Council members

I am a well established and respected management consultant with 15 years of CEO experience in the NHS, having stepped down as the Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation in September 2013. In my consultancy work I chair the PwC Public Sector Health Board helping to improve the company's offer to the health and care sector.  As part of my portfolio I have also built a successful independent consulting business practice (Mike Farrar Consulting Ltd) working with clients such as Celesio, RCGP, ABPI, NHS Quest, NHS Leadership Academy, J and J, Health Foundation, Medtronic, intuitive, Pfizer, CIPFA, Olympus as well as advising on equity investment and starting up a number of small companies aimed at promoting health innovations, and links with sport.

I remain a prominent thought leader and consultant to the NHS, where I support system wide leadership groups in Greater Manchester, (as a major part of their work on devolution), West Yorkshire, London, South Wales, South Nottinghamshire, Lancs/South Cumbria, Hertfordshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, and Cheshire & Merseyside along with development work with a large number of individual NHS boards. Alongside this, I work internationally on health with previous input to transforming care in the Middle East, Japan, Russia, US, Spain and Australia.

I was previously the chief executive of the North West England SHA from May 2006 to April 2011, and prior to that, chief executive of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authorities, chief executive of Tees Valley Health Authority and head of primary care at the Department of Health. During my time at the Department of Health, I was responsible for a major programme of primary care reform including creating PCGs, PCTs, PMS, and then the new NHS and Care commissioning system coming out of the NHS Plan. .

I chaired the Strategic Health Authority Chief Executive’s Group from 2002 to 2009. and alongside this, chaired the NHS Confederation GP Contract negotiating team that successfully introduced the Quality and Outcome Framework into the new General Medical Service contract in 2002. I also chaired the NHS Life Sciences Innovation Delivery Board and was the key architect of the North West Advancing Quality programme, which was one of the worlds largest and most successful pay for performance quality improving schemes in healthcare

I match my portfolio in health with dedicated work in the charitable sector (with roles on the Charity Bank Advisory Board, Vincent Housing Association and the Positive Practice Mental Heath collaborative)  and in sport, where I currently have active roles as Chair of Swim England, a trustee of the EFL Trust, Chair of Rugby League Players Welfare Forum, Chair of Huddersfield Giants and Rochdale FC Community Sports Trusts. My sports portfolio has been developed on the back of previous roles as the Vice and Interim Chair of Sport England, and my appointment as National Tsar for Sport and Health. I was awarded the CBE in 2005 for services to the NHS and I am an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Physicians and of the University of Central Lancashire

David, a Keele graduate, is the Group President and Founder of Oxford International Education Group. Oxford International was founded with a £5,000 loan from the Prince’s Business Trust in 1991 and has grown to be a £100m revenue international education company offering programmes in a number of countries and in the areas of secondary schools and sixth forms, university pathway colleges, trans-national education programmes overseas, English language schools in UK, USA and Canada and study trips and student mobility programmes for schools and universities. David is passionate about the opportunities international education offers to students of all ages from around the world. He is also on the Board of the Association of Language Travel Organisations, Oxford Sixth Form College and d'Overbroecks Independent School in Oxford. As well as being a lay member of the University Council, David is a member of the Business Review Committee.

Sally has been a member of Keele University Council since September 2015 and was previously a lay member of the Equality and Diversity subcommittee from September 2014.

She is Director, Diversity & Inclusiveness for the UK firm of EY LLP, a global professional services organisation and has over 20 years’ experience in HR roles in professional services, leading on change and organisational development.

Sally lives in Cheshire with her husband and two young children. She works 4 days a week for EY, committing time outside work to mentoring social entrepreneurs with the EY Foundation, and enjoying time with her family.

Simon grew up in the Peak District, before graduating from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a BSc in Computer Science. Simon has a Master of Arts in Accounting and Finance from the University of Huddersfield, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and a Chartered Manager and a Fellow of the Chartered. Management Institute.

Simon is the COO and CFO at Credera, a global IT consultancy. Prior to joining Credera, Simon worked in finance and operations leadership roles within a number of accountancy and law firms.

