Membership

I am delighted to welcome you to governance at the University of Wolverhampton. The below links describe the way in which governance operates at the University and provides information on the Board’s powers, membership and new decisions made.

The University of Wolverhampton prides itself in its educational roots. Since its earliest days in the mid-nineteenth century, the University has had the purpose of providing further and higher education to as many people in the community, having the motivation and academic ability to do so well. The Board of Governors is proud to ensure this tradition strives today.

Angela Spence

  Chair of the Board of Governors

Membership of the Board of Governors

Under the University's Instrument of Government (section 3) the Board must consist of no less than twelve and no more than twenty four members. Of the appointed members:

• up to thirteen shall be independent members
• at least one academic staff member and one professional services member
• up to two may be students of the university nominated by the students
• at least one and not more than nine shall be co-opted members. At least one of this number shall be a person who has experience in the provision of education.

A determination of numbers was last undertaken on the 30th June 2021 at the Board of Governors. 

The Membership of the governing body is set out below. 

A list of Governor interests for the academic year can be found on the interest of the board page.

Independent Governors

As per the University's Instrument of Government, Independent Members shall be persons with experience of, and to have show capacity in, industrial, commercial or employment matters or the practice of any profession. 

3rd term of office

Angela Spence is politically savvy with a reputation for being highly professional, pragmatic, forensic, analytical and focused. She is an outstanding strategist and communicator. Angela is a consummate networker, a strong leader and manager with a natural coaching style. She is authentic, honest and committed to openness.

Born in Wolverhampton, Angela is an inveterate world traveller and sojourner. She revels in the discovery of new places, people and cultures.

Angela has a lifelong, deeply held passion for helping people work towards developing and/or discovering the best version of themselves.

Co-founder and Director of At Eve Consulting Limited, Angela works with organisations and agencies in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to transform their operations, bring about efficiencies and improve their ways of working.

Angela is also a co-founder and Director of community interest company Square Pegs Round Holes dedicated to working with children, young people, families and local communities to build their resilience and support them to overcome barriers that limit their participation in achieving fulfilling lives.

Angela is fully subscribed to the ethos of public service and had a very successful career in the public sector working across multi-agency partnerships and multi-disciplinary teams, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Angela is a Presiding Justice; Chair of Wolverhampton Police Independent Advisory Group; Chair of the Independent Oversight and Scrutiny Board for the West Midlands Police Race Action Plan; Deputy Chair of the CUC (Committee of University Chairs).

Angela is an ambassador for the transformational benefits of education and is delighted to be able to influence and effect change at the University. Angela is delighted to have recently been appointed Chair of the Board of Governors, working with and outstanding team to position the University of Wolverhampton as a leader in the HE sector and a great place to study and work.

2nd Term of Office

Alan Edwards is an experienced public sector board member, having previously been Chair of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and an Independent Member of the Board of the UK National Policing Improvement Agency. He is currently Deputy Chair of the Black Country Integrated Care Board and a Non-Executive Director of Public Sector Audit Appointments. Most of his career has been spent as a management consultant. He was a consulting Partner at PwC and KPMG and an Executive at IBM.

Alan is an accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Alan has been an active member of CIPFA including acting as its International Director and Chair CIPFA Development. He has represented CIPFA and the UK accountancy profession on a number of international boards and committees. In 2022 he received a Distinguished Contribution award from the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants. 

Alan studied for his CIPFA qualification at the then Wolverhampton Polytechnic.

3rd Term of Office

Dr Buki Adeyemo was announced as North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust’s Chief Executive on 14 December 2023, having previously served as the Trust’s interim Chief Executive from December 2021, and Medical Director from 2012.

Buki started her medical career in Nigeria, and graduated from the University of Lagos. She came to work for the NHS in 1997, and has spent the majority of her career to date working in North Staffordshire.

Buki is a dual qualified old age and adults’ psychiatrist, and became a consultant old age psychiatrist in 2007 at Combined Healthcare. During her career, Buki has specialised in medical education and psychological therapies.  

Buki is an NHS Chief Executive representative on the Mental Health Network Board at the NHS Confederation.

2nd Term of Office

Chris Handy was Group Chief Executive of Accord Housing, a group of housing and care organisations, providing housing and care for people in need. It had a significant annual building programme and also owned its own factory, located in Walsall, manufacturing super-insulated timber homes. Chris was Deputy Chair of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and was its Acting Chair for a period. He has also been heavily involved in the NHS and is Deputy Chair of the Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group.

