-
Jason Lancaster Principal and CEO
Jason studied electronic engineering before starting his career as a part time teacher at Newcastle-under-Lyme College (now Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group).
He spent ten years at the College, moving into management including introducing new provision in construction and telecommunications and having responsibility for a wide range of curriculum areas. In this time, he oversaw ongoing improvements to students’ outcomes as well as introducing significant new provision for full-time, part-time and apprenticeship students in construction and telecommunications.
He left the College in 2008 to move into consultancy across the FE and skills sector. For the following years, he undertook a wide range of roles including as an Ofsted inspector, interim manager and supporting a range of colleges and independent learning providers improve their provision. This included supporting several providers to improve their grades and the standard of their provision. In 2017, he joined Northampton College as interim Vice Principal for Performance Improvement, working with the team to secure it’s ‘Good’ Ofsted grade and overseeing the College’s apprenticeship provision.
Since leaving the College in late 2019, he has held senior leadership roles at both Stoke-on-Trent College and Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group. At Stoke-on-Trent College as Deputy Principal, he supported the College on its continuing journey towards achieving Ofsted grade 2 after a very long period of challenges. At NSCG, he led the development of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology including developing a comprehensive curriculum and leading the design of the new £18M Hub building.
-
Anne-Marie Kilday Chair of the Corporation
Professor Anne-Marie Kilday is Vice Chancellor and Professor of Criminal History at the University of Northampton.
She writes and researches on various aspects of criminal history, particularly focusing on violent behaviour and gendered criminality. Professor Kilday started her academic career in Scotland working at the University of Strathclyde and then the University of Glasgow. She joined Oxford Brookes University in 2000 as a Lecturer in Early Modern History and progressed her career at the University securing various promotions from Principal Lecturer through to Dean.
She was promoted into the senior leadership team becoming the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer and Impact in 2012 and then in 2018 became Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Experience & University Community, with institutional responsibility for all aspects of both student and staff experience. She continued in that role until she joined the University of Northampton in August 2022.
-
Steve Bunker(Staff Governor)
After successfully completing an apprenticeship, Steve moved into a career in the motor industry which spanned over 20 years before joining the College.
Steve was seeking a change in direction and had a desire to pass on his skills and knowledge to the next generation of
young apprentices. He now has nearly 20 years of service which has included roles as a NVQ assessor, teacher, and course co-ordinator.Becoming a staff governor has enabled Steve to share the views, and where appropriate, concerns of staff with the
corporation and play a part in shaping the future of the College. -
Professor Geraldine Schofield
Geraldine is a microbiologist who has worked in academia (Universities of Newcastle, Cologne, Milan), the public sector (Public Health Service) and the private sector.
She has authored a large number of scientific publications including chapters in two of the standard microbiological texts. Latterly, Geraldine was a senior manager with Unilever plc becoming global Head of Regulatory Affairs Foods R&D.
Geraldine has been an adviser to the UK Government on genetic modification and health and safety, and to the EU Commission on risk and food safety.
Until 2013 she was a visiting Professor at the University of Exeter and a Non-Executive Director of Milton Keynes Community Health Services.
Geraldine is a Trustee of the Society for Experimental Biology and a Magistrate. She was awarded an MBE for services to the biotechnology industry.
-
Mark Robbins
As a qualified accountant, Mark spent the first half of his career working in various finance roles across a range of industries, including electricity supply, travel, banking and insurance.
After completing an MBA at Warwick Business School, Mark joined the Corporate Development department of Abbey National (now part of Santander UK) and subsequently moved into risk management.
Mark worked at Lloyds Banking Group for twelve years in a number of Director level financial risk management and regulatory change roles.
Mark has lived in Northampton for the last eleven years.
-
Rod Wood
Rod has recently retired after a career in Human Resource management in both the public and private sector, including working at Rolls-Royce, British Gas/Centrica, Remploy and latterly in FE.
He was Director of HR at Leicester College for 17 years, reporting to the Principal, and a member of the Senior leadership Team successfully helping to lead the College through challenging times.
Outside of FE, Rod was a school governor for 25 years at two local schools, which his four children attended, and served most of that time as Chair. Rod enjoys travel, tennis, walking, theatre, reading and has a keen interest in politics and education generally.
-
David Smith
After graduating from the University of Hertfordshire as a scientist, David has worked for The Open University in a number of operational and strategic roles.
David is currently a Strategy Manager working alongside the Vice-Chancellor and Executive Team to manage the process of reporting and analysing institutional performance. He also responsible for the development and review of the University Strategy and for addressing key organisational problems through analytical outputs.
David chairs a university-wide group to improve understanding of data, and he previously worked in one of the Pro-Vice Chancellor offices working with faculties to develop and monitor their academic and financial plans. He has also worked in Student Services as a Project Manager and directly supporting students, including as a Director of three Residential Schools. Since then, David completed a MSc in Science and a Professional Certificate in Management with the University.
-
David Bailey
David is a practicing Chartered Accountant trained by Deloitte, with over 10 years of board level experience as CEO & CFO, and international experience in 12 countries.
He particpated on the boards of nine start-ups, three turnarounds, three company purchases and three company sales. David is a generalist - his sector experience crosses financial services, professional services, youth development charities (Scout Association, British Exploring Society), business services, software development, digital entertainment, and media. AIM and NASDAQ listed company CFO experience.
David is currently a private sector Board Director at SEMLEP, with roles in finance, enterprise zones (including the Northampton Enterprise Zone) and inward investment.
-
Julie Teckman
Julie Teckman was Northampton College's longest serving member of staff until her retirement in August 2023, after joining the College in 1985 as a general studies teacher.
As a teacher, she was part of the team that set up the Media Studies department, and she moved into management of the team before climbing the ranks to end up as Head of the School of Arts which she led for many years. Alongside that, Julie established a small but successful Higher Education programme at the college working with the University of Northampton to provide an alternative Higher National route to a full degree that enabled students to take a practical route to professional qualifications. One of the great achievements of the team has been to be awarded the Teaching Excellence Framework award at silver level from the Office for Students twice. Julie retired from the School of the Arts in 2017 but stayed on to run the HE programme, and later the Teacher Training programme as part of the Quality team.
Since retiring from full-time work, Julie opened a vintage clothing and gift emporium in Northampton where she encourages students from the college to come for work experience, and became a director of the Business Improvement Centre as part of a commitment to improve the Northampton town centre. She also broadcasts weekly on Radio Northampton where she continues to give information about the media. Julie is looking forward to being a useful and effective member of the Corporation and to maintain her links with the College she loves.