responsible for all aspects of HR, people engagement, development and culture. She also holds responsibility for enhancing the overall people experience, developing the people strategy in conjunction with the wider business.

Ellie joined just in November 2022. Prior to her role at Just, Ellie worked in senior roles across various industries including insurance, energy and motor organisations. In these roles she has supported organisational development from both a HR and change project perspective.

Ellie hopes to be able to support the school through her lens of people and culture and continue to enhance the experience for the colleagues and children who thrive within the Stamford Schools.

Chair of Finance, Property and People

Tom holds a degree from Bath University in Economics and Politics and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

He is Director of Duncan & Toplis Chartered Accountants, one of the largest regional accounting firms. He specialises in advising owner-managed businesses on their tax, accounting and succession planning. He lives in Stamford and is married to Jane, an artist who was also a teacher at the Stamford Endowed Schools. They have three daughters, all of whom have been educated at the school. Tom was a Trustee of the David Ross Educational Trust from 2014 to 2019. Tom’s interests include rugby, gardening and art.

Finance, Property and People Committee

Pritpal has director level experience largely in the technology sector with a range of Blue Chip, AIM listed, private and private equity backed businesses.

His experience spans a range of sectors including retail, financial services and supply chain. He is currently the CEO, and co-founder, of Flawless Beauty Group, and previously held roles at comparethemarket.com and Carphone Warehouse. Pritpal lives in Stamford and his company Flawless Beauty is the headline sponsor of Burghley Cricket Club. He has two sons at the school.

Safeguarding Committee and Education Committee

After graduating from Manchester University, Clive started his career in 1983 at Stamford School teaching History and Politics.

He was appointed as a Boarding House Master and from there moved to Oswestry Junior School as Head. In 1996 he became Head of Lincoln Minster Prep School before being appointed Principal in 1999. He is passionate about enabling young people to succeed. He became the CEO of The Society of Heads in September 2015. He is now dedicated to supporting, encouraging and inspiring school leaders.

Finance, Property and People Committee and Education Committee

Julia is a former pupil of Stamford High School and now has one daughter at Stamford. All three of Julia’s daughters have been educated at the school.

She gained an MA from Edinburgh University (French and Business Studies) and then had a successful career in the City of London as a bank analyst.

Julia became a top-five bank analyst in a global investment bank and went on to become a managing director and head of a significant team of analysts at one of the world’s largest rating agencies. She left the City in 2011 to build an asset management business. She also has a Chartered Insurance Institute Diploma in Regulated Financial planning, enabling her to advise private clients on pensions, investments and protection. Julia has a passion for horse riding and enjoys cycling and gardening. She speaks fluent French and loves to spend time with her family in France.

Education Committee

Steven is Chief Data & Analytics Officer for The Crown Estates.

He has worked across multiple sectors, having held senior Data Management roles for a number of organisations including ING, IBM and The Commonwealth Bank. Steven also bring extensive experience of working internationally, having worked across Europe, in Australia and with US organisations. Steven is a graduate of Nottingham University and also holds a Masters Degree from University of Maryland.

Steven brings a passion for using data to drive organisational change and decision making, and in particular how some of the corporate world’s use of data can be brought to the world of education. He is also a strong advocate of broadening the diversity of people moving into the data industry and is involved in various sector initiatives in this area.

Steven and his family recently relocated to Stamford and he has two children who attend Stamford Junior School.

Education Committee

Jeremy is currently the Headmaster of St Hugh’s Prep School in Woodhall Spa.

Originally from Warwickshire and educated at Repton School and the University of Leicester, where he also completed his PGCE, Jeremy started his teaching career teaching Modern Languages and Sport in Tonbridge. From there he moved to an HMC school in Kent where he was Officer Commanding of the CCF’s Army Section and Housemaster of a 13-18 boys’ boarding house. Moving to a Prep School in Tunbridge Wells, Jeremy was Deputy Head and Safeguarding Lead for 6 years before being appointed as the Head of St Hugh’s prep school in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. With a Postgraduate Diploma in Pastoral Care and Pupil Development from the University of Aberdeen, he is currently working towards a Masters degree at the University of Buckingham.