Governing Body

Mr Andrew Higginson, BSc (Hons), FCMA
Chair of Governors

Andrew Higginson was elected as a Governor in 2019, became Vice-Chair in December 2020 and then became Chair in December 2021. He also holds the position of Chair of the Nominations Committee.

Andrew has recently left the role of Chairman of Wm. Morrison Supermarkets plc. a role he held from 2015 - 2021. He was the first independent non-executive director of the Rugby Football Union and championed the “All School’s” Campaign that raised £5 million to promote rugby in State schools. Andrew is a highly experienced non-executive director and sits on a number of private company boards.

Andrew was Chair of Governors at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe for 11 years. He is a former pupil of Bury Grammar School.

Mr Simon Barriskell, BSc (Hons), MBA
Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GP)

Simon was elected as a Governor in 2014 and is an experienced finance director, currently working in a major international consumer appliances business. He has worked in the UK and internationally for a number of major fast-moving consumer goods businesses for over 30 years, starting from a graduate entry scheme and progressing to CFO roles.

Simon graduated with an MBA from Henley Management College in 2000 after qualifying as an accountant in 1993. Simon graduated from Leicester University in 1990 with a BSC (Hons) in Economics. He attended Birkenhead School. Simon is a keen rugby fan, enjoys hiking and scuba diving and is married with two children.

Dr Chris Doherty, BPharm, PhD, MBA
Chair of the Education Committee

Chris has been a Governor since 2019 and is currently a Non-Executive Director for a number of local Biotech companies. He spent 26 years in Research and Development for the Pharmaceutical companies Glaxo, Roche and finally AstraZeneca being based at various sites globally including the Macclesfield and Alderley Park campuses. On sale of the Alderley Park site he moved to the new owners to be the Managing Director and oversee the transformation of the site into a thriving bioscience park and a new village.

Chris has a Batchelors degree and a PhD in Pharmacy and gained an MBA later. He did post-doctoral work at The University of Toronto and held visiting Professor roles at the Pharmacy departments of the Universities of Toronto and London.

Chris has a variety of interests including hiking, yoga, golf, studying the ancient Greek and other civilisations as well as overland travel.

Mr Michael Strutt, BA
Chair of the External Relations Committee

Mike has been a Governor since 2011 and was nominated by the Lord Bishop of Chester.  He is a Licenced Reader, serving at St Michael & All Angels’, Macclesfield. Michael graduated from Lancaster University in Accounting and Finance.  He went on to work for Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Manchester before working in the advertising industry with McCann-Erickson.

For many years he has been involved with a number of local charities, either as a member of the business team (usually as treasurer!) or as a trustee.  He was chair of Age UK Cheshire East until 2019, stepping down on completion of his term of office.  In 2019 he became a trustee of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. Mike is married to Tina and they have three children, all of whom have progressed through King’s.

Mr Ian Bradley, BSc (Hons)
Governor responsible for Safeguarding

Ian joined the Governing Body in March 2014, as the representative for The University of Manchester. Ian is currently Head of Student Data, Analysis and Records at The University of Manchester, a position held since the beginning of 2019 although he has worked at the University for many years and in Higher Education administration since 1990. He has held a number of roles in that time with the recruitment and support of students being a feature of his roles for much of the last 15 years (including having had responsibility for student recruitment and student admissions).

He was awarded his degree in Mathematics from the University of Warwick and has worked predominantly with Science and Engineering students since 1993 within UMIST and then for some years at The University of Manchester.

He is a Rotarian (of the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean) and has been involved in a number of local charities notably with Friends for Leisure where he was a trustee and Secretary to the board of trustees. He is currently also a trustee for the Rochdale Ancient Parish Educational Trust.