Chris is a visiting Professor of Governance Law with Birmingham City University Business School. He is a member of the Trident Group and chairs one of its committees. He is also an independent member of WVLiving: City of Wolverhampton Council's house building company. He has written a number of books on housing and law, the most recent the fifth edition of Housing Association Law, and is deeply interested in the built environment, human rights and social justice issues. Chris received an OBE in 2008 for his services to housing. He is married with two children, enjoys walking and lives locally.

1st Term of Office

Andy Westwood is Professor of Government Practice and a Director of the Productivity Institute at the University of Manchester. He has worked as an expert adviser to the EU, the IMF, the OECD and for the Economic Affairs Committee in the House of Lords. He also worked as a special adviser to UK ministers on innovation, education and skills during the last Labour government.

Andy grew up and went to school in Wolverhampton and is a former visiting professor in further and higher education at the University.

2nd Term of Office

Elaine Siew graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MA (CANTAB) in Medical Sciences and entered the business world, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant ACA three years later. After a short stint as an auditor, she moved into corporate finance, specialising in advising management teams in Management Buy-Outs and Buy-Ins. During this period, she established herself as a deal originator and doer, structuring and obtaining funding from numerous banks and venture capitalist. In 1998, she became Corporate Finance Partner in Robson Rhodes.

In 2004, after the birth of her two sons, she left the corporate finance world and joined a client as Finance Director. This was the start of her journey at gbpartnerships. As Finance Director, she raised over £300m of project finance, funding the development of 36 medical centres.

Elaine is now CEO of gbpartnerships group. She sits on the Board of 30 SPV and group companies. She leads a team of over 70 people in a multifaceted business, focussing on asset and project management, consultancy services, property development and investment in primary care estate, the wider health and social care sector, retail, and housing developments. Gbpartnerships currently manage and deliver management services to a health estate worth over £800m.

Elaine has been a member of the LIFT Council since 2006 and interacts with DHSC, parliamentarians and other Government Officials promoting the contribution of LIFT companies in primary, community and social care.

In 2019, Elaine won the Forward Ladies National Award for Midlands Corporate Leader.

2nd Term of Office

David Ferriday was born in Wolverhampton to a working class family, with one grandparent having fought in the Second World War losing a thumb to shrapnel, and the others being licensees of a local public house. His father was a police officer who worked within the CID and Regional Crime Squad; his mother was a full-time housewife. Going through the separation and divorce of his parents at the age of eleven gave David a varied upbringing. An only child for sixteen years of his life, David met his half-sister and brother at the age of twenty, following a reconciliation with his father.

He grew up locally in Telford and has lived all of his life there, with a large portion of his family coming from Shifnal. 

Highly academic through school, coupled with a love of sport, developed a keen competitiveness in David. Liking a variety of different disciplines meant that he did not develop an overriding excellence in any single area. Football has always been David’s passion but he has engaged in an array of sports including tennis, badminton, table tennis and captained school teams in rugby union, basketball and volleyball, in addition to having played David water polo for Newport, Shropshire. A snooker player from the age of seven, David runs local darts teams and has played pool for Shropshire. David took up karate at an early age and returned to martial arts in his mid-thirties, taking up Tae Kwan do. David attained the level of second Dan and taught Tae Kwan do before retiring from the sport. He has also coached junior football teams from the ages of seven through to sixteen, and has passed his initial coaching badges.

1st Term of Office

Melissa Sterling was appointed as an Independent Governor in 2024. Mel was born in Wolverhampton, where she still lives. She attended Thomas Telford School where she developed a passion for street dance practice. Mel holds a BA (Hons) in English and Creative Writing. 

Mel’s early career flourished in the fast-paced retail environment at Sainsbury’s. With a passion for wellbeing and creating an inclusive culture, Mel’s journey has taken her from managing the shop floor, Learning Design, Leadership Development to Wellbeing, Diversity and Inclusion.

With years of experience leading Race, Ethnicity, Belief and LGBTQ+ strategies at Sainsbury’s, Mel progressed to the role of Global Wellness and Belonging Manager (Wellbeing, D&I) leading a newly formed team at Holland & Barrett. Mel was responsible for a breadth of work across Wellness and Belonging, including business partnering with Senior Leadership teams and the Executive Board.

In 2024, Mel accepted a new challenge in the automotive industry as Senior EDI, Wellbeing & Charity Manager at Halfords. This role expands her area of responsibility for the workforce across the business. 

