Karen Morgan OBE DL DEd – Chair
Karen has had a long career across many sectors including the chemical industry, education, water and the environment, international development, scientific research and development, financial services and health care and social impact.
Her present interests and positions include Chair of Trustees of The Door Youth Project, Trustee of CCP, Trustee of Friends of the Cotswolds, Vice Chair of Trustees of Wallscourt Foundation (UWE), Patron of Ruskin Mill Trust, Member of Council, Foundation and Chaplaincy Committee of University of Gloucestershire. She was awarded an OBE in 1999, the degree of Doctor of Education (honoris causa) by UWE in 2004 and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 2007. She is a founder member of the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire (HCG)where she serves on the Community Support Group and is a member of the HCG Charitable Trust. She is also a Member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, Bristol.
She was formerly Chair of Governors at the University of the West of England, Vice Chair of the Governing Council at the Royal Agricultural University, Vice Chair of Council of the University of Gloucestershire and Chair of Governors at Collegiate School, Bristol.
Also formerly Member of the Boards of The National Rivers Authority, The Environment Agency, Wessex Water Services Ltd; Member of Council of the Natural Environment Research Council; Trustee of Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Vice Chair of Trustees of WaterAid; Chair of Trustees of The Converging World; Member of Committee of Reference of Premier Miton Ethical Fund.
Bill Armiger
After moving from London in 1971, Bill taught in a number of county and city schools and was appointed Deputy Headmaster of the Crypt Grammar School, Gloucester, in 1978 – becoming Headmaster in 1990. He took Voluntary Early Retirement in 1995 and has since been active in a wide spectrum of personal interests: as an educational consultant, advising and representing parents encountering problems with their children’s educational provision; helping guide a specialist referral centre specialising in the treatment, management and education of disaffected, challenging and convicted young people in care of the local authority; and as Practice Manager of a large and successful GP practice. Since 1998 Bill has been closely involved with the Three Choirs Festival in various roles, including as a former Director and Trustee of both the Three Choirs Festival Society and the Three Choirs Festival Association. He was formerly Secretary/Chief Executive and remains a committee member of Gloucester Three Choirs Festival. From 1971 until comparatively recently he combined his professional teaching career with that of senior lay-clerk and chorister tutor with the choir of Gloucester Cathedral, as well as that of semi-professional soloist in a wide range of concert and recital work, together with furthering his interest in composition and publication of sacred and secular choral music. He currently sings with the St. Cecilia Singers of Gloucester and the Standish Consort – an Oxford University Alumni Choir. For six years he was Secretary of The Friends of Gloucester Cathedral as well as being Founder, Trustee and Secretary of the Sanders Society – a charity formed in 2008 to continue the musical influence of Dr. John Sanders (late Organist and Master of the Choristers of Gloucester Cathedral) and administering the John Sanders Memorial Competition for Young Composers, which regularly draws entries from a wide international field.
Margaret Austen DL
Margaret was a solicitor who specialised in company, commercial and (in her later years of practice) charity law. She was a partner in Willans LLP in Cheltenham for over 20 years, including 10 years as managing partner.
She has been involved in many local charities and not-for-profit organisations including Leonard Cheshire Homes (fundraising committee), Prince’s Youth Business Trust (mentor), Gloucestershire College (trustee), Holst Museum (honorary solicitor), Cheltenham Festivals (honorary company secretary), Friends of Gloucester Cathedral (trustee and chair), Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum Development Trust (trustee) the Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce (President 2010-2011) and MusicAtCheltenham (founder).
She is a long-serving member of the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire’s Arts and Heritage Group interest group.
Andy Downton
Born in Gloucestershire, Andy attended Marling School in Stroud and subsequently Gloucester Technical College, obtaining an OND in business studies.
Andy joined the family haulage business in 1979. Andy assumed the role of Managing Director following the untimely death of his father in 1985. Beginning as a small family operation in 1955, Andy together with his brothers Richard and John transformed the operation from a localised haulage business to a logistics giant. The company won many awards including South West Family Business of the Year, Gloucestershire Business of the Year and the national Haulier of the Year. Employing 1400 staff operating from 14 depots throughout the UK, the business attracted international recognition and was subsequently purchased by a Hong Kong private equity company in 2018.