Simon is an advocate for children's rights through his trustee work with Coram, and his experience as a foster parent and adoptive parent. Outside of work, Simon loves to cook, ski, and travel the world with his husband, Jonathan, and three sons.

David grew up in Alsager and graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1985 with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Money, Banking and Finance (BSocSc). David joined Arthur Anderson (Birmingham Office) in 1985 as a Trainee Auditor and left as an Audit Partner in 2002.

David joined Deloitte LLP in 2002 as an Audit Partner at both the Birmingham and Nottingham Offices. David successfully became a Qualified Chartered Accountant in 1988.

David retired in February 2017 and joined the Council of Keele University in 2018 as the Honorary Treasurer.

Professor Mark Ormerod became Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of Keele University in August 2015. He was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and Head of the Schools of Physical and Geographical Sciences, and Chemistry and Physics.

Mark is a chemist by background, graduating in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, where he also undertook his PhD in surface chemistry, and was subsequently awarded the prestigious Cambridge University Oppenheimer Research Fellowship. His research centres on sustainable technologies and processes, in particular sustainable materials chemistry, cleaner catalysis, fuel cells and biogas conversion, and has been extensively cited, with over 150 publications. In 1997 he was awarded a major Research Council Research Fellowship and promoted to Professor of Clean Technology and Inorganic Materials Chemistry in recognition of his research achievements.

Mark’s research interests also include interdisciplinary research on sustainability and energy, focusing on reducing energy use and factors affecting pro-environmental behaviour in individuals and communities. He has a national profile for his public engagement activities and educating schoolchildren, particularly in disadvantaged communities, in sustainability issues.

Chrystelle studied biology and chemistry in Versailles, France. She then specialised in inorganic/physical chemistry and obtained her degree and Master from Versailles. Chrystelle moved cross-Atlantic to Oklahoma State University (USA) to work as a Research Assistant on materials chemistry for one year. She then chose to do a PhD in collaboration with Synetix, ICI at UMIST, Manchester, UK dealing with the formation mechanism of mesoporous materials and their architecture in terms of surface curvature. Chrystelle carried out her first post-doctoral research at the Max Planck for Colloids and Interfaces Sciences, Golm, Germany on hybrid porous materials and then at the Institut de Sciences et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires in Strasbourg, in a BASF laboratory on the design of nanoporous foams. She returned to the UK in 2007 as a Lecturer, and then Senior Lecturer, in Chemical Sciences at Keele University.

In 2019, Chrystelle retrained as a Senior Leader through an MBA and since 2021 she has been a Chartered Manager. Since then, Chrystelle has been leading on the design, implementation and recruitment of the Research Scientist Apprenticeship at Keele. Her work has always been in very close partnerships with employers with the ambition to help with narrowing any potential skills gaps and bring employability to the heart of teaching.

Thomas is the Dean of Research for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. He first came to Keele University in 2004 to study Psychology and Criminology. After graduating in 2007, he completed a MSc in Research Methods in 2008 and a PhD in Neuropsychology in 2015, both at Keele. 

Thomas has extensive global and UK public health research expertise with a focus on reducing health inequalities, improving health outcomes in underrepresented communities and exploring the impacts of climate change on health and healthcare services. He has completed multiple global health research projects and has extensive international research networks across Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

Thomas sits on several applied health research funding committees including the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit, West Midlands advisory panel, the NIHR Decarbonising the NHS and Social Care funding panel and the Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Partnership funding board. He has taught public health and empirical research methods extensively at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Keele and is the Programme Director for the Public Health Management BSc in the CDUTCM-Keele Joint Medical and Health Sciences Institute.

Thomas was the Deputy Director of the Institute for Global Health and Wellbeing and the Research Director for the School of Medicine before becoming the Dean of Research for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2024. In 2024 he was also elected Fellow (by distinction) by the Faculty of Public Health for his contribution to the field in both education and research.

