Meet the Governors

Mr Stuart Watson – Chair of Governors

Stuart is a Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair at the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and a Senior Advisor to Panmure Gordon, the investment bank. He also runs Strategy Unlocked, a consultancy firm.  He is chairman of the Yorkshire region for Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby. Until mid 2022 he was  a Non-Executive Director at Clipper Logistics plc and a Council member at the University of Bradford. He was Senior Partner for EY in Yorkshire and Humberside until he retired from EY in 2017. Stuart is a former Gateways parent.

Sir Roger Marsh, OBE DL 

Sir Roger Marsh is a graduate metallurgist, Chartered Accountant and Chartered Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He has been Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) since 2013 securing the country’s largest ever Local Growth Deal with Government. He was also a Member of the Williams Rail Review Expert Challenge Panel and Chair of both the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund Strategic Oversight Board and European Structural & Investment Fund Local Sub Committee. Before joining the LEP Roger was a Senior Partner at PwC. 

In 2015, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and in 2019 became a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours he was made a Knights Batchelor for services to Business, to the Economy, and the community in Northern England.

Mr Carl Chambers, L.L.B, ACA, Barrister

Carl is a Barrister and Chartered Accountant and has practiced in both professions. Following a career in the City where he worked in both private equity and investment banking, he has undertaken many non-executive director roles, including as a member of the board of European companies. Most recently, he was Chairman of gas supply company CNG and a non-executive director at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. He is currently a Council Member at the University of Bradford. He is a former Gateways parent and the Chair of the Finance here at Gateways School.

Mr Richard Webster, BSc(Hons), MRICS

Richard is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Managing Director of DKP Consulting, a Yorkshire based company providing construction cost and property consultancy, project management and health & safety services. He has extensive experience of the construction industry in the Health, Education, Leisure, Commercial and Heritage sectors. He is a former Gateways parent.

Dr Jasvinder Matharoo, BDS 

Dr Jas Matharoo is a Dental Surgeon with over 30 years clinical experience working in both the Private sector and the NHS. The majority of this has been at Senior Executive level. He established many dental practices over the years and at one point was the owner of Yorkshire’s largest independent dental chains. He has been both Senior Partner and Chief Executive in his companies and lectures on business development and entrepreneurialism in Dentistry.

Jas is an experienced business mediator and has a keen interest in Mentoring A Level students in preparation for university interviews. In addition to this, he has an interest in commercial property and is currently the Chief Executive of several property construction & development companies. He is a former Gateways parent.

Ms Michelle Calvert

Michelle Calvert is the Director of Development at the University of Leeds, where she is responsible for the University’s engagement with a global community of some 270,00 alumni, and for the University’s philanthropic fundraising activities. Michelle has worked in higher education alumni relations and fundraising for 25 years, and has been in her current role at Leeds since 2006.

Mrs Nicola Stephens, BAHons (PGCE)  

Nicola Stephens is a Deputy Headteacher and Safeguarding Lead in an independent school in the North East of England where she is responsible for all pastoral aspects of student life (aged 3-18).  This role is broad and has offered opportunities to lead on well-being & mental health, careers, outdoor learning and Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, A,G&T, SEND and co-curricular enrichment. Nicola has been at her current school for 19 years and in this post for 10 years.  Prior to this she was Director of Sport and a PE teacher.  Nicola is also a member of a non-strategic advisory board for an adult training provider in the North East with responsibility to oversee safeguarding provision for learners.

Mrs Julie Borlant

Julie’s longstanding association with Gateways stems back to 1977 when she first joined as a pupil. Having originally pursued a career in Human Resources, she now heads the online business of Seymour’s Home, a soft furnishings and interior design company with a worldwide customer base. Julie’s daughter Jenna also attended Gateway’s from 2004-2021. 

As the designated Governor for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Julie’s passion for raising awareness is epitomised through the various initiatives and fundraising events she has undertaken in recent years. Julie is involved in Now and Beyond, the UK’s only mental heath and wellbeing festival for educational settings. This universal school-based intervention helps to embed a healthy culture within schools, where mental health is free of stigma and shame and where young people will feel more comfortable seeking support.

Mr Nick MacHugh, MCIBS  

Nick is an experienced senior Corporate Banker. He moved to Yorkshire in 1993 whilst working for Bank of Scotland where he latterly worked in structured and acquisition finance. In 2009 he joined Santander Corporate Bank to focus on growing their operation in Yorkshire & North East where he has worked on a large number of high profile regional corporate transactions.  Nick is a former Gateways parent.

Mrs Tori Lorence  

Tori is an experienced marketer and Managing Partner of CreativeRace, a Leeds based communications agency providing expertise in strategy, performance and creativity. She moved to Yorkshire in 2022 following 15 years in London working in global advertising networks such as Ogilvy, part of WPP and Omnicom. She has extensive marketing experience in the financial, travel, health, energy, FMCG, grocery, education and automotive industries.