Governance

Geraldine Sloan

Chair of Corporation

Geraldine is a Chartered Accountant, who runs her own business, having originally trained and qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Geraldine’s business specialises in the not-for-profit sectors, working with education, charity and pensions clients. More recently she has taken a qualification as a life coach and is keen to use this experience to support local people to meet their aspirations and develop confidence and resilience as well as the skills necessary to access and thrive in aspirational careers.

Geraldine has three grown up children and is looking forward to supporting the College achieve its vision of being the best college in the country..

Andrew Gibbons

Vice Chair of Corporation and Chair of Finance and Resources Committee

Andrew is an experienced senior manager within the telecommunications sector with experience in strategy, planning and leading large operational units. Some of his key expertise includes: business planning, manpower planning, leadership of large organisations and contracts, management information and analysis. He went to school in Bootle and went on to achieve a BA(Hons) Degree in Business Management and an MBA.

Rachael Hennigan

Principal and Chief Executive

Rachael joined Hugh Baird College in February 2020 as Principal and Chief Executive. Rachael has over 15 years’ experience in the further education sector and is no stranger the Liverpool City Region, having grown up in Bootle and completing her A-levels at Hugh Baird College.

Rachael has overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the College. She is passionate about ensuring students develop relevant knowledge and skills that will enable them to progress in the future.

Lydia Redican

Vice Chair

Lydia is an experienced Widening Participation and Outreach Practitioner for the University of Liverpool. She leads large access programmes designed to support young people to transition into higher education and gain access to the professions. Her experience is rooted in both higher and further education and her work has a strong emphasis on collaboration, working with multiple stakeholders across the sector. She leads local programmes as well as hosting national, collaborative projects. She is the Co-Chair of the University of Liverpool’s BAME Staff Network and works to advance the University’s strategic priorities around Race Equality.

Paul Cherpeau

Chair of Search and Governance Committee

Paul is the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool.

Paul joined the Chamber as a Graduate in 2006 and has substantial experience across the business including the delivery of membership, marketing, policy, trade and training services to businesses. As Chief Executive Paul’s job is to ensure the Chamber is undertaking its mission and purpose, to represent the commercial interests of Liverpool businesses and enable them to connect, support and thrive.

Paul’s role varies from oversight of the Chamber operations, connecting with city partners on all issues connected to the economy and supporting and engaging individual businesses within the business network.

Paul also represents a business voice on several external organisations boards including MSIF, Liverpool BID Company, Hugh Baird College and Liverpool City Council’s Education Improvement Board.

Ruth Harding-Quinn

Chair of Audit Committee

Ruth moved into the Health and Safety profession in 2004 after holding a number of general administration roles. After completing a NEBOSH General and then a degree in the subject, Ruth continued to develop her skills with experience before joining a large outsourcing firm in 2008. Ruth has enjoyed a variety of roles in the past 13 years but all with health and safety and the wellbeing of her colleagues at the heart of what she does. This has resulted in her holding the position of Quality Lead which allows her to influence policies and procedures that guide the organisation.

Andrea Murphy

Co-opted Member of Quality and Standards Committee

Andrea is an experienced FE Professional who has been in the post 16 education sector for over thirty years. She started her career in a local authority housing department as a graduate of the University of Salford. Andrea is passionate about teaching and learning and quickly moved into teaching, originally in the Sixth Form College sector. A drive for supporting students in technical and vocational education, particularly those from socially deprived backgrounds, led to various senior roles in the FE sector across the North West, she is currently Deputy Principal at Hopwood Hall College in Greater Manchester. Andrea has a particular interest in ensuring that employers are at the heart of the curriculum and support the learners’ journey whilst in college. An experienced governor and previous Ofsted inspector, Andrea is currently chair of the Advanced Machinery Productivity Institute work and skills committee which helps to ensure the next generation are work ready and can prosper.

Joe Yates

Chair of Higher Education Committee

Professor Joe Yates is Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Wrexham University.

Prior to taking up the post of Vice Chancellor, Professor Yates held positions as Professor of Criminology and Social Policy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Arts Professional and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, Director of the School of Humanities and Social Science, Head of Criminology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion (which he co-founded). He also led the development of the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies and has been instrumental in leading the Educational Leadership Centre. His first academic post was as Senior Lecturer in Community and Criminal Justice at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Professor Yates has volunteered externally as a Community Governor, a Sports Governor and Deputy Chair at a Specialist Education Needs School, a local Primary School and a local Sixth form College. He also held the position of Trustee for the National Association for Youth Justice and the Foundation for Arts and Creative Technologies in Liverpool. He is currently the Director of an International Youth Justice Symposium at the Inter-University Centre in Croatia and he has previously sat on the Executive Board for the National Council of Deans for Arts, Social Science and Humanities. He is the Chair of the Regional Governance Board for Cradle to Career, a place-based grassroots educational enhancement project in the Liverpool City Region.

Professor Yates has researched and published in the field of youth justice with a particular focus on policy responses to marginalised children involved in crime and antisocial behaviour. He has conducted research for the Home Office and the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales as well as for a range of community groups, non-governmental organisations and charities.

Prior to working in Higher Education, Professor Yates worked in the Criminal Justice Sector, working with young people as a youth worker, a social worker, a youth justice officer and a policy and performance manager. He is a trained probation officer and a qualified social worker. He grew up in Bootle and is a proud Alumnus of Hugh Baird College.

Kerry Kirkwood

Vice Chair and Chair of Quality and Standards Committee

Kerry Kirkwood has enjoyed a successful career in education spanning almost 40 years. She has extensive experience in secondary, sixth form, and further education.