Dr Bleddyn Davies joined the University as a Senior Lecturer in Law and Head of the Law School in July 2023, having previously been Head of the Law Subject Group at the University of Salford, and a Lecturer in Law and Programme Leader of the LLB Law at Liverpool John Moores University. Prior to that, Bleddyn completed his PhD, a constitutional study of the EU’s police and criminal justice powers (2010), LLM in EU and International Law (2005) and LLB (2004) at the University of Liverpool

His research interests have shifted into Public Law and in particular, democracy and constitutional change. His most recent published work has focussed on the referendum as a tool of constitutional reform, and he has a subsidiarity interest in the pedagogy of law, in particular, capturing and responding to the student voice(s). 

Bleddyn teaches EU Law, Public Law and International law subjects at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. 

As Head of the Law School, Bleddyn Chairs the School Executive Group and Whole School Meetings, is ex officio a member of all school Committees and is a Member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Executive Group.

Emma joined Keele University in June 2014 as the Professional Development Advisor in the previous Learning and Professional Development Centre, having worked at another HE Institution for 17 years as a HR/OD professional.

In 2018 she joined the central HR team as the Organisational Development (OD) Officer. She leads a core programme of development including over 100 different workshops, accredited and non-accredited programmes, conferences and events and online learning through Learning Pool. Her role enables her to work in partnership with colleagues across campus on such projects as the Technician Commitment, Apprenticeships, AUA, Professional Services and Technical Services Networks, JISC development projects and coaching opportunities for all-staff.

Emma completed a Masters in Strategic Human Resources Management in 2018 and holds a range of regional and national memberships to groups such as the Heads of OD, Midlands Staff Development Partnership (MSDP), Staff Development Forum (SDF), Association of University Administrators (AUA) and is a Peer Reviewer for the Technician Commitment.

Ruth Bagley has over 35 years' experience working in the public sector of which the last 16 were as a Chief Executive of Councils in Devon and Slough. She has considerable experience attracting national recognition in the fields of, Economic Growth, Skills and Inward Investment, Affordable Housing, Strategic Transport Infrastructure, Community Safety and Community Cohesion. She has led organisations through major transformation and extreme austerity, succeeding in achieving high employee satisfaction and continuing investment. Under her leadership Slough became the most productive town per capita in the UK and achieved a faster reduction in crime than comparable and less disadvantaged areas.

Ruth’s early career was an Archivist and Manager of Heritage Services in Wales and Shropshire before moving into Senior Management. She now holds a non-executive role in a Housing Association and provides advice to the private sector. She is currently chairing a Thames Valley Working Group to secure delivery of a rail link to Heathrow and sits on the British Chambers of Commerce Expert Panel on Transport. She acts as an Independent Investigator.

Ruth was the first female Chief Executive to lead a CPA Excellent Council and was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to Local Government.

Simon studied medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals in London. Undertaking postgraduate training in the UK and New Zealand, he worked in the pharmaceutical industry supervising clinical trials before joining the University of Liverpool as a clinical lecturer.

Simon has held several clinical leadership roles as a consultant physician in Liverpool and worked with the NHS Leadership Academy, Harvard University and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on clinical leadership, employee engagement and managing change in the NHS.

He was appointed executive medical director at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2015 and chief executive in 2019 prior to joining University Hospitals of North Midlands as chief executive in September 2024.

Simon is also a visiting professor at the University of Chester.

Andrew is a Keele graduate. Andrew has had a long career as a commercial litigation solicitor and partner with two international corporate law firms and been highly commended in the legal profession’s directories. Andrew has led on a number of reported cases and cases of public importance including successfully appealing to the Supreme Court. Andrew’s specialisms include company law and corporate governance and more recently data protection and information security. Andrew has acted for many large organisations and their Boards in dealing with complex matters of significance and seriousness.

Andrew has been a charity trustee.

Sherree graduated from Keele in 1991 with a degree in German and Russian Studies and graduated from University of Chester in 2013 with a Masters in Organisational Development.

She has spent her career in HR and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) as well as an active member of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and Association for Coaching (MAC).

With a career spanning over 20 years she has worked for organisations such as BASF, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Barclays specialising in organisational development and change and transformation management. Roles have involved responsibility for graduate recruitment and development for UK and International graduate schemes.