Mel won the SME Champion Award 2023 from Women’s Business Club which recognised her outstanding efforts to create a balanced and diverse workforce with opportunities for underrepresented communities. In the same year, retail publication The Grocer listed Mel as one of the Top 10 activists making grocery a better industry for LGBTQ+ people. 

In 2024 Mel was awarded Ambassador of the Year from Includability, which recognises the advocacy of fostering inclusion across multiple organisations, sectors, and communities. 

1st Term of Office

Mashuq Ally was appointed as an Independent Governor in 2024. Although retired from formal public service, Mashuq remains the CEO and founder Director of Homeward Bound Care Ltd, providing support to those in recovery from an NHS operation.

Mashuq comes to the Board with a strong equalities background. Prior to retiring he was Corporate Assistant Director for Equalities, Cohesion and Community Safety at Birmingham City Council, and formerly Wales Director for the Commission for Racial Equality.

Mashuq has held positions in academia, of which his notable appointment was Senior Lecturer at St. David’s University College, University of Wales. He is currently Director and Trustee of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, and a member of the Shaikh Zayed Board for Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge. He is Chair of Bordesley Green Girls School and Sixth Form, and member of Birmingham City Council’s Schools Forum.

Within the private sector, Mashuq founded Global Trading Enterprise (Turkey), of which he is currently a director, to support housing development and humanitarian efforts for refugees on the border of the country.

1st Term of Office

Paul Bytheway was appointed as an Independent Governor in 2024. With a distinguished career spanning over three decades in the NHS, Paul has held senior leadership roles across the NHS. He is currently Chief Executive of Birmingham Hospice Partnership. Over the past 10 years, he has contributed at Board level across multiple organisations spanning the NHS and charity sector, bringing expertise in operational leadership, quality governance and strategic development.

Beyond his professional career, Paul is deeply committed to supporting the local community. He serves as President for St John Ambulance in Wolverhampton along with leading the counties of the East Midlands for the charity, with whom he has volunteered for 40 years.

Paul began his career in the NHS in 1990 in Wolverhampton as a health care assistant before training to be a registered nurse. He remains on the Nursing Register, and was among the first cohort to graduate from the newly formed School of Nursing at the University of Wolverhampton in 1995.

1st Term of Office

Dan Persaud has a wealth of experience in Higher Education, having worked in this field for over 25 years. He is a qualified Social Worker and has a special interest in the wellbeing of the university community. 

Dan has held leadership positions at the University of Warwick and the University of Melbourne. More recently, he served as the Deputy Head of a university college, where he reviewed and redesigned the delivery of the student experience. Dan has provided consultancy and advice to universities, government agencies, charities, and public sector organisations in the UK and globally. Dan has held various governance positions in education and the charitable sector, including serving as Deputy Chair of a school, governor of a college, and trustee of a charitable trust. 

Dan is excited to be part of the Board of Governors at the University of Wolverhampton.

Professor Ebrahim Adia joined the University of Wolverhampton as Vice-Chancellor on 1 October 2023.

Formerly Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Leadership) at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Ebrahim has a national and international profile and brings to the role a wealth of experience, serving as Chair and member of a number of high-profile boards.

Ebrahim was born and raised in Bolton. He was the first in his family, and one of the few from his school to attend university, which has helped to shape his views on the role of higher education. As a result, Ebrahim has strived in both his professional and personal life to create opportunity and to help transform the lives of individuals and local communities.

Ebrahim’s academic background is in public policy and policy analysis. He taught as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Education for 18 years before moving into academic management. As the Provost for UCLan’s Burnley Campus, Ebrahim led on the development of a new campus and increased student numbers ninefold and as the Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and Transformation at the University of Bolton he helped to improve both student satisfaction and student continuation.

Ebrahim was appointed as a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Panel Member by the Office for Students which enhanced his understanding of best practice to support the development of an outstanding student experience that delivers high levels of graduate employability.

Ebrahim has worked closely with the devolved Greater Manchester Combined Authority where he held the role of deputy portfolio for Economic Strategy and Internationalisation and served as a Board Member of the Manchester Growth Company offering him excellent experience and understanding of working in partnership with public and private stakeholders to mutual benefit. He has also held a number of senior Board roles in the NHS, was appointed by the Government to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion and has served as a Rapporteur at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

1st Term of Office

Dr Aidan Byrne was appointed as Academic Governor in 2023. He has worked at the University of Wolverhampton for 26 years in the departments of Media and English, serving as head of English for 9 years, and sits on a number of committees. His academic interests include Welsh literature (the subject of his PhD), popular culture, interwar literature and culture, and canon formations.

