Nick Tolchard
President and Chair of Council
As Clifton College is a charity, an elected Council governs it.
The Council delegates the day to day running of the College to a leadership group comprised of three teams: the Senior Management Team (Upper School), chaired by the Head of College; the Senior Leadership Team (Preparatory School) chaired by the Headmaster of the Preparatory School; and the Senior Executive Team, chaired by the COO.
Get in touch.
You can write to the Chair of Council at:
32 College Road
Clifton
Bristol.
BS8 3JH
Meet the Council.
Matthew Howard-Cairns
Treasurer
Mark Eldridge
Vice Chair of Council, Nominated Safeguarding Lead
Alison Eynon
Jonathan Glassberg
James Womersley
Ella Leonard
Matthew Black
Jim Higham
Loveday Ryder
Ben Britz
Antony Spencer
Richard Bowcott
Dominic Jephcott
Karen Maguire
Keith Metcalfe
Liz Polding
Nick Tolchard
President and Chair of Council
Nick Tolchard is an OC with a degree in Geophysics from Southampton University. Nick’s career has been in asset management, having retired as a Director of Invesco Asset Management UK in 2021 where he was Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Invesco Fixed Income, and previously Head of International Development. Nick is Chair of TheCityUK New Markets Group, and a member of TheCityUK International Trade and Investment Group, globally promoting the UK’s Financial and Related Professional Services sector. He is also Deputy Chair of The Investment Association Trade and Investment Committee. Nick was Chair and then President of The Old Cliftonian Society from 2007-2017, and is a Director of the Clifton College Development Trust and Clifton College International Ltd. Nick joined Council in 2013, has been Chair since 2019, and his three daughters have all attended Clifton.
Matthew Howard-Cairns
Treasurer
Matthew Howard-Cairns is an OC. He has a BA in Economics and Politics from the University of Durham and is a Chartered Accountant.
Matthew works at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of the largest pension plans in the world, where he leads the Value Creation team for the Equities division in Europe. He previously worked for Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, in the firm’s Tactical Opportunities business. Matthew has served on the Boards of Directors of many portfolio companies across a variety of asset classes, industries and geographies. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has been a member of the Old Cliftonian Executive Committee since 2015, currently serving as Vice President and previously as Treasurer. In 2019 Matthew was appointed as Governor and Council Member and as Treasurer in 2021.
Mark Eldridge
Vice Chair of Council, Nominated Safeguarding Lead
Mark Eldridge is an experienced CEO and COO within the public sector. He has recruited significant public appointments and is a coach to those seeking judicial positions. He has extensive board level exposure and has been a lawyer since the 1970s and a judge for the past 18 years. He is currently a tribunal judge in both the Immigration and Asylum and in the Social Entitlement Tribunal Chambers. He has also held a number of consulting positions relating to the justice sector and was formerly for many years a member of two public sector boards with responsibility for children. Mark is an OC and is immediate past-President of the Old Cliftonian Society.
Alison Eynon
Alison Eynon is Associate Vice Principal (Teaching & Learning) at Oasis Academy Brislington in South Bristol. Amongst other responsibilities, she is the lead for coaching, CPD, and teaching standards. She is also National Lead Practitioner for Oasis on raising standards in English, as well as Development Lead for the new free school – Oasis Academy Temple Quarter – which will open in central Bristol. Alison has been a Senior Leader in four very different school contexts, and has led various whole school projects to affect change and improve outcomes. She has experience in employability and careers education, and is part of the Learning City’s ‘Learning for and in Work Challenge Group’. She is a Teach First alumnae (2003), has chaired the Teach First South West Action Network, and now sits on the Board of Trustees for Teach First.
Jonathan Glassberg
OC 1978-83 (Polack’s House). Career in financial markets since leaving school. Founder and owner of JB Drax Honoré, the world’s largest broker of exchange traded interest rate options. Appointed Governor 2009. Member of Council 2018.
James Womersley
James graduated from Durham University with a BA in Economics and History (as well as playing for the 1st XV) before gaining his PGCE at Oxford Brooks. Having taught at the Dragon School, Oxford, and at Emmanuel School in London, James has been Head Master of Beaudesert Park School, Gloucestershire, since 1997. The School has developed and grown substantially under his leadership. He is a member of the Oxford Group of Prep Schools and has been Chair of IAPS District 10.
