Members of the College Board
Use the arrows to scroll through the various members of the College Board. The Board is supported by associate members and co-opted committee members with human resources, audit and risk and higher education expertise.
Jane Cowell OBE, Chair
Jane has spent her career in education and has held several leadership and management roles spanning colleges, HE, local authorities and the voluntary sector. Jane was formerly Director 16-19 Funding Allocations and Student Support with the Department for Education. She was responsible for funding policy implementation and funding allocations to schools, colleges and other providers. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2017 for services to the Department for Education. Jane is also a trustee for the Love Music Trust for the Cheshire East Local Authority area and a governor at Sandbach School.
Jane joined the Board as a member on 1 August 2019 and became Chair on 1 April 2024. Jane is a member of Quality and Standards, Finance and General Purposes, Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders, Search and Governance and Remuneration Committees.
Mike Gorton, Vice Chair
Mike spent his career in the land-based industry, as a diary farmer, based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. He has been involved in all aspects of the industry, including as a member of the National Dairy Board for a number of years. Now retired, Mike has extensive educational and multi-academy trust governance experience, including at Chair and Vice Chair level and with specific responsibilities for safeguarding, audit and financial matters. Mike brings his passion for agriculture and education together in his role at Reaseheath.
Mike was appointed as a member of the Board in July 2019 and Vice Chair from 1 May 2024. Mike is lead governor for Safeguarding, Chairs the Quality and Standards and Remuneration Committees and is a member of the Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders Committee.
Dr Elizabeth Harrison, Senior Independent Governor
Liz is a marketing professional with expertise in customer insight and strategy. She provides consultancy to help grow businesses via strategic business planning and customer insight. Liz was formerly Head of Customer Strategy and Customer Relationship Marketing with the Co-operative Group and was Aldi Strategy & Insight Director at McCann Manchester. She is a member of both the Institute of Directors and the Market Research Society. Liz lives in Nantwich and has a strong interest in agriculture and the rural economy stemming from her own student days.
Liz joined the Board on 1 August 2013 and was appointed to the role of Senior Independent Governor from 1 May 2024. She is a member of Finance and General Purposes Committee, Remuneration Committee and Search and Governance Committee.
Marcus Clinton, Principal
Marcus is the Principal and Chief Executive of Reaseheath College and University Centre, appointed from 1 August 2018. Marcus previously spent nearly four years as Principal at Northumberland College, with another five years as Vice Principal and Head of the College’s land-based provision at Kirkley Hall. Marcus has a wealth of experience in further education, apprenticeships and higher education partnerships, much of it spent in land-based and rural education. Marcus has represented Land-based Colleges on a number of regional and national groups and currently sits on the Landex Board and the National Land-based College Board and Chairs the Land Based Learning Ltd Board. Marcus is also author of Horse Business Management
Marcus joined the Board on 1 August 2018. He is Principal of the College, a member of the Finance and General Purposes, Quality and Standards, Higher Education, Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders and Search and Governance Committees and a member of the Estates Development and Property Group.
Professor Gary Crowe
Gary Crowe brings expertise in commercial strategy, finance & risk management and business innovation to the Board. He was formerly Professor in Innovation Leadership at the University of Keele Management School. A passionate advocate of entrepreneurship and helping people achieve their potential and ambitions, he has experience in education governance as a previous main Board member at Staffordshire University and Chair at primary/secondary schools. Formerly Gary led enterprises as Managing Consultant at PA Consulting Group, an international management consultancy firm and in variety of senior positions in Retail and Commercial financial services. Gary is a fellow of a number of learned organisations and also holds other Board positions as an experienced advisor and Non-Executive director.
Gary joined the Board in March 2019 and is Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Higher Education Committee.
Peter Green
Peter Green has spent most of his working life involved in land-based education and training. He started teaching in Sussex and then moved on to Reaseheath, where he has spent thirty-eight years in teaching and management, finishing as a member of the college management team having responsibility for quality and student support. Peter has also held roles working on behalf of Reaseheath in supporting improvement in two other colleges. Now retired, Peter continues to contribute, this time to the governing body, where he brings his extensive experience of quality improvement in further education and apprenticeships, as well as practical knowledge of the college, to support effective governance and oversight.
Peter joined the Board in March 2019 and is a member of the Quality and Standards and the Audit Committee.
Professor Eunice Simmons
Eunice is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Chester. She is an environmentalist by academic background, with a BSc in Biology, an MSc in Conservation of Soil Fertility and a PhD in Forest Ecology. She has combined her interests in education and the environment throughout her career in higher education, which has spanned teaching and learning and education management in diverse institutions including University of London’s Wye and Imperial Colleges, UCLAN, the University of Cumbria and Nottingham Trent University before joining the University of Chester as VC. She brings this passion for education and the environment into her governance role and joined the Board in August 2020.
Paul Weston
Paul is a qualified accountant and an experienced commercial Chief Finance Officer in the public and private sectors, including social enterprises. He has a broad range of experience including business transactions, transformational change, business partnering, organic growth and people management, in the residential property, health, care and consumer product sectors, as well as non-executive experience in NHS, charity, education, housing and care sectors. He is currently Director of Finance and Transformation at St Monica Trust.