Aidan is currently co-investigator on an AHRC project about literary taste and is writing a book on politicians’ fictions. He teaches modules on Midlands literature and culture (Round The Wrekin), Populist Texts, Shakespeare and the English Renaissance and Green Ink: Environmental Humanities, and is supervising PhDs on supernatural romance, and Civil War Biblical rhetoric. He is also an experienced external examiner and validation consultant. 

Aidan’s pedagogical interests focus on the transition to university-level study, environmental humanities and decolonising the curriculum.

1st Term of Office

Kate Faulkner was appointed as Professional Services Governor in 2024.

Kate joined the University of Wolverhampton 20 years ago and has worked in different departments including registry, individual faculties and marketing and external engagement. She is currently Assistant Faculty Registrar (Academic) for the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Kate is a proud Wulfrunian and a passionate advocate of the important role post-1992 institutions play in helping people from non-traditional backgrounds to succeed through higher education. She looks forward to fulfilling her wish to serve on the Board of Governors.

Adeyemi Adebayo - Student Governor - 1st Term of office

Adeyemi's Adebayo's term of office as Students' Union President began on 1 July 2024. 

Adeyemi studied Masters of Public Health at the University of Wolverhampton during the 2023/2024 academic year. Adeyemi has more than seven years’ experience in food manufacturing as a food safety specialist.

His goal is to ensure that all students are equally and fairly represented while feeling supported throughout their time at the University.

Yetunde Adedipe - Student Governor - 2nd Term of office

Yetunde is a passionate student leader, advocate, and change-maker at the University of Wolverhampton, serving her second term as Vice President Academic of the Students' Union and Student Governor on the University Board of Governors since June 2023.

Yetunde is committed to representing student voices, advocating for their needs, and shaping policies that enhance academic standards and student welfare. With a business and finance background, Yetunde brings strategic thinking to her leadership, driving positive change in student advocacy and governance.

1st Term of Office

Fayaz Malik, a distinguished science graduate and a Fellow of ACCA, boasts over 17 years of post-qualification experience that spans various roles, including Finance Director. Fayaz achieved Prince2 Foundation Certification and completed the Entrepreneurial Edge Programme from London Business School(LBS). His start-up project on the CFO platform and innovative FP&A model made it to the semi-finals at LBS.

He has demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for taking full ownership of finance functions and leading cross-functional teams in procurement, and supply chain, economic development, income recovery, ICT, and Performance. Fayaz's rapid professional growth in the housing sector is notable, having been Regional Finance Manager for West of England for Home Group, one of the UK’s largest housing and health social enterprise organisations, with revenues over £450m turnover. Additionally, he served as a Director of Finance ICT& Performance and Economic Development at The Haven and CFO at Northampton Partnership Homes.

Fayaz's significant C-Level experience and unwavering commitment to excellence and advising at the board level has enabled him to develop and deliver corporate plans and strategic objectives, drive and monitor transformation, including new Target Operating Models, and enhance performance. He stands out for his remarkable leadership skills, collaboration and stakeholder engagement, dealing with high-level stakeholders internationally to deliver positive outcomes for several organisations, making a financial impact in £m's.

Fayaz's industry sector background varies, including housing, environment and regeneration, construction, engineering, leisure and hospitality, financial services, management consulting, SAAS, etc. Fayaz has worked with some notable names in these sectors, including Capital One Plc, Network Rail, Serco Group Plc, NMCN Plc and others. Fayaz led finance improvements for the West of England Capital Delivery Unit at Network Rail with c £b in capital projects portfolio. He improved the challenge, processes, operational and strategic advice, business partnering, forecast and planning accuracy, and identifying, tracking and firming up efficiencies in £m’s.

Fayaz's impressive record has earned him a non-executive directorship at Black Country Partnership Foundation Trust NHS for four years. He served as vice-chair of the Finance and Investment Committee, Deputy Chair of the Audit Committee, and Chair of Charitable Funds. Fayaz has also been a governor nominee for Ormiston Academies Trust, further underlining his expertise in the field. He was also a professional mentor at Aston Business School and was nominated for the Best Mentoring Partnership award in 2016.

Fayaz likes to spend time with his family and friends as well as supporting community projects. He plays cricket and enjoys friendship with plants.

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