Meet our speakers

Take a sneak peek at some of our headline speakers! As the programme continues to unfold, you will have the opportunity to see the complete list of speakers who will be presenting at ISBL National Conference 2025.

Keynote Speakers

  • Emma Gray is an experienced School Business Leader, Consultant and SRMA, specialising in operational excellence and risk management in schools. With a strong background in education, Emma helps school leaders enhance internal communication, manage teams effectively, and drive innovation. She is passionate about empowering leaders to navigate challenges, mitigate risks, and streamline operations to improve school performance. In her session on Effective Internal Communication and Managing Teams, Emma will share practical strategies to enhance communication, foster collaboration, and create high-performing teams that support continuous improvement and student success. 

  • Phil brings over 20 years of dedicated experience in supporting the education sector.  He currently leads our national education proposition, overseeing a team of 14 specialist Education Relationship Managers who work with 8 out of 10 academy trusts across the UK.  Phil is committed to delivering value to our clients through cutting-edge digital innovations—driving efficiency, reducing risk, enhancing oversight, and strengthening financial control 

  • A trailblazer in both the fire service and academia, Sabrina’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary. From experiencing homelessness at fifteen to becoming one of the UK’s most senior female firefighters and a leading expert in behavioural neuroscience, her story is a powerful testament to resilience, leadership, and the power of determination. 

    As a Research Fellow at Cardiff University and the National Fire Chiefs Council International Lead, Sabrina brings a unique perspective on high-pressure decision-making, leadership under adversity, and breaking systemic barriers—insights that resonate far beyond the fireground. 

    She is also the bestselling author of The Heat of the Moment and The Gender Bias, where she shares gripping frontline experiences and challenges the status quo on gender equality. 

    Join us to hear Sabrina’s inspiring story and gain transformative insights that will empower you to lead with courage, challenge limitations, and ignite change. 

  • Lou is CEO of the Institute of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE), which supports schools to develop successful fundraising and engagement programmes, through providing training, guidance, support, benchmarking and partnership work across the schools’ sector.   

    Lou has over 20 years’ experience of working across fundraising disciplines, and has previously held senior fundraising roles at The Stroke Association and Shelter Cymru. Lou has also volunteered for a number of organisations, from being Chair of Trustees for Cardiff Women’s Aid to being a Board member for the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and more recently, supporting the PTA at her children’s primary school.   

    Lou is passionate about fundraising, and as such has found herself hiking across Iceland, running a marathon and cycling from Cardiff to Dublin, to raise money for good causes.  

  • Rachel Younger has worked in schools for more than 20 years and is currently the Business Manager at St Nicholas C of E Primary School in Blackpool. She is a fellow of the Institute of School Business Leadership and a governor at a local all-through special school for pupils with autism. 

     

    Rachel has been an active member of NAHT since 2012, becoming branch secretary for Blackpool in 2015. She was NAHT regional president for the North West in 2018, the first School Business Leader to be elected to that office in any region. Rachel has been a member of NAHT’s national executive committee since 2017. She is the first school business leader to be elected to the role of president in the union’s 125-year history. 

  • Matt Isherwood is an Associate Partner at Barker following 14 years at Brooke Weston Trust as Director of Estates. He has been a long-standing and strong advocate for best practice on Good Estates Management, Energy, Sustainability, and use of data-driven decision making. Matt has enormous knowledge and experience of estates management from the client side and is now working with Barker to promote this knowledge to the wider education sector.  

  • With over nine years in banking, Jack specializes in cash management, including liquidity, treasury, and payment solutions. He partners closely with schools and trusts, delivering tailored strategies to optimize cash flow and streamline payments. 

  • I’ve worked in the built environment, asset management, and FM for over 25 years, across local authorities, private estates, and internationally. In recent years, I’ve focused on the education sector, and after working as an Estate Manager for a MAT of 30 schools, I now run my own consultancy, helping schools and trusts adopt a more strategic, practical approach to managing their estates. I’m also publishing a book on leading and managing an education estate, a practical guide for anyone involved in the process, from site staff to CEOs and the kind of resource I was looking for when I first took on that responsibility. 

  • Harry leads a team of experienced specialists and engineers dedicated to helping schools reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions through innovative mechanical and electrical engineering design, compliance strategies and energy efficiency solutions. 

    With seven years of experience as an energy consultant, a degree in renewable energy engineering, and an Executive MBA in progress, he combines technical expertise with a passion for sustainability 

  • TBC

  • Paul is a Legal Director in the Education Team at HCR Law. Paul handles a full range of complex and challenging issues that clients face, from parental complaints to exclusions, and from safeguarding to compliance. Data protection is also a key issue on which Paul advises schools, charities and other businesses. He advises both strategically and practically when clients face regulatory scrutiny on matters such as subject access requests, personal data breaches and freedom of information requests, owing to his considerable experience dealing with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). governance. Her expertise also lies in  supporting NGA’s broader membership base and scoping potential projects with new and existing partners.

  • Myles is founder and CEO of Bremner & Co, which was established in 2016. He and the team work closely with national and local governments, NGOs and civil society organisations, academia, and the corporate sector to make the food system better and fairer.   

    Myles is the former Director of the government’s School Food Plan, spearheading the transformation of food culture in schools. Myles has been an advisor to the Jamie Oliver Group, and was Chief Executive of Garden Organic, a leading UK educational horticultural charity, for six years. He is a former member of the London Food Board and has held Trustee positions at Sustain, the Alliance for Better Food and Farming, and at the Royal Academy of Culinary Art’s Adopt a School Programme.  

    Myles cares deeply about children’s nutrition and health and his works spans the full 0-8,000 days of a child’s development.  Myles is currently helping to co-ordinate the work of England’s School Food Review, campaigning for national free school meals auto-enrolment, and working with the international school meals coalition.  

  • Nick is a sustainability leader with 20+ years’ international experience across construction, retail, and government. His interest in sustainability began during a Geography degree followed by a Climate Change MSc. This background led to senior roles shaping strategy and delivery at Carillion, SGN, HS2, and Selfridges. Most recently, he was Sustainability Lead at Crown Commercial Service. 

  • Alex has over 12 years of banking experience, including 4 focused on corporate card solutions. He works closely with schools and trusts to improve payment processes, offering practical solutions that save time and deliver real value .

Workshop Speakers

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