Paul joined the Board in December 2022 and is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Estates Development and Property Group.
Phil Gibbon
Phil joined the Board as a staff member in August 2021. He has extensive teaching and learning experience both on full time and apprenticeship education programmes in the land-based and rural subject areas, particularly agriculture, as well as running his own farm. As well as his teaching, Phil is a member of the college’s work-based co-ordination team, and this keeps him very much in touch with employers and commercial businesses within our vocational areas. Phil is a member of the Quality and Standards Committee.
Jane Artess
Jane’s expertise is in higher education practice and research, with a particular focus on careers guidance. Jane began working in higher education as a tutor of the postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance at Manchester Metropolitan University following many years working in local authority careers services. As Senior Learning and Teaching fellow she managed PGCE and masters programmes in post-compulsory education. Developing research interests led to Jane being appointed as Director of Research at HECSU (the Higher Education Careers Services Unit) where she commissioned the Futuretrack studies and developed HECSU’s research work for clients including Higher Education Funding Council for England, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Universities UK and the Higher Education Academy as well as individual institutions and professional bodies. Jane was Principal Research Fellow with the International Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby and a Visiting Fellow; she was Chair of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) 2017 – 2020.
Jane joined the Higher Education Committee in 2025 and the Board from 1 August 2025 as Chair of the Higher Education Committee and a member of the Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders Committee.
Ashley Austin
Ash is currently the Head of Quality Assurance, Data and Digital Innovation at a neighbouring GFE college in the Greater Manchester area – Salford City College Group. He has worked in Education for 18 years and has held numerous positions ranging from Lecturer to his current strategic position of Head of Quality, Data and Digital Innovation.
He originates from the local area (Sandbach) where he attended the local Sixth Form College, Sandbach School.
Ash joined the Board on 1 October 2024 and is a member of the Audit Committee and from 1 August 2025, the Quality and Standards Committee.
Claire Blanchard
Claire is a highly experienced Higher Educational professional, with over 30 years’ experience including teaching, examining, programme development, validation and institutional accreditation and quality assurance. She has extensive experience of developing partnerships with a wide range of Higher Education Providers both nationally and internationally. She has a particular interest in teaching and learning, enhancement and the student experience. She is experienced in quality assurance and in chairing validation and review panels. Claire is currently an assessor for the Office for Students and has undertaken a number of reviews for institutions seeking New Degree Awarding Powers. Claire is a highly experienced Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reviewer and has undertaken over 60 QAA reviews and audits in all four Nations of the United Kingdom as well as in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. She is also an Advance HE Aurora Role Model. She is a member of the Higher Education Advisory Panel of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator and is also a Member of the Accreditation Committee for the British accreditation Council. Claire is a Trustee of Open Awards North West and a member of Flintshire County Council Governance and Audit Committee. Claire is a fluent Welsh speaker.
Claire joined the Board on 1 December 2024 and from 1 August 2025 is Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee.
Jan Chillery
Jan is a practising solicitor and licensed insolvency practitioner, and a partner at Aaron and Partners Solicitors in Chester, where she specialises in insolvency, business recovery, and dispute resolution.
Beyond her legal practice, Jan is passionate about community involvement to achieve benefit and is active in her local and regional community. She is Vice Chair of the Cheshire & Warrington Business Advisory Board, Chair of Chester Business Club and a Trustee of the Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust. She previously served 9 years as a Non-Executive Director of Muir Group Housing Association and 20 years as Secretary of Chester Regatta. She has represented Chester Business Club in public forums to strengthen its influence and community presence, including meetings of the Local Enterprise Partnership, River Dee Summit, Chester Residents’ Associations Group and University of Chester Business School. Jan is a member of the Institute of Directors, a fellow of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals and licensed as an insolvency practitioner by the ICAEW.
Jan joined the Board on 1 December 2024 and is a member of the Audit and Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders Committees.
Sean Houlston
Sean is a senior executive at the National Federation of Builders (NFB), where he represents small businesses and is responsible for the implementation of the business’s digital strategy, including AI integration. He has board level experience in education, health and skills and brings extensive experience and expertise in strategic governance, communications, and stakeholder engagement, coupled with a strong commitment to educational and community development. He is a former Non-Executive Director of St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice, and current Chair of Governors at Shavington Primary School and Vice-Chair at Sir William Stanier School. He also holds Industry Board Member roles at City and Guilds and University of Chester.
Sean joined the Board on 1 August 2024 and a member of the Curriculum Skills and Stakeholders Committee.
Martin Mellor
Martin is a Chartered Surveyor with considerable experience in the commercial property industry, spanning private practice, property consultancy, surveying and advisory businesses in Staffordshire and Greater Manchester, most recently as an Executive Director at Network Space Investments and from March 2024 as a Non-Executive Director and Consultant. Martin has a passion for the built environment and the necessity to educate young people about all aspects of the property and associated land based industries, and the incredibly extensive range of employment opportunities they can bring at all levels.
Martin served as a co-opted committee member on the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Estates Development and Property Group in 2024 before joining the Board from 1 August 2025.