Our Governance

Richard Cassell started his career as a solicitor and then moved to the US for law school with his American wife, working in Washington DC as a tax lawyer in the 1980s before they returned to London.  Richard joined Withers in London in 2004 where he was part of the firm management before retiring as a partner in 2019.  He continues to practice with the firm as of counsel.

Richard is an Old Pauline (’72) and a Mercer as well as a parent of Simon (’06).  Richard is also a governor of Hammersmith Academy and a trustee of Philanthropy Impact, National Philanthropic Trust in London, Syracuse University London Program and is secretary of the University of Pennsylvania UK Foundation.  Richard enjoys music and plays the ‘cello in the Portobello Orchestra in Notting Hill.

Tim was in the City briefly after leaving university and then moved to education. He taught history at St Paul’s, becoming Surmaster in 1992.

He was Headmaster of first Monmouth (1995-2005) and then Tonbridge (2005-2018). He is now involved in the governance of various schools and is a Liveryman of the Skinners and Haberdashers Companies.

Tom is a technology entrepreneur, advisor and investor with 20 years’ experience in new media, disruptive technology and business strategy focused on positive society and climate related projects.  He was CEO and founder of acquired apparel technology scale-up Metail and is currently co-founder of the non-profit Extend Ventures, which aims to diversify access to finance for underrepresented founders through data and research.

He also serves as non-exec director for zero carbon monitoring consultancy Verco and environmental behavioural change start-up Do Nation.  Additionally, he is chair of the Gen Z music mindfulness startup Spoke, an active supporter of The Brilliant Club and sits on various advisory boards. He has also served as a trustee for the Black and minority ethnic focused creative incubator MeWe360 and on the board of the revolutionary women’s personal wellness scale-up Elvie.

An active Old Pauline (’95), who went on to study Economics at Cambridge, Tom now lives on the other side of London with his wife and two daughters.

Sarah Barker is a partner at international law firm Withers, where she advises private clients and corporates on art law related matters. Sarah started her career in the City where she practised corporate law at Herbert Smith, before founding a law firm specialising in the creative industries which was acquired by a media law firm in 2017. 

Sarah sits on the Advisory Council for the CIRCA 2021 public art project, and previously Chaired the Royal Academy School’s Patrons Committee. Sarah is a liveryman of the Mercers’ Company, and sat for three terms on its Arts & Heritage Giving Committee. She is a regular contributor to Apollo Magazine. 

Veryan has spent her career with Farrer & Co, after obtaining a degree from Cambridge University in History. She trained as a solicitor, becoming a partner in the Family team and now works in the Safeguarding Unit advising schools, charities and organisations working with young people.

Veryan has lived in Tokyo and Hong Kong with her husband and four daughters and now lives in Chiswick. She is a Governor of Downe House, the Safeguarding Governor of St Peter’s primary school in Hammersmith and is a Trustee of the Nicola Benedetti Foundation. She is a keen musician and spends her holidays in Cornwall where she was born.

Andrew was a Co-founder of Brunswick Group in 1987 and is its Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. He qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC in London in 1985. He chaired Thomas’s Academy (which was New Kings Primary School until 2015) in Fulham from 1996 to 2021. He was a non-executive director of the Royal Parks Agency and a founding Trustee and Deputy Chairman of the Royal Parks Foundation for fourteen years to 2017. Since 2019 he has been a Trustee of The Tree Council.

Harry Hampson has spent over 30 years working for JP Morgan in London holding a variety of roles in the investment bank. He is now one of the Global Chairs of Investment Banking and a member of the Executive Committee.

Harry is an Old Pauline who went on to read Natural Sciences and Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University.  He is also a former parent having had two boys attend the school.

Harry is a former oarsman and now is a keen skier and runner, and enjoys fishing and other outdoor pursuits.

Jo is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buckingham. She graduated from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School and works clinically as a sessional GP in addition to her role in medical education. She has a particular interest in student professionalism and is completing a doctorate on this topic at the Institute of Education, UCL.

Jo lives in London and is the parent of both an Old Pauline and Old Paulina. Interests include singing in two choirs and trying to chase her personal best in the weekly parkrun.

Sam started his career in investment banking, following a degree at Oxford University in English Language & Literature. He subsequently trained to be a solicitor and spent nearly 17 years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, before leaving to join Latham & Watkins in 2020. He specializes in high-value cross-border mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.

Sam is an Old Pauline (1991-1996) and a Freeman of the City of London. He is married with 3 children and lives in Fulham (next to Craven Cottage, where he is a long-suffering season ticket holder).

Ali Palmer started her career in investment banking after gaining a degree in Business Management. She is now a Partner at Savannah Group leading the Commercial Function for C-suite hires, with a particular focus in Technology, Consumer and Retail.

Ali is an Old Paulina and for many years was Chair of the Old Girls’ Association. She is a Freeman of the City of London.

In 2021, she became a Trustee for the InsideOut Leaderboard, a charity which aims to smash the stigma of mental health within the workplace.

A keen sportswoman, Ali is an avid middle distance runner in her spare time.

Aisha Sanusi is an anti-racism consultant and director of the African Caribbean Education Network, a national network of parents, students, and teachers working to effect racial equality in education.

She has a background in marketing and communications, with a particular focus on communication and content strategies for organisations operating in diverse/cross-cultural spaces.

Aisha has a passion for all forms of diversity, equity and inclusion, and has previously written for and worked with political and charitable organisations operating in the areas of race inequality/equity.

In her spare time, Aisha plays Netball competitively.

As Inclusion Governor, she leads the Governing Body’s work on DE&I.

Rupert attended the University of Edinburgh reading English Literature before becoming a solicitor, initially in private practice in London, and then in-house for US companies Motorola and EMC.

In 2015, Rupert moved into business to run all of Bear Grylls’ commercial endeavours, and today the brand has successful ventures in tv, publishing, fitness, events, animation, theme parks, education and more.

Rupert is a Liveryman of the Mercers’ Company as well as a keen sportsman, playing rackets, tennis, squash and golf whenever he can.

He lives in Wiltshire with his wife Henny, and their three children.

After university, Sarah Thomas spent a year in the city as an articled clerk to a Notary Public before concluding she was a born and bred teacher. After a year’s PGCE she started teaching Classics at Sevenoaks School and spent 13 happy years there before moving to Uppingham School for 6 years as Deputy Head.

From 2005-2019, Sarah was the Head of Bryanston School in Dorset which she much enjoyed and is now happily retired in Bath. Her interests remain (the people, young and older) in schools (governing at a school in Bath as well as at St Paul’s) and in education more widely as well, of course, as in her family, friends, and walking the dog.

Mark has been Headteacher at local primary Lowther Primary School in Barnes for the last 11 years. With over 15 years of leadership experience in education Mark has been involved in many aspects of education locally. He is co-chair of the Richmond Borough Headteacher’s forum, a member of the FUEL advisory board and chair of the locality group of Headteachers.

Mark has 2 children, aged 5 and 16, and when not enjoying time with them loves photography and still plays basketball and football weekly.

Lord Vaizey attended St Paul’s School between 1981 and 1985.  He is a qualified barrister who worked in public affairs, before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Wantage.  He served as a Minister under David Cameron, and was responsible for culture, the creative industries, telecoms and technology.  He left the House of Commons in 2019 and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020, where he serves on the Digital and Communications Select Committee.  He is President of the Old Pauline Club and a board member of Tate.