Central Services Leadership
Our Central Services Team provide a range of services to support our schools, through Estates, Finance, Governance, HR, ICT and Marketing.
Rie Lane - Director of People
I have worked in Human Resources and People Services for the last 15 years, mainly within central government and higher education. I feel lucky to have had exciting and challenging roles throughout my career and I am delighted to be leading People Services for the Trust. I began my working life as a Music teacher before moving into HR, however my love of learning and the importance of a positive mindset have stayed with me throughout my working life.
As Director of People, I am responsible for delivering our People strategy, leading cultural change, HR business partnering, employee engagement, well-being, talent and development. I lead our People Services team, delivering services that are both people focused and improve organisational performance. By working together, we can ensure the Trust is a truly exceptional place to learn, work and belong.
Outside of work, I love spending time with my family, travelling, listening to live music whenever I can and enjoying beach walks with my black Labrador, Freddie!
Lottie Thompson - Director of Governance
I started my career as a lawyer specialising in employment law in a regional law firm. Not long after qualifying, I developed an interest in education and began working in my firm’s education team. I am still a qualified lawyer, but 10 years ago moved into further education governance and have never looked back!
As Director of Governance I lead on ensuring we have effective governance structures and processes in place and the Trustees and Members are well supported in their roles. Governance in education never stands still. Anticipating and responding to changing government priorities, funding or regulation means that the work is varied, interesting and most importantly hugely rewarding.
When I am not at work, I enjoy time with my family and being bossed about by my young child. I also enjoy keeping fit, cooking (and eating!) together with relaxing with a good book or film.
Patrick Morris - Head of Estates
Having worked in public-facing Facilities Management for over 25 years in the sport, leisure, events and education sectors, I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to work with the Trust. Responsible for workplace and compliance management, health and safety and quality throughout my career, I am looking forward to developing this role as the Trust continues to grow.
Born and raised locally, I have two adult children and enjoy running, walking and being outdoors, and have a real affinity for Snowdonia and the Lake District. A keen motorcyclist, I currently own a BSA Bantam and a Ducati Scrambler.
Matthew Cooper - Director of Finance
As Head of Finance for the Trust it is my role to provide financial oversight, strategic direction and to manage the strong finance team we have. I have been lucky enough to work in public sector finance for over twenty years with experience in both the NHS and Hull University.
I have worked across most parts of the finance function having started my career as a rotational trainee at Castle Hill Hospital and, as I completed my AAT and then ACCA qualifications, I moved into management accounting first with the Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and then with Hull University. I worked at Hull University for ten years looking after a variety of areas and then returned to the NHS, now the Hull University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, as a Head of Finance for Medicine. During this time my team and I worked hard to support the evolving and growing NHS agenda with significant investments to the local NHS estate, infrastructure and staff base. I worked with the NHS during the first year of COVID and helped support the huge initiative to create surge capacity, create COVID and non-COVID facilities and work to provide extra staffing during very uncertain times. Following this I was offered the chance to join the Trust.
I have always lived in the local area and enjoy adventuring in the great outdoors with my family. I am still amazed at the interesting places we have on our doorstep that I am only just discovering.
David Brooke - Director of Infrastructure
After successfully completing my GCSEs and attending Sixth Form, I started working in the IT department for the school where I attended as a student. Working for the school directly, it was rebuilt under the private finance initiative (PFI) in which I moved over to RM Education.
During my career at RM Education, I was fortunate to progress my IT career through a number of different technical roles which were both site based and mobile covering a number of different sites. In 2010 I moved over to Hull as the Building Schools for the Future programme started. Since then I progressed to a Support Consultant onto Senior Support Consultant then a Technical Operations Manager which covered Derby, Nottingham and Hull. In July 2018, I became a Service Account Manager responsible for 3 Multi-Academy Trusts which contained a mix of Primaries and Academies sites. I have recently studied for my ILM Leadership and Management Level 3 qualification through the apprenticeship levy.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time together as a family when we can get my son off his Xbox. Being originally from Leeds, I have an interest in football/rugby in which I am a supporter of Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos.
Claire Gordon - Head of Marketing and Communications
After gaining a degree in European Studies and French, I started my career in an editorial role in London, working for a variety of publishing houses, including Pearson Education. I relocated to the East Riding following the birth of my second child as my husband is from the local area.
I moved into a Marketing and Liaison role at Wyke College and then to a Marketing position at Wolfreton. I was fortunate to be in the role at just the right time to get involved in Wolfreton’s new school building development project. The rebranding exercise that I undertook at the same time was able to inform many of the interior design decisions and produced a cohesive look which I am proud to have been part of. I have provided marketing support to the Trust from its inception in 2017 and was delighted to be asked to work for the Central Services Team as Marketing and Communications Manager in a full time role as the Trust developed.
In my spare time I am happiest outside. I enjoy walking with friends and over recent years have developed a love of gardening.
Kate Harding - Head of Central Trust Operations
Developing and supporting people of all ages has been a thread throughout my career to date. Following a degree in English and Music and a Business Post Grad I worked within management recruitment and development, eventually becoming Operations Director of a local training and recruitment organisation. I then completed my in-service PGCE and moved into post-16 Education where I specialised in teaching Business and Computing before moving into curriculum and project management roles. More recently, I have been Head of Faculty for Creative and Digital, where my portfolio included 14-16 provision, study programmes, apprenticeships, professional qualifications and Higher Education programmes.
As Head of Central Trust Operations, my role is to help drive our organisation forward and to ensure that we fulfil our Operational and Strategic Plans, working closely with the Operations Managers at each school. My role focuses on the co-ordination of a wide variety of projects within our estate, supporting project leads and providing real-time feedback to stakeholders on project progress. Whilst it is a multi-faceted role, everything I do is shaped around creating environments which help children and young people succeed.
When I am not at work, I love being outdoors, whether that is time spent working in my garden, walking in our amazing Yorkshire countryside or visiting new places – here or abroad.
Amanda Bridgeman - Head of People Services
Bio to follow