Ella Leonard
Ella Leonard has a BA in English literature from Durham University. She is a lawyer and investment funds partner at Fladgate LLP, currently heading the Finance, Funds and Regulatory practice, and sitting on the partnership board. Ella was the Chair of Governors of PACT Educational Trust for 10 years, a charity which owns and manages two prep schools, and both a boys’ and girls’ senior day school in South London, retiring from this role in 2019. She is also a governor of WPSF, a grant-making educational charity, and a director of the French Hospital of Rochester, a provider of sheltered accommodation to adults with financial, mental or physical need. Ella was appointed a Governor to Clifton College in 2001 and to the College Council in 2020. She is married with three children. In addition to being an OC herself, Ella is the mother of one OC and one current Clifton College pupil.
Matthew Black
Matthew Black was in the Prep School (Hartnell’s House) 1975-78 and Polacks House 1978-1981 where he became Head of House in April 1981. He has worked in the Real Estate industry for over 35 years of which the last 18 have been at CBRE until 2021. He was lead advisor to The London Development Agency in relation to the land acquisition for the 2012 Olympic Games and more recently was interim Legacy Director for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. In 2013 he was elected an Eminent Fellow of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in recognition of his role in the regeneration of East London. He is co-founder of Selby Projects, a Real Estate Development Management Company.
Matthew has been a trustee of The Polacks House Educational Trust since 2013 and in 2020 was appointed chairman. In his spare time he is a media spokesman for Cancer Research UK and Bowel Cancer UK and has appeared regularly in the media talking on their behalf.
Jim Higham
Jim serves in the Royal Navy leading the through-life, worldwide support of the Surface Fleet and is Chief Naval Engineering Officer. His operational experience has included deployments to Africa, the Middle East, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. On land, he led Force Protection strategy in Iraq and NATO’s engagement with the Afghan Government in Kabul. More recently, he worked with the NHS to develop corporate governance structures for PPE procurement. He has a BEng, MSc and MA but his 2 children, both OCs, have their mother’s gift for languages, studying German and International Management and French and History. Although a keen sportsman, his involvement is now limited to middle-aged road cycling and golf. Governor and Council since 2021.
Loveday Ryder
Loveday is an experienced Chief Executive Officer. She is currently the CEO of the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency and prior to that for a specialist government company delivering digital and technology services to the Department for Work & Pensions. She is experienced in leading organisations through culture change, complex business transformation, performance improvement, construction and IT programmes. Before joining the public sector, Loveday had extensive experience as a senior management consultant, and as a Chartered Civil Engineer. She holds a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Southampton and is a graduate of the Major Programme Leadership Academy at the Said Business School at Oxford University.
Loveday was formerly Chair of Governors for a bi-lingual state school in London. Having recently moved to Clifton, she has a daughter in the Prep School and in her spare time enjoys music, walking and cricket. She was appointed to Council and as a Governor in 2021.
Ben Britz
Ben Britz is fourth generation OC (DH 1984-89), holds a MA in Classics from St John’s College, Cambridge, and has worked in Investment Banking and Markets since 1993. Until 2022, he was Managing Director and Head of Equity Research Content at Morgan Stanley, London, and sat on the firm’s EMEA Mental Health Advisory Board. He started his career as an Equity Analyst at HSBC James Capel before joining Morgan Stanley in 1998 where he has spent the majority of his career. He was a partner of Zadig Asset Management (2005-07) and Non-Executive Director of RMB Morgan Stanley, South Africa (2017-19). Governor and Council since 2021.
Antony Spencer
Antony was state-school educated and read PPE at Oxford, after which he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with E&Y. Anthony worked for eight years in commercial roles, before beginning his teaching career at Eastbourne College in 2002. He was subsequently Director of Studies at Denstone College before being appointed as Deputy Head (Academic) at Clifton in 2008. At Clifton he also taught Economics and Business, and coached hockey. His wife taught History at the College, and their four children were educated across all three schools. In 2013, Anthony was appointed as Principal of St Lawrence College, a 3-18 boarding and day school in Kent. He started as CEO at the Mill Hill School Foundation in January 2020, overseeing five schools. In October 2021, he completed a four-year term as Governor at Eltham College. Outside of work he still plays competitive hockey, and is involved in a local church. Council and Governor since 2021.
