Educational Estates and School Buildings Conference

Ruth is a chartered town planner with over 15 years experience in both the public and private sector. Ruth has worked on a number of mixed-use development projects in London and spent several years with Transport for London’s Property Development Team, working with development partners and planning authorities across London to bring forward development proposals on TfL’s surplus land portfolio.

Angi is the head teacher of Hadrian Park Primary School and became a member of NAHT in 2009, becoming a deputy head sector representative on NAHT’s national executive in 2011 and moving into the north east regional representative seat on national executive in 2014, a role which she has continued to hold for the past 10 years. Over her time in NAHT, Angi has served on the primary sector council, finance and people committee and international committee, as well as chairing both the practice committee and the legal representation committee.

In her role as vice president, Angi comprises part of NAHT’s democratic leadership; deputising in the president’s absence and will take her place as president the following year.

Michael Barton is the National Governance Association’s Head of External Affairs. He leads NGA’s engagement with its external partners, including government, parliamentarians, trade unions and other colleagues in the sector. He ensures NGA is effectively advocating on behalf of the thousands of trustees, governors and governance professionals that it represents as the national membership body for school and trust governance. Michael has previously worked as NGA’s regional lead in the South West and West Midlands and its Trust Governance Specialist.

Robert is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Partner at Barker heading up their education sector. He works with Academies, Trusts, Colleges and Universities to deliver capital projects and surveying services including condition surveying and estate planning. He also assists education clients in applying for capital funding and advises on energy efficiency strategies.

James is currently working with Tove Learning frust as Estates & Assets Manager overseeing many projects and developments for Tove Learning Trust. James is passionate about Asset Management, Health and Safety and CAFM systems, with the focus on delivering excellent service of Facilities Management within the education environment and professionalising the industry standard in the sector by being part of many working groups with the DfE and the Trust Network.

Stuart McGregor is a visionary leader in the field of school health and safety, with over 25 years of experience. His expertise spans premises and facilities management, with a notable specialisation in school legal compliance. Recognising a national gap in support for premises staff managing school estates, Stuart became the driving force behind innovative national solutions including NASPM. As a highly qualified lead auditor, he has been instrumental in developing robust school health and safety management systems, training programs, and serving as a mentor and trainer. A leading accident investigator including analytical techniques and human failure analyses and specialises in school security and emergency preparedness.

Jeremy Pilgrim is the founder and Managing Director of Building Spatial Intelligence. With almost 30 years of experience, Jeremy is a respected figure, known for his innovative use of structured data to enhance estates management.

As a passionate advocate for technology’s role in sustainability, Jeremy has spearheaded initiatives using BIM technology and digital twin models, transforming traditional estates management into a forward-looking, tech-enabled sector.

A sought-after speaker and thought leader, he regularly shares his insights at industry events, delivering engaging talks and workshops on the role of BIM as a spatial database for improved asset management.

Paul Stewart, Estates and Facilities Manager for Plymouth CAST Multi-Academy Trust, oversees 34 schools, and has over a decade of experience in the education sector. He has developed the Trust’s estates systems, earning national recognition from the Department for Education and LocatED for exemplary data systems. Paul’s innovative approach to data analysis and strategy won him the 2024 Education Estates People’s Award for Estates Professional of the Year, with a project shortlisted for the Innovation in Asset Management Award. Currently, he leads the integration of 3D BIM for school estates management, placing Plymouth CAST at the forefront of innovation.

Pip joined University College London in April 2019 as their inaugural Head of Inclusive Environments; working across the university providing in-house expertise on inclusive design and access, and embedding inclusive environments in to their education programme. Pip sits on a number of industry led committees and panels, including the British Standards Institutions’ B559 committee which is responsible for BS8300 Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. Pip has over twenty five years’ experience of working on access and inclusion in the public sector, in both planning (working on strategic planning applications for the Mayor of London as principal advisor- access) and building control settings (including as Building Control service manager for Camden Council). Pip was National President of the Access Association and remains actively involved in their work.