Kerry was the Principal of an outstanding sixth form college in Cheshire which achieved results that were amongst the best in the Country. She went on to form a multi-academy trust comprising the sixth form and two secondary schools.

Kerry has specialist knowledge of Level 3 curriculum design, quality assurance, school improvement and leadership development. She recognises and is passionate about the unique and invaluable role education plays in social mobility.

Kerry is an experienced Governor and Trustee. She has been the Chair of Governors at a Church of England high school and is currently a Trustee of and a Member of multi-academy trusts in Lancashire and Cheshire.

A former student of Hugh Baird College, Kerry has fond memories of her time studying for A-levels, and credits Hugh Baird with igniting her life-long love of learning.

Rob Gaskell

Governor

Rob is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and, having grown up in Bootle, began his career in a Chartered Accountancy Practice opposite Hugh Baird College on Balliol Road. He later trained and qualified with city centre firms Whitnalls and Grant Thornton, providing business advisory services to many local businesses.

Rob then transferred into Industry where he has been Finance Director across several sectors including shipping, property, fintech and telecoms. AAT and ACCA qualified, Rob has more than 30 years of accountancy experience helping business owners achieve their growth ambitions

Lynsey Unsworth

Governor

Lynsey is a HR professional with 23 years’ experience in Financial Services, the last 6 of those as a Chief Operating Officer for HR in HSBC Bank.

Her career spans multiple roles and specialisms, but with a consistent focus on driving change, improving business performance, and building highly engaged teams.

Lynsey's current role covers all aspects of Finance, Risk and HR Operations, but her passion is social mobility, specifically supporting others as a coach/mentor to help them reach their career aspirations, regardless of their background and self- belief.

As a single mum of two young boys, with a demanding full-time job, Lynsey doesn’t get much spare time, but when she does, she loves to run. She has been lucky enough to travel a lot in her career, but always has and always will call Liverpool her home.

Jas Samra

Governor

Jas is a senior Human Resources leader with 20 years of public sector experience and knowledge as well as being a proud resident of the Sefton community. He has a proven track record of strategic leadership, a breadth of HR disciplines and has been actively involved in areas such as audit, risk management, inclusion and diversity and people management.

Jas was Chair of Governors in a Crosby school before joining Hugh Baird College and will bring enthusiasm and passion for education, skills development and community to his role.

Chris Lyons

Governor

Chris is currently Director of Strategic Programmes and Development within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. He joined Mersey Care in January 2016.

During his time with the Trust, Chris has provided the programme leadership for several significant acquisitions and strategic programmes. His role is to lead and deliver on significant Strategic and Organisational wide change within the Trust with a focus on improving the operational efficiency of the Trust. He is also responsible for Business Intelligence and Performance and Business Development functions of the Trust. He is a member of the Executive Team.

He began his career as an NHS General Management Trainee in Northern Ireland (1992– 1994) and subsequently went on to hold a number of accountable officer and Director positions across healthcare, local government and the university sector in both the UK and Ireland. Throughout his career, Chris has led on a number of significant strategic change programmes including spending three years overseeing a major reconfiguration of five hospital sites on the east coast of Ireland and as the programme Director responsible for the Operational planning and commissioning of the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in 2014- 2015.

Robin Leatherbarrow

Governor

Robin enjoyed a successful academic career having gained a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Liverpool, followed by a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He held academic positions at Oxford before moving to Imperial College London, where he was Professor of Chemical Biology and Dean/Consul of Natural Sciences. In recognition of his scientific standing, he has been awarded a DSc from Imperial College and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Biology.

He finally returned to Liverpool to take up the position of Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Scholarship and Knowledge Transfer at Liverpool John Moores University. Since retiring from the academic world, Robin remains a visiting Professor of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London and a part-time consultant for pharmaceutical companies engaged in patent litigation. Outside science, Robin continues with business interests in software development and the hospitality industry. He is a part-time technical advisor for the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK.

Kevin Rice

Staff Governor - Business Support

Kevin is a Chartered Manager who holds a master’s degree level qualification in Strategic Leadership and Management Practice. Kevin, who is trilingual, first graduated with an Honours Degree in Modern Languages and Business and he has studied at universities in the UK, France, and Germany. Kevin began his professional career with the Inland Revenue (now HMRC) before progressing to posts within the Finance, Audit, and Marketing departments of two world-leading global US-based manufacturing companies. These posts involved extensive work and travel across Europe and North Africa over a number of years.

Having taken the decision to move back to Liverpool on a permanent basis, Kevin initially took up the position of Project Accountant at Hugh Baird College, during which time he also served as the Clerk to the Corporation’s Audit Committee before undertaking his current position as Higher Skills Manager for Quality and Compliance within the College’s University Centre. Kevin is wholly committed to this role, with the College’s vision, mission, strategic priorities, and values being of constant and primary focus. Outside of office hours, Kevin holds a number of voluntary positions within the local Community, which are particularly reflective of the College’s strategic priority to, “Serve as a beacon for our Community”. Such voluntary roles include Kevin’s long-standing remit as a member of a local Scout Group Leadership Team.

This Leadership Team was one of only two Community-based Teams within Merseyside to be awarded the lifelong MBE-equivalent King's Award for Voluntary Service as part of the King’s Birthday Honours list in November 2024 within the category of “Services to Children and Young People”. This accolade was granted by virtue of the Leadership Team’s ongoing devotion to, “Making a difference where we live by delivering skills for life”, a concept which is wholly reflective of Kevin’s ongoing professional passion and commitment to the College’s Mission Statement which is “to inspire, challenge and transform lives”.

Alison Stokes

HE Student Governor

Biography coming soon.

Nadia Madajewska

FE Student Governor

Biography coming soon.