Sherree is currently the Chief People and Culture Officer for Pay.UK Ltd, the UK’s leading retail payments authority. Sherree joined Keele Council as a lay member in 2016.

Tariq Khan is Chief Operating Officer at the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (SCOAF) and acts as deputy to the Ombudsman. In this role he has responsibility for and oversees both the Investigation and Business Teams. During his time at SCOAF he has led a programme of continuous improvement which has seen efficiencies to eradicate backlogs and exceed KPIs. 

Tariq has vast experience in Ombudsman and regulatory investigations. Most recently he worked at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. He led and implemented process and ways of working changes within the Investigation unit to ensure efficiencies and quality output. 

Before that, Tariq held roles at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Legal Ombudsman. He was a driving force in the review and implementation of changes to the assessment and early resolution stages of the investigation process at the SRA, with an emphasis on customer experience. Tariq was the founder and Chair of the Ethnic Minorities Network at the SRA, with equity, diversity and inclusion being issues that he is passionate about. 

Tariq is a Keele alumnus, having graduated in 2009 (LLB Law with Criminology).

Lesley is Vice President, Academic and Government Strategic Alliance at Elsevier. In this role, she is responsible for building strong relationships with the UK’s research leaders, building collaborative projects with universities and contributing to the development of Elsevier's work in data analytics for research and life sciences. She is also Chair of the Oxford Local Enterprise Partnership Innovation Board. Lesley was formerly Research Director for the EPSRC, chaired the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Research Directors Group, she was a founder member of the Royal Society Diversity Board and non-executive Director of the UK Research Councils Shared Services Board. As well as being a lay member of the University Council, Lesley is a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Group.

Stuart did a geography degree at King’s College London. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at EY. Post qualification he has had numerous roles at insurance companies and was a partner of a private equity business. 

He was CEO of Canopius and Aegis London both whom underwrite specialty insurance. Specialty insurance includes cyber, terrorism, piracy, hurricane exposed property and wind farm insurance to name a few product lines. 

Stuart is a non executive director of two specialty insurance businesses, a school governor, and a trustee of charity that provides a specialist gym for people who have had strokes. 

Hifsa has had a career that has spanned a number of disciplines, including health, research and education. In 2012, she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire and received an MBE for Services to Community Cohesion. Hifsa is a founding member of the Armed Forces Muslim Forum for the UK Ministry of Defense and a Director of the Association of British Muslims. She is an outspoken advocate for British Muslims and actively promotes a positive image of Islam, which is consistent with British values. She has been active at grassroots social engagement and supporting vulnerable groups for several decades.

Hifsa is regularly called to give interviews on regional and national media, speak at conferences and has written for a number of mainstream newspapers. She has also written a number of academic articles and published papers on palliative care for minority groups and nursing assessment processes. She is currently delivering the Government’s Prevent strategy in colleges and universities across the West Midlands region. She is currently a Trustee of Nisa-Nashim, a Muslim and Jewish women’s charity. Hifsa is an active supporter of Oxfam and The Citizen Foundation, a charity working to build and support primary and secondary schools in Pakistan’s most neglected communities.

Jane Burns has worked in local government since graduating from Keele University in 1987 (BA French and Politics).

Jane is a committed public servant. She is currently Executive Director of Corporate Services at Cheshire East Council. She has worked in Gloucestershire, Dorset and the former Cheshire County Council in a variety of senior leadership roles. She is Local Government Association Peer Reviewer and a Non-Executive Director on the SOLACE Board (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives).

Jane is part of the Executive Leadership Team at Cheshire East Council. She is responsible for a wide range of functions, a team of over 500 staff and a budget of £34m. She is the lead for equalities. Jane is an associate Members of ICSA (now the Chartered Governance Institute). She is also a qualified executive coach and mentor (ILM L7).

Tim, having graduated from the University of Warwick (BSc Accounting and Finance) in 2005, is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 15 years experience working in a variety of finance and non finance roles for Rolls-Royce plc. His key experiences include financial accounting & planning, strategy development, risk management and economic development.
He is passionate about learning and education and the opportunities that these can give society as a whole. He enjoys being pushed out of his comfort zone and into new challenges and adventures.