Governing body

Robert is Joint Managing Partner of Argent (Property Development) Services LLP (‘Argent’) and a Partner in Related Argent, leading developers responsible for major mixed-use schemes in London, Birmingham, the Thames Valley and Manchester, in particular the King’s Cross Estate.

Within Argent, Robert has overall responsibility for the 67-acre King’s Cross Estate. He is also chair of the New London Architecture sounding board and is a member of the steering group for Future of London. He is co-chair of Governors at the King’s Cross Academy.

Mike Lightbound works at Argent on the King’s Cross redevelopment. He manages the overall business plan for King’s Cross and is responsible for many of the financial aspects of the development. Mike also leads the Asset Management team – the group responsible for managing the growing retained estate at King’s Cross. Before joining Argent, Mike worked at Swiss Re and PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK and the Caribbean. He is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Structural Engineering. Mike will bring essential financial skills to the governing body. He has two children in primary school.

Jane was Leader of the London Borough of Camden Council from 2000 to 2005 following which she has served in a range of non-executive roles including as Chair of the Councillors Commission for the Department of Communities and Local Government, Chair of Parenting UK, a member of the Ofsted board, Chair of New Local Government Network and currently Chair of the charity, Living Streets. She is a former governor of Eleanor Palmer School and Regent High. She is a member of the Remuneration Board of the Welsh Assembly. Appointed DBE 2004.

Professionally, she is a medical doctor and is an Honorary Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Whittington Hospital with experience of senior healthcare management in the NHS.

Jonathan Barratt is a freelance consultant in Higher Education and the Creative and Cultural industries.  Jonathan was previously Dean of Academic Development and Quality for Central Saint Martins, a constituent college of the University of the Arts London.  With a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibility covering academic standards, curricula development, further education and aspects of institutional relations, this role included working with local schools, colleges, community organisations and local government agencies, hence his initial involvement with the Academy.  With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in industrial design, Jonathan’s thirty years experience in further and higher education have included roles as Course Director for MA Industrial Design, and Dean for the School of Communication, Product and Spatial Design.  He has also worked with service and manufacturing industries, local and national governments and NGOs in Europe and Asia.  Jonathan has substantial experience in leadership, management and institutional governance and in educational development.  He is committed to the social and cultural development of the King’s Cross area and to equality of access and opportunity at all levels of education.

Anthea Harries is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and works at Argent where she is Head of Assets for the King’s Cross Estate. She also sits on the RICS UK and Ireland Board where her remit is to focus, in part,  on the diversity and inclusivity strategy for the Built Environment and its Professional body. In addition, she is a Board member for Urban Partners, an organisation focused on working with the local communities to create a thriving neighbourhood for all.

Anthea is mother to two teenage sons and two stepdaughters and is married to David, a primary school Teacher.

Roy Griffins chaired the Board of London City Airport for ten years after roles as Director General of the Airports Council International in Brussels and British Chair of the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission. His previous career as a senior civil servant and diplomat included the UK’s Director General of Civil Aviation and Director of Railways when he was responsible for developing the UK’s first high-speed rail line (HS1).

Roy graduated from Bristol University (French and German) and studied at the Sorbonne and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 2003, and a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in France in 2017.

Alexandra Woolmore is Head of Planning at Argent where she is responsible for securing planning permissions for Argent’s projects. As part of her role, she was also heavily involved in the design and planning of the King’s Cross Academy and the subsequent sponsorship process and remains the strategic lead for the delivery of new and replacement schools on Argent’s development at Brent Cross. Before joining Argent, Alexandra worked at Linklaters where she qualified as a planning and environmental lawyer. Alexandra also sits on the board of Poplar Harca, a housing association in East London, and was formerly a governor at Bow School for 11 years. She has a daughter who is currently at primary school.

She is co-chair of Governors at the King’s Cross Academy.

Dr. Yan Ting Choong is a dynamic neuroscientist, business strategist, and educator with a diverse professional background spanning life sciences, entrepreneurship, education, and services. Armed with a Doctorate in Life Science and a Masters in Entrepreneurship, she seamlessly merges cross-disciplinary thinking with agile methodologies to cultivate innovative ideas.

A goal-oriented and adept problem solver, Dr. Choong brings a wealth of experience in innovating and executing business strategies and operations. Her track record includes leadership roles and collaborative contributions to high-performing teams, where she fosters a culture of psychological safety to drive creative solutions.