Richard Bowcott
A graduate of Bournemouth University, Richard started his career at Brann working on the Barclays account. He then joined Lloyds TSB working on various projects including LloydsTSB.com and their first internet banking release. Richard spent the next 10 years working in FS before relocating to Dubai as Marketing Director for Corporate, Commercial and Private Bank clients at Standard Chartered Bank. Richard returned to the UK to join HSBC as Global Head of Marketing planning, content and events for Global Banking and Markets before setting up his own marketing consultancy in 2016. Richard has delivered award winning programmes of work and is currently a consultant at RSPCA, leading on several major programmes focussed on marketing, branding and communications.
Dominic Jephcott
Dominic is an entrepreneur, board advisor and business Angel. He is a Chartered Engineer with a Masters in Engineering from Cambridge University. After 10 years in manufacturing, he founded and scaled an award-winning Management Consultancy. Dominic has 25 years’ experience in running and growing both early-stage and large businesses across a variety of industries. He spent 10 of those years living and working in Asia. He currently works with a portfolio of start-ups and SME’s, and as an adviser to large corporate boards. Dominic also works with schools in the South-West for two voluntary organisations (‘Young Enterprise’ and the government backed ‘Careers and Enterprise’). This work focuses on building connections between schools and business both to broaden school leavers’ opportunities and to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. Governor and Council member since 2021.
Karen Maguire
Karen Maguire is the parent of an OC and a Chartered Accountant.
Karen is the Group CFO of ZPG Group which owns a number of leading UK consumer brands including Confused.com, Zoopla and Uswitch, where she leads teams responsible for Finance, Procurement, Governance, Risk Management and ESG. She is experienced in working within regulated businesses and implementing and managing enterprise risk management frameworks. Karen previously worked for Admiral Group Plc, Wales’s only FTSE 100 listed company, as Head of Investor Relations and Head of Operational Risk, after working for over 20 years for KPMG.
Karen is a member of the Cardiff City Regional Business Council and was previously a governor of an independent preparatory school.
Keith Metcalfe
Keith was educated at Monmouth School and read Geography at Downing College, Cambridge.
Following a brief period working for Christians in Sport in Oxford, he completed his PGCE and started teaching at Harrow School in 2000. After 19 years at Harrow, working his way through a number of roles: Head of Department, House Master, 1st XI Football coach, Master i/c Rackets etc. he joined the Senior Management Team and became the senior Deputy Head Master. In April 2019 he moved to Malvern College as Headmaster, where he has oversight of the Malvern College family of schools, with schools in the UK and overseas. He is an ISI Boarding and Team Inspector and a Governor of a state academy school in Malvern. Outside of work, he is involved in a local church and remains a keen sportsman.
Liz Polding
Liz has a wealth of experience in education, with a Masters degree in Higher Education from Oxford Brookes University, and over twenty years’ experience in higher education, including nine years as head of the Bristol law school for BPP University. She was awarded a professorship by BPP in 2017. Liz was admitted as a solicitor in 1997, and practised in tax law, including an in-house role with PWC accountants. She served on the Law Society VAT and Duties Tax Subcommittee for over a decade, reviewing draft tax legislation, cases, and policy documents on behalf of the Law Society.
Liz has also served as an external examiner for a number of higher education institutions on behalf of both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the QAA in addition to serving as a course validation panel member for the Legal Practice Course for over a decade. She is currently an external member of the University of Law Apprenticeship Governance Committee, providing critical review of policy and practice. Liz was the lead author for LPC Skills Online, published by Oxford University Press, and is one of the team of authors for Oxford University Press titles in relation to the Solicitors Qualification Examination. Liz has conducted research into the use of e-portfolios in legal education, the use of multiple-choice questions in teaching and assessment, and metacognition. A qualified teacher in higher education, Liz is currently completing a DPhil in Education at the University of Oxford, examining the effect of solicitor apprenticeships on social inclusion. Her doctoral research is sponsored by the Edge Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council. She contributed to the 2021 report by the Social Mobility Commission entitled ‘Apprenticeships that Work for All’. She is also employed by the University of Oxford as a research officer, investigating degree apprenticeships, and tertiary education.
