Robin Hood MAT
Trustees and Members
Richard Hunter - Chair
Richard is a strategic leadership consultant within education and previously held the position of Executive Head within Kings Group. Prior to that, Richard held the national position of Head of Primary for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and was the Education Executive for HSBC’s Education Trust.
Mandy Harrison
Mandy is a retired senior corporate IT leader for Eaton Solutions. She has experience of strategic HR issues at a corporate level and has a vast experience of IT related issues at the highest level.
Martin Collard
Martin holds a senior role in the NHS which involves implementation of devolved budgets, development of expenditure, reviewing workload and performance to improve management and financial decision-making, improvements to workflow
systems, development of skills and knowledge for all staff and the advancement of digital pathology.
He supports 13 consultant pathologists and junior medical staff and balances a budget of £3.5million. He also has a master’s degree in Business Administration and is involved in HR development and support programmes throughout the NHS.
Siobhan Mulrey
Siobhan is a solicitor working for Flint Bishop LLP in Birmingham. She has vast experience of working on school conversions and academy issues across the Midlands.
Julie Greenwood
Julie has worked in Birmingham for over 20 years as a Deputy Head Teacher, Head Teacher, Executive Head Teacher, and CEO and has worked in education for over 28 years. She has been a National Leader of Education since 2011 and through this work has carried out a number of Interim Headships for schools either in Special Measures or Requires Improvement. Jointly, with the Deputy CEO, she led one of these schools from Special Measures to Good within 12 months.
Julie has supported numerous schools in difficulty with school-to-school support, which have been commissioned by the local authority and is also a Pupil Premium Reviewer. Julie is on the Board for Greet Teaching School Alliance and has supported them with carrying out Teaching and Learning reviews at a number of schools.
She was previously on Birmingham’s Primary School Improvement Group and since its formation in 2013, has been a proactive member of the Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP). She is currently the CEO at Leigh Trust.
Executive Board
Martin Collard - Chair
Martin holds a senior role in the NHS which involves implementation of devolved budgets, development of expenditure, reviewing workload and performance to improve management and financial decision-making, improvements to workflow
systems, development of skills and knowledge for all staff and the advancement of digital pathology.
He supports 13 consultant pathologists and junior medical staff and balances a budget of £3.5million. He also has a master’s degree in Business Administration and is involved in HR development and support programmes throughout the NHS.
Susan Berti
Sue is an educational consultant and former headteacher with over 20 years of leadership experience. She is currently a Strategic School Improvement Partner for Coventry LA and holds the responsibility for overseeing in excess of 30 schools
across the city.
Jane Jones
Jane is a former teacher and has significant experience in secondary education. She has a wide understanding of SEND and a passion for making a difference in this area. Jane is the lead safeguarding Trustee.
Sidd Sampla
Sidd is a performance psychologist working in high performance sports, with coaches and athletes supporting their mental side of performance and wellbeing.
Additionally, Sidd is regional lead for a children’s autism charity.
Simon Bentley
Simon Bentley is an experienced educational leader with extensive expertise across the academy sector. Having served in executive trust roles, he brings strong strategic leadership and operational oversight across finance, HR, IT, and legal
compliance, successfully managing large-scale operations across multiple primary and secondary academies to drive organisational effectiveness.
Clare Thorpe
Clare Thorpe is an experienced educational leader serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the Collaborative Education Trust.
She previously served as the Headteacher of Langley School in Solihull, where she championed an inclusive, values-driven school community focused on high expectations, strong pupil support, and collaborative school improvement across primary and secondary phases.
Martin Purdue
Martin Purdue is an experienced project management and sustainable development expert with over 30 years of industry experience.
Currently Associate Director at Keystone Project Solutions, his background includes leadership roles at EXI, IDP, and CBRE, alongside delivering school building projects for local authorities such as Coventry City Council.
Richard Sydenham
Richard Sydenham is an experienced commercial and education sector director with expertise in business development, strategic partnerships, and growth strategy.
He has held senior leadership roles, including Head of Sales & Partnerships
at Ambition Institute, Director at Catapult Education, and Director of Catapult Commercial Finance.