As an international professional, Dr. Choong proudly represented Australia at the 2017 G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in Germany and earned recognition as a Smart 30 under 30 Young Australian Entrepreneur by SmartCompany.com. Following her move to London, she embraced her passion for education by becoming a high school teacher, dedicating herself to inspiring students with her enthusiasm for innovation and sciences, and striving to make a disproportionate impact through education.

Committed to fostering inclusivity, Dr. Choong has actively volunteered in the BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) Working Council for Alphaplus and contributed to the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Group for the Heads of Society—an organization representing independent schools in the UK and overseas.

Faiza is Director of Legal and in-house solicitor at Estates & Management Ltd, a market leader specialising in the asset management of freehold and leasehold properties in the UK on behalf of property landlords, and has been practising as a solicitor since 2005.

At Estates & Management Faiza is responsible for leading the Legal Department and the delivery of legal and compliance advice to the business across a wide range of legal and operational areas. Prior to joining Estates & Management in 2016, Faiza was a partner at a West End law firm where she specialised in Property Litigation. In 2015 Faiza was described as “outstanding” in the Legal 500, a leading directory of legal services.

Faiza’s experience of working both as a solicitor in private practice for over a decade and, more recently, in-house, means she approaches day-to-day matters with a wide lens and she prides herself in finding practical and pragmatic solutions.

Faiza is trained as a Mental Health First Aider and is particularly interested in the well-being of staff and pupils.

Faiza has lived in Kings Cross since 2009.

I am an experienced senior Higher Education leader with a professional background in architecture and the wider creative sector. I am currently Dean of Academic Strategy at Central Saint Martins and have previously held senior roles at The Glasgow School of Art and the University for the Creative Arts. I have significant experience of leading on the development and delivery of academic strategies including the development of new partnerships, courses, and knowledge exchange activities; managing operational plans and change projects and ensuring that quality assurance and enhancement processes are effective.

Before entering full time academia in 2005, I taught at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow where I also practiced in the fields of architecture and design, and curated exhibitions including the Scottish contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004.

I was a founding member and director of Glasgow Letters on Architecture and Space (GLAS), a design co-operative based in the city, committed to promoting access to design and challenging forms of social and spatial segregation and exclusion. In 2004 GLAS won the inaugural National Achievement Award for Architecture in recognition of its contribution to the architecture community in Scotland. I also worked for NORD, an award winning multi-disciplinary design office. Its architecture, interior, product and exhibition design has been recognised with numerous awards including in 2006 Building Design’s Young Architect of the Year.

I have chaired and contributed to a variety of boards and panels, most recently chairing the Swale Design Review Panel, part of the South East Panel, and regularly contributes to place based initiatives.

After 12 years of teaching and leading in schools, and 6 years of working with PiXL, Rachel Johnson was appointed as CEO of the company in January 2020, leading the network of 2500 schools from every area of education. As well as leading and overseeing the vision and direction of PiXL, she has released several podcasts: ‘PiXL Pearls’, ‘The PiXL Leadership Bookclub’ and ‘How do you teach?’ and is the author of two books in her ‘Time to Think’ series. Rachel is committed to ensuring that PiXL’s work with schools continues to support school leaders in improving life chances and outcomes of young people, an aim that Rachel is passionate about and totally committed to.

Matt is the Head Teacher of Surrey Square Primary School in South East London. Matt
started his teaching career back in 2003 and has worked in primary schools across Essex and London. Matt joined Surrey Square Primary back in 2015 as Deputy Head Teacher and moved into the role of Co-Head Teacher in 2019 alongside Nicola Noble. Surrey Square is part of the Big Education Trust whose aim is to deliver a more expansive curriculum to enable every child to thrive in life – an education of the head, heart and hand. Matt is passionate about rethinking end of primary assessment to reflect this, believing that a fairer system must be developed; a broader assessment mechanism that doesn’t just focus on a narrow set of outcomes based on a snapshot of one test result.

Anne is Director of Development and Communications at Commonland, an Amsterdam-based organisation dedicated to restoring nature for people in large landscapes and bring back opportunity and hope. With an educational background in the visual arts, Anne has previously held senior roles both at Tate and Frieze and she continues to be a trustee at Gasworks Gallery in South London. Through her professional and voluntary work Anne has a strong interest in community building and developing projects for the benefit of local communities.

Sizi Sibanda is the Social Value Manager for King’s Cross at Argent where her focus is, in part, is on the ways the King’s Cross Central development positively impacts the wider local community, as well as its occupiers and residents. Prior to joining Argent in 2022, Sizi worked in the construction and charity sectors, engaging with schools and communities has been a common thread throughout her career. Sizi grew up in Islington and is passionate about tackling inequality in the local area.