Trustees
Trustees are responsible for directing the Academy Trust’s operations and are responsible for making key strategic decisions and providing strategic leadership, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

Graeme McGregor (Chair of Trust Board)
Graeme is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience across FTSE 100 companies. Graeme completed his articles with KPMG before joining ICI Tioxide, Southern Africa where he worked in the finance department. He was transferred to the UK in 1997, joining ICI Katalco and held numerous senior finance roles as the organisation expanded. Following the sale of the business to Johnson Matthey, Graeme was appointed the Divisional Finance Director and together with the Divisional Managing Director, they embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy.
In 2010, Graeme continued to broaden his experience by moving into general management and has led numerous global businesses across the Johnson Matthey portfolio including their Oil & Gas and Process Technologies portfolio.
In 2018, Graeme was promoted to Managing Director – New Markets (Johnson Matthey), reporting directly to the company CEO &CFO. He worked with numerous leadership teams and across a variety of markets (fuel cells, medical, life sciences, plastics, etc) to develop their strategies and enhance their value to the Johnson Matthey portfolio.
Graeme believes that leadership involves empowering the people, supporting them to maximise their potential and ensuring that every decision is taken at the appropriate level.
Graeme has recently retired from Johnson Matthey and is looking to spend time on the golf course whilst supporting the local community.

Claire Graham Brown

Mark Fletcher

Julie Deville
Julie has substantive experience as Headteacher and has led and improved three schools in different socio-economic areas of England. She has significant knowledge of effective school improvement and as an NLE has been deployed as interim Headteacher in a number of schools causing concern, she currently supports the DfE School Improvement offer and One Vision programme. Julie is passionate about the school led system and system leadership and has committed to being a coach for Women Ed and supporting the roll out of Early Careers Framework within the North East. Julie has experience of working with primary and secondary Leadership Teams to promote effective and sustainable change management. She has been involved with wider education as both an additional inspector for Ofsted and as an Education Adviser which supported the work of the RSC.
Julie champions education in the North East and is a member of the TeachFirst Strategy Board, and proactive supporter of Schools North East.

Ashleigh Lees

Andrew Thom

Darren Ditchburn

John Hind

Philomena Abrahams
Members
Galileo has 4 Members who determine the ethos and purpose of the Trust (i.e. the provision of education) and the way it will be governed (which will be set out in the Articles of Association) and will have a right (not an obligation) to participate in governance by appointing and removing Trustees.
They also have a right to receive the Trustees’ annual report and accounts and to attend general meetings of the Trust.

Tom Havelock
Tom was approached by the Local Authority to work with the Landmark Teaching Alliance as School Improvement Adviser where he was responsible for raising standards and managing a programme of Professional Development for workforce for the 10 schools in alliance, with a particular focus on developing leaders and succession planning. He is an accredited & trained Consultant Leader, External Adviser & School Improvement Partner.
As an independent educational consultant Tom was involved in the planning & delivery of the ‘Closing the Gap’ programme across LAs in the north east and in training programmes for School Self Improvement & Developing Aspiring Leaders.

Andrew Smith
Andrew currently represents the Diocese of York Educational Trust (DYET) as a corporate Member on Multi Academy Trusts and is a director of DBE Services, a consortia of several Church of England dioceses in the north of England. He is also a Trustee of the National Society which oversees the work of Church School education nationally.

Janet Dack

Maurice Jones
Maurice has served as a Member of Galileo Trust since 2019.