Trust Board
Simon Arnold - Chair | Expiry of term December 2028
Simon has been involved with the Trust's schools for over a decade, first as a governor, then as chair of a local governing body, and for several years as vice chair of the Trust board before being appointed Chair of Trustees in July 2026. The role is voluntary, and his interest is simple: these schools educate children in his own community, and he wants every one of them to thrive.
Beyond the Trust, Simon is a founding trustee of SEND FS UK, a charity supporting families of children with special educational needs and disabilities, which was chosen as one of the Mayor of Hillingdon's charities in 2025. He served as a councillor in the London Borough of Hillingdon from 2018 to 2022, where he was Chairman of Licensing.
Professionally, Simon has had a varied career across media, business and technology. Most recently he was a producer on some of ITV's biggest shows, including Love Island and I'm A Celebrity. He is also a regular guest lecturer at Brunel University on media. Earlier in his career he held marketing and operations director roles, ran a premium retail business, and worked for many years as an independent consultant helping businesses with strategy, technology and change. He has a particular interest in how artificial intelligence will shape young people's education and future careers.
Simon is fluent in Swedish and Spanish.
Mike Ormerod - Vice Chair | Expiry of term November 2029
A Chartered Company Secretary, Mike is an experienced chief executive and director who has held senior roles in the public, charitable and not-for-profit sectors. Recently retired, Mike was most recently the Head of Central Services and Strategic Safeguarding Lead at the Barking & Dagenham School Improvement Partnership (BDSIP).
Prior to that he was Chief Executive at the leading Environmental and Social Regeneration charity Groundwork Greater Manchester and a member of the Groundwork Federation National Board. Mike led the unification of Groundwork in Manchester, bringing together three Groundwork organisations to form Groundwork GM.
With extensive experience in community engagement, Mike has also previously worked as Head of Communities and Partnerships at Lancashire County Council. Passionate about supporting young people to achieve their potential, he has been a governor at several Nursery and Primary Schools in his native Lancashire for over 25 years, with roles including Chair of Governors; Safeguarding Lead Governor; Committee Chair and Online Safety Governor.
Mike has also been a Trustee and Non Executive Director at a number of charities and not for profit organisations, including the Bradford Credit Union and the Salford Third Sector Consortium. Away from work and volunteering Mike is a keen fell walker and lifelong (and long suffering!) supporter of Burnley FC.
Andrew Batchelor | Expiry of term September 2030
[Biography to be updated]
Johnny Kyriacou | Expiry of term December 2029
Johnny is Education Director for Warwickshire County Council. In this role his responsibilities include SEND, school improvement, admissions, attendance, and a broad range of service to schools. Johnny has also worked as Associate Education Director at Slough Borough Council. He was previously a teacher and Interim Deputy Headteacher at Barnhill, one of MLP’s founding schools. Johnny is an experienced trustee having served in this capacity with several multi-academy trusts.
Russell Middleton | Expiry of term December 2028
Russ works as Principal Engineer in the public sector focusing on systems engineering within the maritime domain. He started his career in university-based industrial research and development and has since worked in a range of technology and IT roles, primarily in the defence and medical sectors. Russ originally joined MLP as a parent governor at Barnhill school in 2013 and has remained involved with the school and trust as a governor, chair of governors, and a trustee ever since.
Hilary Morris | Expiry of term November 2028
Hilary is the Commercial Director for the Orders of St John Care Trust, with responsibility for negotiating key service contracts with NHS and local authority partners on behalf of the charity. Hilary has also held senior roles with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and with Middlesex University. In addition to her work with MLP, Hilary is governor of a special needs school and has experience as a non-executive director with organisations across several sectors.
Paramjit Roopra | Expiry of term September 2030
Paramjit is the former Executive Headteacher of Northbury and Thomas Arnold Primary Schools in Barking and Dagenham. She has nearly 30 years of experience teaching in inclusive primary schools in Newham and leading schools across Barking and Dagenham.
Paramjit has served as a Board Member for the Schools Forum, BDSIP (the borough’s school improvement provider), the Local Safeguarding Board, and as Chair of the Barking and Dagenham Primary Heads. She has chaired and contributed to numerous working parties, sharing her leadership expertise with colleagues across multiple London local authorities.
She designed and led the borough-wide Race and Social Justice Programme, a collaborative initiative that empowered schools to shape, lead, and deliver meaningful change. Paramjit is currently an Interim Headteacher, and leads on the NPQH Programme for Ambition Institute.
Meg Sanusi | Expiry of term November 2029
Meg is Deputy Headteacher for Inclusion and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) at a primary school in Ealing. A qualified and experienced SENDCo, she oversees the SEND provision and the school’s Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) in her school. Meg lives locally and previously worked as Associate Assistant Headteacher at William Byrd, one of MLP’s schools. She has worked across all primary phases in a wide range of settings, including state, faith, independent, academy and British international schools. In addition to her work with MLP, Meg is Vice-Chair of Governors at a primary school in Hounslow.
Andrew Singer | Expiry of term March 2027
Andrew is a chartered accountant who has also led a range of service teams, including HR. With many years experience in corporate environments, he has worked in both the UK and overseas for a number of listed companies, private equity-backed businesses, and large, privately owned organisations. Andrew is trustee of a number of charities and has served as director at several multi academy trusts.
Ben Spinks - CEO | Ex officio
Ben is proud to be Chief Executive at MLP, a position which he has held since August 2023. Working closely with trustees and school leaders, Ben is responsible for setting the values, culture, standards, and strategic direction for the organisation. Ben also leads the development of external relationships and partnerships to ensure MLP schools can benefit from, and contribute to, the best practice regionally and nationally.
Ben was previously Chief Executive at BDSIP, a social enterprise owned by 56 schools which provides a range of school improvement, inclusion advice and training to schools in East London. Ben has also held senior director roles at Capita Transformation, the major change consultancy of the Capita Group; and in local government, where he was most recently Assistant Chief Executive at the London Borough of Brent, with responsibility for communications, strategy, community engagement, business intelligence and public health.
In his spare time, Ben is chair of Trustees at Learning in Harmony MAT. He has recently joined the governing body at Whitefield Special School in Waltham Forest and was a governor at Sheringham Primary school in Newham from 2018 - 2026.
Trustees can be contacted by emailing enquiries@mlp.org.uk