Mark joined the Department for Education in 2019, leading on design advice for neurodiversity, inclusion, and additional needs. In this central government role, he contributes to and reviews national standards and guidance, including specifications and technical policy. He provides support and assurance to individual projects, national programmes of work, and the existing estate of approximately 22,000 schools. His advice informs decisions on national policy, design, specification, and budgets. Significant issues are escalated to him, completing the feedback loop from buildings in use to emerging education policy, standards and guidance.

Mark’s role covers all education phases and building typologies, drawing on over 25 years of private and public sector experience. He is an active member of the British Standards Institute Committee B/559. Passionate about the built environment, he champions universally inclusive learning and education settings through collaboration.

Chris serves as the Technical Director at TG Escapes, managing projects with architects and applying his 13 years of industry experience. He is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and specialises in low-carbon buildings and timber construction methods. His research interests include sustainable retrofit, structurally insulated panels, and cross-laminated timber. Chris has been with TG Escapes since May 2018 and is a Certified Passivhaus Designer.

Alex Green is the Head of Let’s Go Zero for Ashden, a climate solutions charity based in London. Alex leads on Let’s Go Zero 2030, a campaign that supports UK schools working together to be zero carbon. She leads the national Let’s Go Zero Climate Advisors network and sits on the DfE User Group for their Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy and previously managed Ashden’s sustainable school awards and peer to peer LESS CO2 programme. Alex has a Masters in Environmental Management from the University of Cape Town and has previously worked running an environmental business awards scheme for a local authority, supporting small businesses to cut carbon and regulating industry at the Environment Agency.

Paul is a dual chartered architect (RIBA/ARB) and development surveyor (FRICS) who has over 13 years’ experience in sustainability and development. At LocatED, Paul leads the delivery of the Net Zero Accelerator (NZA), an initiative aimed at funding and delivering decarbonisation initiatives across the education estate. His dedication was recently recognised in July 2024, when he received the judges’ commendation award for Climate Champion of the Year in the ‘Public/Third Sector’ category at the Unlock Net Zero Awards 2024, in partnership with the British Property Federation. Paul is also a member of the Government Property Sustainability Board and a Department for Education Sustainability Champion.

Jason Smith has been working in education since 2004 in both local authority schools and academies.

Having joined IFtL in 2017 when the Trust were a 6 school family, he has seen it grow to its current size as a 20 school organisation, and heads up operations for the Trust, which includes estates and facilities.

Jason has always been passionate about sustainability and has recently led IFtL through an LED lighting program and a Solar PV program, investing almost £1 million over the last 2 years to help IFtL schools lower their energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.

As a believer in life long education, Jason also took part in the pilot Climate Adapted Pathways for Education’s Climate Wise School training in 2023 and received his climate literacy certification as part of this.

I am National Project Manager and Sustainability Lead for E-ACT, an award-winning multi-academy trust of 38 schools. I am currently leading on the Trust Energy Management strategy, implementing Solar PV and LED lighting across our entire school network, enhancing energy efficiency, and collaborating on innovative initiatives such as the Net Zero Accelerator Pathfinder in partnership with LocatED and the Department for Education. Following the pandemic, I transitioned into the Education sector, driven by a genuine passion to support young people and communities while applying my sustainability expertise. I spent several years working for Pukka Herbs, a wellness brand dedicated to people, plants and planet and now part of Unilever. I was also Project Manager and founding team member for The Wave, Bristol, one of the pioneering inland surfing venues dedicated to promoting blue health and wellbeing for individuals of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. I am part of the UK Schools Sustainability Network ops group (UKSSN) working to spread awareness and improve sustainability in schools and progress to Net Zero.

Andrea heads our Education team, which provides specialist support to schools, academies and other education organisations. The team have particular expertise advising foundation bodies and charities including Diocesan Boards of Education, Catholic Dioceses and broader education charities. Andrea advises on strategic projects, capital programmes including estate regeneration and PFI, school and public partnerships and a broad range of disputes, including governance challenges and reviews, malpractice, judicial review and regulatory investigations.

Ruth is a chartered town planner with over 15 years experience in both the public and private sector. Ruth has worked on a number of mixed-use development projects in London and spent several years with Transport for London’s Property Development Team, working with development partners and planning authorities across London to bring forward development proposals on TfL’s surplus land portfolio.