The Executive Board of the Multi Academy Trust, fulfilling the role of both Directors under company law and Trustees under charity law, exercise the powers and carry out the duties of the Multi-Academy Trust. The Board of Directors are responsible to the Members of the Multi-Academy Trust as well as the parents, pupils and staff at the academies. Directors may also be known as governors of the Trust.

The Directors are responsible for the three core governance functions – setting the strategic direction of the Trust and the academies within the Trust, holding the Headteachers to account and ensuring financial probity. Directors work with the Academy Governance Committees to ensure the quality of education and financial management provided at each academy.

Five committees operate under the Trust Board. The Education and Ethos Committee, the People and Pay Committee, the Business and Finance Committee, the Audit and Risk Committee and the Trust Governance Committee.

DIRECTORS

CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Barry Cockcroft - Barry Cockcroft is a dentist by training and worked in mainly NHS general dental practice in Rugby from 1975 until he joined the Department of Health in 2002. At the Department of Health he was Chief Dental Officer for England until his retirement in 2015. Whilst in post he was influential in the establishment of two new dental schools. Barry joined the Board of Integrated Dental Holdings, the largest provider of dental care in Europe, in June 2015 and retired from the Board in 2021. Barry is Chair of the British Fluoridation Society and a mentor on the Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme at Birmingham University. He was awarded a CBE in the New Year's honours list in 2010.

Barry and his wife, a former teacher in Rugby, have three children and eight grandchildren who have all been brought up and educated in Warwickshire. 

Ruth Marlow - Ruth retired in March 2022.  Prior to this, Ruth had a 40-year career first in Local Government, where she undertook a diverse range of roles in housing training, housing management and homelessness, ultimately serving as a Local Authority Chief Executive for 18 years.  Following over 30 years in Local Government, Ruth was the Diocese of Coventry Diocesan Secretary, before retiring in March 2022. During her time in the Diocese, Ruth was a member of the Diocesan Board of Education and also served as a Trustee and Chair of Together for Change: Coventry and Warwickshire (TfC), a charity which works with churches helping them alleviate poverty in their communities.  

Keith Tudor - Keith is an owner and Managing Director of Oaklands Plastics Ltd, a manufacturer of plastic products for the construction industry. 

A graduate in finance from the City of Birmingham University and a Chartered Accountant, he held senior financial positions at Cadbury Ltd and Sandvik Ltd before progressing into general management.

For over 20 years he has been leading international companies through significant growth, with all the structural and cultural changes and challenges which that entails. His companies have picked up some accolades along the way including a number of Queen’s Awards for Export and Scottish Company of the Year.

A native of Birmingham, he and his wife, a former teacher, lived happily for 15 years in Binley Woods, where their daughter received her primary education.

Heather Lees - Heather is a CIMA qualified accountant and history graduate who has worked for several different styles of organisations so has collected a wide range of experience from the commercial, public and third sectors. This includes working in challenging situations for example for an Ombudsman, a Regulator, a Police Force and a Local Authority as well as charities and membership organisations. Heather has also gained her experience of the broader corporate services such as estates, IT, governance, HR, information management as well as finance.

Heather brings knowledge of the MAT sector to the board, having been the CFO for a multi academy trust based in Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire for a number of years. Heather is also an ex-pupil of one of our schools, St Bartholomew’s, she lives in Coventry with her 2 children and her granddaughter.

Simon Cox has worked in education since 1997 and has held senior leadership and headship roles across a wide range of school and trust contexts. As a Headteacher and Executive Headteacher, he has led schools through significant improvement journeys, including securing strong Ofsted outcomes in schools that had previously been judged Requires Improvement or placed in Special Measures. He has also worked extensively at trust level, most recently as Director of School Improvement for Lift Schools, following senior education and school improvement roles within E-ACT and work supporting schools through rapid improvement and transition. Simon is also a trained Ofsted Inspector, bringing valuable experience of evaluating school quality and improvement from both a leadership and inspection perspective.

Simon’s leadership is grounded in a clear focus on outcomes, culture, leadership, quality of education and behaviour, combined with a strong belief in developing people and creating the conditions for sustainable improvement. His experience across diverse schools has developed a flexible, evidence-informed approach to school improvement: understanding the context, identifying the key priorities, simplifying the strategy, and building leadership capacity to deliver it.

Simon joined GLF Schools as Director of Secondary Education in September 2026.

Declan McCauley - Declan has spent 39 years working in the education sector. After beginning his career in secondary education Declan moved to the primary sector. Declan taught in several local authorities across the midlands, mainly in church schools. After 14 years as a headteacher Declan took a secondment into Ofsted to work with HMI in the midlands. Following this Declan worked as a senior managing inspector and latterly principal inspector for an inspection services provider delivering inspections on behalf of Ofsted. In 2015 Declan moved to take up a school improvement role in a large church MAT in the east midlands. Since then, Declan took on the roles of substantive deputy CEO and served as interim CEO for two blocks of time. Declan still inspects schools on behalf of Ofsted and has recently stepped down from full-time work with the trust and is now enjoying a quieter and more leisurely life.

Isabel Merrifield - Isabel is an experienced senior leader and now owns her own management consultancy company offering strategic and interim support.  Isabel has had a varied career, working first for Royal Mail, then in a few local government posts and latterly as Chief Operating Officer at Coventry Cathedral.  Since leaving that latter role, Isabel has undertaken interim placements in other cathedrals and dioceses across the country.  She also works as an associate consultant with a large faith-based consultancy. 

Whilst in local government, Isabel was led various teams across education and children's services which give her useful context for this Director role.  

Isabel lives just outside Coventry with her husband Dave and they have grown up twins who now live away.  

EXECUTIVE TEAM - NON DIRECTORS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & ACCOUNTING OFFICER
Mr Michael Cowland - Michael has been working in multi academy trusts since 2011 having made a successful transition from local government.  This transition started with Northampton Academy, a large secondary academy run by United Learning, and then with the Diocese of Peterborough, where he was part of the senior leadership team who established the Peterborough Diocese Education Trust (PDET).  Michael held the post of Business Director and spent time acting as Interim Chief Executive Officer to cover a period of absence where he led the trust through four Ofsted inspections, the trusts's twenty third academy conversion and the successful secondment of a Head of Learning and Achievement, a post which resulted in a step change in the trust's academy improvement services.  Michael is a Cranfield School of Management Executive MBA, a Chartered Manager and a member of the Chartered Management Institute having passed his level 7 Senior Leader Masters Degree with a Distinction in 2021.

CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER

Penny Harrison, ACMA, CGMA - Penny joined the Diocese of Coventry Multi Academy Trust in April 2025, bringing over 20 years of experience in education finance. A qualified CIMA accountant since 2013, she has held CFO-level roles in academy trusts since 2014. Penny spent six years at Central Region School Trust, where she led the development of central finance processes and supported the Trust’s growth to 13 schools. Her work introduced Business Partnering, centralised payroll, strong accounting systems, and centralised banking.

She has a proven track record in regularity audits and internal scrutiny, consistently providing assurance to boards and ensuring full compliance with DfE reporting requirements. Penny is committed to financial transparency and strategic leadership that supports educational excellence across the Trust.