Whilst now semi retired, Andy is still investing in young entrepreneurs specifically Gloucestershire and South West based. Andy is a passionate advocate of family businesses and voluntarily offers support and mentoring when requested.
Andy is an avid Gloucester and England rugby supporter but is perhaps happiest enjoying good food and wine with friends and family. Andy is a committed Gloucester Samaritan volunteer and leader.
Mark Hurrell DL
Mark joined the BBC in 1978 and apart from two years in commercial radio, worked for the Corporation in local radio and regional TV for over 35 years . He moved with his family to BBC Radio Gloucestershire in 1990 as deputy manager before working for fours years at Points West TV in Bristol . He covered all the major roles including in vision presentation, reporting and production before moving into management and leadership roles. In 1998 he returned to radio as the Editor of BBC Radio Stoke before taking over as Editor of BBC Radio Gloucestershire in 2002… a post he held until 2016. He then moved onto a special project that commemorated the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the BBC arts TV programme Civilisations.
Now retired Mark supports various local charities, is a keen amateur singer and a long standing season ticket holder at Gloucester Rugby’s Kingsholm Stadium. He was one of the founder members of The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire and is a Trustee of the Company’s Trust . He also Chairs the Arts and Heritage interest group. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant in 2017 and was honoured to be the county’s High Sheriff for a year in 2024 to 2025.
Julie Kent MBE
Julie Kent was born in Gloucester and attended the High School for Girls, Denmark Road. After Studying Jazz and Light Music at Leeds College of Music she was a Professional musician until she settled in Cheltenham and started teaching at Dean Close School. She was a day Housemistress and has been in Boarding for the last 18 years living and caring for sixty teenage girls in term time.
After losing her first child in 1995 she started a Charity called the Emily Kent Charitable Trust and for the last five years has been the Vice Chair of the Pied Piper Appeal. Her charity work raising money for Breast Cancer and many others has led her to be named in the Top 50 Greatest Women in Gloucestershire, in the Top 100 Women in West gaining the Most outstanding Woman in the Charitable Sector in the West and was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list in June 2021. Julie sits on the Court as the Communications Champion and Junior Warden.
Michael Jones
Michael has a first-class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of: -the Aeronautical Society, the British Institute of Management, the Institute of Directors, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the Institution of Production Engineers. An Honorary Fellow of the University of Gloucestershire, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Coach and Coach Harness Makers. A Life Patron of the Cheltenham Festivals.
Michael has had extensive experience in the aerospace and automotive sectors, with both mechanical and electronics-based companies. He has held Board appointments in both the private and public sectors, as a NED he Chaired the Audit Committee on behalf of the NAO (National Audit Office) for a MoD Trading Fund. Served on the Board of the University of Bath IMRC (Innovative Manufacturing Research Council).
Michael’s focus is business process re-engineering at corporate and operational levels, in both large and small business. He was one of the leaders of the UK’s Lean Aerospace Initiative. He has lived and worked in the USA. Michael has operated at VP and Managing Director Level in GE, Smiths Group, ML Holdings, BTR and BOC. While with GE he was responsible for creating a new state of the art Aviation facility in China.
Upon retirement he started his own consultancy business and has carried out client assignments for IBM and a number of SME’s.
Michael is married to Elizabeth and has two children Emma and Phillippa with three grandchildren Millie, Benjamin and Joshua, Michael and Elizabeth enjoy travel, skiing and tennis.
Peter Lachecki
Peter was brought up in the North-East, and after graduating at Durham University started a 25 year career in Marketing and General management in the food manufacturing industry. Mostly with Cheltenham based Kraft Foods, Peter had senior leadership roles in the UK and Internationally, including a spell in Zurich, until he left in 2009 to start his own business.
Lachecki Consulting supports clients with executive 1:1 and team coaching, facilitation and leadership development. With a post-graduate qualification as an executive coach from Henley Business School, this has taken Peter right around the world. Working with international clients in Asia, the Middle East, the US and Europe has contributed to his passion for working with a diverse range of people. He works across varied private and public sectors with clients in very different stages of development.
In parallel, Peter has held non-executive roles in the NHS including Chairman of Gloucestershire Hospitals for nearly 6 years, during the extremely challenging period of the pandemic, until April 2022.
