Our Board

ANTHONY ABRAHAMS (CHAIR)
Anthony joined the board of BCAT in June 2019. Having qualified as a solicitor and specialising in civil litigation, Anthony has considerable hands-on experience in Legal Practice Management and Strategic Leadership. He also sits as a District Judge.

Anthony has a keen interest in education having been involved in the development of Bedford School, acting as a governor from 1995 to 2005 and as Vice-Chair from 2002 to 2005. Anthony is involved with a number of military charities caring for the needs of service personnel and their families, as well as local and national charities.

PAUL CLARKSON (DIRECTOR)
Paul was previously Headteacher of The Bedford Sixth Form and is an experienced A-Level teacher with a track record of developing an excellent sixth form offering.

MARK KITELEY (DIRECTOR)
An experienced SME Executive Director with expertise in Service Management, Reverse Logistics, Quality Management Systems, Internal Audit processes, and Business Development.

Mark is an experienced Non-Executive Director in a number of businesses, including the public sector and has over 10 years’ experience within Audit, Corporate Governance and Strategic Planning. Mark has been a Corporation Member at Bedford College since 1998 and was appointed Chair of Audit in December 2013. His term of office at Bedford College ended in July 2016.

JASMIN MASIH (DIRECTOR)
Jasmin is a highly motivated and professional employee of Joint Council for Qualifications CIC. She has extensive experience in data management, including analysis of complex data sets and work with secondary schools performance data. Jasmin has a passion for Schools Improvement and living in the Wixams Area is looking forward to using her skills to support the schools in the community.

DAVID PRIDMORE (MEMBER)
David Pridmore, retired Deputy Principal at Bedford College, first joined the education sector in 1983. David undertook a wide range of roles within Further education including those of Director of Academic Programmes and Services and Academic Director before being appointed Deputy Principal at Bedford College in 2003, retiring in 2016. Prior to joining the education sector David worked in the Aerospace industry.

He has a keen interest in education. He has chaired the Bedfordshire Community Learning Trust and the regional Open College Network. David is currently a non- executive director on the boards of The Learning partnership Bedfordshire and Luton Limited (since March 2016) and Central Bedfordshire UTC Limited (since October 2015).

IAN PRYCE (MEMBER AND DIRECTOR)
Ian has been Principal & Chief Executive of Bedford College since 1998, having joined the College in 1996 as Finance Director. He was previously a regional Finance Director at the Further Education Funding Council and has also worked as a Director or Senior Manager in retail, electricity generation and local government in Liverpool, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Northamptonshire. He is a fellow of the accountancy body CIPFA and a Syndic of the University of Cambridge. He was one of the founder members of the 157 Group, founding Chair of the Bedford Free School and was awarded a CBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours. In August 2017 the College merged with Tresham College to form The Bedford College Group.

CHRISTINE O’REILLY (DIRECTOR)
Christine brings over 20 years of experience in primary school education to the board. Her prior background in business is a valuable addition to the skill set of the trustees.

DOUGLAS SEWARD (MEMBER)
Douglas is the Managing Director of GVBS, a Supply Chain Consultancy. He is an entrepreneurial General Manager with particular strengths in providing direction, optimising performance and defining and implementing change in business critical areas. He has a history of leadership and performance management in businesses for which change management and performance delivery have been critical success factors.

MIKE THOMPSON (DIRECTOR)