Chair and Trustees

Melanie joined Shakespeare North Playhouse in 2021, leading this ground-breaking new cultural attraction along with her incredible team. Prior to this she spent nine years at National Museums Liverpool, with seven years as an Executive Director on the Leadership Team, responsible for all commercial outputs, visitor experience, strategy and planning. Melanie has previously held senior roles with Everton Football Club and Blackburn Rovers Football Club, and is a member of the newly formed Liverpool City Region Business and Enterprise Board which provides a voice for business in the area.

Jo is Chief Financial Officer at York Minster, including responsibility for IT. She has spent her whole career as a financial professional in the not-for-profit sector, and has always been a keen advocate for the funding streams of sustainable enterprise. Prior to her time at York Minster, she was the inaugural Finance Manager at the Hepworth Wakefield art gallery, responsible for establishing the finance systems, processes and team from scratch.

Gabriela is Customer Services Director at the House of Commons, coach (CfPAC) and a trustee for Tonic Theatre, as well as for Cultural Enterprises. She has a track record in operations in cultural and historic institutions, including senior roles at the Royal Opera House, National Theatre, Barbican Centre, Arts Theatre and The Savoy Theatre.

Chris is Director of Finance and Resources at The London Library where he leads on the finance, facilities, IT and HR functions. He is a qualified accountant with a keen interest in charity governance and a background in the public and not-for-profit sector, having previousy worked at London Transport Museum and the Home Office. Chris is also a trustee of the Bow Street Police Museum.

Following an 11 year tenure at Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, Matthew was inspired to support organisations with their commercial, visitor engagement and co-production strategies. He is also part of the team at Durham Cathedral, working on new product development. He was named Rising Star and Overall Winner in the 2022 Cultural Enterprises Awards.

Zak is Co-CEO at Birmingham Museums Trust and was previously Head of Transformation at Bristol City Council for the Culture & Creative Industries service. When not solving problems where people, culture and technology meet, Zak can be found spending time with his family or riding his motorcycle.

Anthony is the General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees at the V&A, specialising in commercial contracts, intellectual property, information and technology law. Alongside his role at the V&A Anthony is a Consultant Solicitor at Keystone Law, a virtual full service law firm.

Kingston is responsible for innovating and leading customer touch points throughout BMT. His directorate includes all Trading Activity, Marketing, Digital, IT and Visitor Operations. He is at the forefront of ensuring that BMT can grow and evolve to best tell the stories of its collection and city as the cultural anchor for Birmingham.

As Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of the Royal Armouries trading company, Rod has led a major project to substantially improve financial sustainability through new income streams across the group’s venues at the Tower of London, Fort Nelson in Portsmouth and the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Rod was previously Deputy Director at the Hepworth Wakefield, where he helped to form the charity and launched the new-build gallery that achieved international and critical acclaim and won a number of prestigious awards.

Laura has been CEO of the Postal Museum since June 2018. In this role she is responsible for ensuring that the museum fulfils its mission and is open to as wide an audience as possible while also remaining financially sustainable. Previously Laura spent eight years as CEO of Tate Enterprises, the revenue generating company belonging to Tate Galleries, having originally joined Tate in 1999 prior to the opening of Tate Modern. In that role she oversaw publishing, retail, licensing and product development for all four Tate galleries.

Iain is a Visiting Professor at Newcastle University and a consultant working across the cultural sector. He is a trustee of the Amber Side Collection, of the Association for Cultural Enterprises and of the Tyneside Cinema. He is an Advisory Board member at Art UK and at the Living Archive. He has written and lectured extensively, in the UK and abroad, on cultural policy, museums, archives and heritage.