Leadership Team

Canon Nikki Arthy is Rector of Gloucester City Centre and Hempsted and City Canon at Gloucester Cathedral. Nikki is delighted to be both a Governor at King’s and a King’s parent. Based in the City Centre, she knows well the importance of King’s work with the local community which she is pleased to support. 

Virginia Isaac has spent most of her working life in education, enterprise and entrepreneurship.  Qualified as a teacher she worked for a range of educational organisations including the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and at the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in Gloucester.  At UCAS she was Director of Marketing and Communications and subsequently Director of Business Development as well as Acting Chief Executive for a period.

Her last full-time role was as Chief Executive of the Inspiring Futures Foundation, a national and international careers guidance organisation supplying services to over 20,000 pupils in some 400 schools. She was also elected President of the 4,500 strong Career Development Institute.  She is an experienced trustee having sat on numerous Boards including Cheltenham College, Cheltenham Festivals and the University of Wales, Trinity St David. Her commercial/entrepreneurial experience includes having set up Brecon Waters a multi-million-pound water bottling company.

Both Virginia’s children attended King’s School and now two of her grandchildren are also pupils. She now lives on a hill farm in Wales.

Virginia is Chair of the Strategic Marketing and Development Committee.

Sue Lewis is a Relationship Director at Santander PLC providing bespoke financial and banking solutions for Corporate Healthcare Sector Clients.

Sue has worked in Corporate banking for over 30 years in a variety of roles starting her career at Barclays PLC before moving to Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank in 2007 and Santander in 2013. Her roles have included front line client management, leadership and coaching. Sue has qualifications in banking, finance and leadership.

Susan sits on the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Former King’s School pupil Stephen Mendel pursued a career in finance and spent over 20 years working for Kraft Foods managing global finance teams, living mainly in the USA and Switzerland.

Stephen is the founder and Director of Global Enterprise Transformation Services Ltd specialising in finance systems & process transformation and since returning to the UK has run major projects for the London Stock Exchange and the Breck Foundation.

Mr Stephen Mendel sits on the Finance and General Purpose Committee

Kurt holds a BSc (Hons) Degree in Valuation and Estate Management, is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a Registered Valuer. He specialises in the disposal, letting and acquisition of commercial property and development sites. He also undertakes more general property consultancy including rent reviews, lease renewals and property management.

Kurt is the founder and Director of Kurt Wyman Surveyors And Property Agents having previously worked for a national property consultancy and has over 25 years’ experience in the industry.  

Mr Kurt Wyman sits on the Finance and General Purpose Committee and the Strategic Marketing and Development Committee.

Andrew Mitchell is a former pupil of the school and a science graduate of St Catherine’s College, Oxford.  He sits on the boards of several charities and volunteer groups including the Gloucester Cathedral Development Board. Previously he was Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Pembroke College, Oxford, CEO of several businesses in the financial recruitment sector and has held Senior Management positions at Lloyds TSB and HSBC.

At King's, he is currently a member of the Strategic Marketing and Development Committee.  He is the lead Governor for Alumni Relations.

Paul Gordon is a nationally recommended lawyer who leads the top tier Legal 500-rated litigation & dispute resolution team at Gloucestershire law firm, Willans LLP solicitors. He is also the firm’s senior partner.

Acting for individuals through to global organisations and businesses with national and local interests, he handles a broad range of commercial and civil disputes, to include but not limited to, complex commercial litigation involving shareholders and directors, intellectual property and procurement cases.

In addition to those specialisms covered above, he heads a team of lawyers who help clients faced with disputes concerning inheritance & trusts, property litigation, building & construction and vehicles.

Originally from Cheltenham and having spent 12 years gaining experience in top London law firms, he moved back to Gloucestershire around 20 years ago and has a son who attends King’s sixth form.

Paul admires the school’s caring ethos and is proud to support King’s Gloucester as a member of its Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Dr Phillip Smith is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham with a focus on artificial intelligence and natural language processing or enabling computers to comprehend human languages and interact with individuals intelligently. In the School of Computer Science, he is the Senior Tutor and has also held leadership positions relating to student development and support including the Director of Student Experience and the Head of Student Careers.

Phil is also a former pupil of King’s and since leaving has been a part of the Science, Technology and Engineering group helping to support pupils with an interest in computer programming at King’s and also helping to judge scientific competitions that the School runs.

Phillip sits on the Education and Compliance Committee.

Claire Thompson is an Executive Coach and Development Consultant with particular expertise in individual and team coaching, and leadership development. With a professional background in Human Resources, she brings over 25 years-experience of working in large international companies such as Unilever and RWE, including Board and senior management positions in the UK, Mexico and Western Europe.

Having established her own Coaching Consultancy in 2012, she has worked with individuals and teams across a wide range of industry sectors including Education, Financial Services, Automotive, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals and Construction. She works with senior leaders, managers in career transition and young, high potential future leaders. She also supports the training and accreditation of Executive Coaches.

Claire has been a Trustee and Director of a Gloucestershire Community Transport charity since 2017.

As a former King's parent, Claire appreciates the flexibility of the academic provision provided by King’s as well as the strong pastoral care.

Claire sits on the Education and Compliance Committee.

Kate Bedwell is currently the Global Lead for Law Enforcement Assistance and Human Rights Programmes at Vodafone Group.  She comes with extensive experience of financial crime compliance having spent a number of years leading the second line compliance and risk function for M-Pesa, a mobile money product solution available in a number of African countries. Prior to re-joining Vodafone Group in 2023 Kate worked at the Royal Foundation of the Prince & Princess of Wales for the United for Wildlife programme which seeks to address illegal wildlife trade using anti-money regulations to support successful prosecutions. Kate is also a Fellow member of the International Compliance Association. 

Kate has two sons, who previously attended King's School and is an avid sports enthusiast – being a previous Director of England Squash and an avid (but not proficient) tennis player.

Kate sits on the Finance and General Purposes Committee.