He and his family have been part of the Gloucestershire community since 1987 and amongst other things, Peter has been a Governor of the King’s School, Chair of the Trustees of Cheltenham and Gloucester Charity and a member of various Gloucester Cathedral committees. He is currently a member of the Appeal Board for a new county Oncology centre in Cheltenham, is an External Governor of Gloucestershire College and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Gloucestershire.
In his spare time, he enjoys walking, photography, travel and supports Newcastle United FC.
Duncan Munro
While Duncan Munro has only recently joined the HCG, the Company first ‘met’ him when, as an experienced Cranfield mentor, he helped deliver the training session for our volunteer charity mentors in October 2019. Duncan has had a fascinating and varied career spanning industrial, charitable, and consultancy management positions. After 24 years in the steel industry in the Sheffield area, Duncan moved to Scotland and took over as Director of the Robertson Trust, Scotland’s biggest grant making charity, a post he held for 5 years before moving to Cheltenham. Duncan is also an ordained priest and has carried out work for Gloucester Diocese and the University of Gloucestershire. He is also a Parish Councillor in Charlton Kings.
Robert Wharton
Robert qualified as a solicitor in 1976. From 1988 – 2000 he was proprietor of Ringrose Wharton & Co, a law firm in Bristol which he sold to another Bristol law firm. He then worked with two other Bristol law firms culminating as Head of Financial Services regulatory team and overseeing a property fund. From 2015 to 2020 he was a Partner in Keystone Law, a top 100 London law firm, advising clients at board level on acquisitions, regulatory compliance and corporate governance. Since 2020 he has been acting for corporate financial services clients of Ringrose Wharton Solicitors. From 1989-2016 he was Founder, Director and Shareholder of ADR Group, the first and largest provider of mediation and mediation training services in the UK. He was in the Territorial Army from 1974 – 2012 carrying out many roles. Currently Robert is Chairman in Gloucestershire of Wessex Reserve Forces & Cadets Association and a current Board member of WRFCA; a Trustee of the Lord-Lieutenant for Gloucestershire’s Fund; a member of the HCG Armed Forces Group; a member of the regulation and governance committee of AFM; Vice Chair of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry Association and a Member of the Association of Compliance Consultants. Past roles include Employer’s Representative for WRFCA, past regional organiser for the Association of Lloyds of London Members, a Trustee of the Gauntlet Trust of the Armourers and Braziers (a livery company); non-executive director of ADR Group and a Council member of the Royal Bath & West Society. His interests are shooting, skiiing and most outdoor activities.
Steve Wood – Honorary Treasurer
Steve had over 30 years experience as an actuary in the financial services industry, principally in the life and health insurance and reinsurance sectors.
He held positions of Finance Director and Appointed Actuary of a U.K. life insurance company and Appointed Actuary of a life and health reinsurance company and was successively UK Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer for Europe and the Middle East and Global Chief Marketing Officer for General Electric’s life and health reinsurance business. He had non-executive Board experience in the UK, Ireland, USA, Germany, Russia and Jordan.
Since retiring he has held several voluntary roles including Membership of the Alumni Fund Panel at the University of Bath, Trustee and Hon. Treasurer of the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (now GRCC) and Chairman of the Holst Birthplace Trust. He is currently a Trustee of LINC, a trustee and treasurer of the Southam Village Hall Management Committee and Chairman of the Cheltenham North Rotary Club Wine Festival Organising Committee.
He also supports Norwich City Football Club!
Margaret Fuller – Honorary Secretary
Margaret spent the majority of her career with the Watts Group in Lydney, retiring as PA to the Chairman and Company Secretary in 2014. She took on the role of Secretary to the HCG Trustees in 2017. She has always been very interested in history, is a member of several local history groups and has been a member of The Richard III Society for more years than she likes to count. Margaret spends some of her spare time building her and her late husband’s extensive family trees. She has a large garden and a couple of hens to look after and enjoys attending music (mostly classical) concerts and theatre. She collects First Day Covers and likes to read, knit and occasionally sew. She is a Fellow of The Royal Society of St George and has been Secretary of its Gloucestershire Branch for many years. She relinquished work-related memberships when she retired except for that of The Incorporated Phonographic Society, the oldest shorthand society in the world.
