Board of Trustees | British Council

The Board of Trustees are the guardians of the British Council’s purpose and are ultimately accountable for the organisation.

They hold the Senior Leadership Team responsible for the organisation’s performance, strategy and policy. The trustees meet six times a year. Edited minutes of their meetings are available to the public.

There are five formal sub-committees to the Board. Click on any to read the respective terms of reference:

Protocols (PDF 129kb) are in place to support the effective and consistent operation of the sub-committees. We also publish annually the Register of Interests (PDF 129kb) of the Board of Trustees.

Trustees

Dr Paul Thompson

Dr Paul Thompson will take on the role of the Chair in January 2024.

Sarah Sands

Sarah Sands is currently Acting Chair, and will return to her role as Deputy Chair in January 2024.

Professor Wendy Alexander

Wendy Alexander is the Scottish Government’s Trade & Investment Envoy for Higher Education and Vice-Principal, International at the University of Dundee.

Mark Beddy

Mark Beddy is Chair of London Symphony Orchestra Productions and a director of Portfolio REIT Plc.. He was previously a senior audit partner at Deloitte LLP.

Sir Stephen Deuchar CBE

Sir Stephen Deuchar was director of Art Fund, the national charity for art, from 2010 to 2020. Previously he was founding director of Tate Britain.

Thomas Drew CMG

Thomas Drew CMG is the Director General, Defence & Intelligence at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Richard Hookway

Richard Hookway is an experienced international business executive. He is a also a NED at Royal Vopak, Parkland Corp and Chair of Swim England.

David Lefevre

David Lefevre is Professor or Practice (Digital Innovation) at the Imperial College Business School.

Rageh Omaar

Rageh Omaar is International Affairs Editor of ITV News and presents the channel's flagship News at Ten programme and current affairs programme 'On Assignment'.

Malcolm Press

Professor Malcolm Press is Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, having worked previously at the Universities of Birmingham, Sheffield, and Manchester.

Dr Katy Radford MBE

Dr Katy Radford MBE is the Electoral Commissioner for Northern Ireland and is chair of the British Council Northern Ireland Committee.

Clare Reddington

Clare Reddington is CEO of Watershed, co-Director of Bristol and Bath Creative R&D and a Visiting Professor at University of the West of England.

Sushil Saluja

Sushil Saluja is an international business leader with 30 years’ experience of technology-led transformation and education. He is also a Governor of the University of Greenwich.

Fiona Salzen

Fiona is a finance professional with a strong interest in charity effectiveness who has been an independent member of two British Council Board Sub-Committees.

Paul Woodgates

Paul Woodgates was formerly head of the global education practice of PA Consulting. He now holds various non-executive and advisory roles in the education sector.