Our Board of Governors, which currently comprises 10 members including the Principal and CEO, has overall responsibility for the Academy, with strategic responsibilities that include:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- The educational performance of the Academy and its students’ progress;
- Overseeing the financial performance of the Academy, ensuring excellent value for money; and
- The safety and wellbeing of its staff and students.
A key strength of the Board is that it comprises a mix of educationalists, senior executives from industry and other professionals. These are non-executive roles and all Governors give their time voluntarily.
Constitution
Fashion Retail Academy is a Company Limited by Guarantee [Company number 05507547]. It is also a Registered Charity [Number 1119540]. The FRA’s Governors are also the Directors of the Company and charity trustees. The Company’s constitution and the powers of the Board are set out in the Articles of Association. Governors are also expected to uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life (The Nolan Principles).
AUDIT COMMITTEE
- Meets three times per year
- Advises the Board on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Academy’s systems of internal control and its arrangements for risk management - regular review of Risk Register, and
- Receives and scrutinises reports from the FRA’s Auditors (in-year assignments and year-end Reports & Accounts)
Board of Governors
Lee Lucas
Lee has been the Principal & CEO of the FRA since October 2014. Lee started his career as an IT Manager and later retrained as a teacher. Over the past 15 years, Lee has held senior leadership roles and Principal positions in private and public education providers, developing qualifications and apprenticeships (in the IT, beauty, jewellery and retail sectors), alongside a number of other commercial ventures.
Kim Longman
Kim has been Chair of the Fashion Retail Academy since its inception. Previously an HR career professional and for 17 years Group HR Director at Arcadia, she now runs her own consultancy business.
James Barron
James has worked in buying for 25 years. His career has spanned various UK retailers from Marks & Spencer, Moss Bros, Envy Retail, Tie Rack to Arcadia. Since 2010, James has worked at ASOS and has had numerous roles from Buying Director of ASOS Design, 3rd Party Brands, Sportswear Division and the Outlet Team. In his current role as ASOS Partner Brands Director, James oversees Global purchase, Strategy, and direction of this Division for ASOS. James is Chair of the FRA Audit Committee.
Laura Charles
Laura has a retail background spanning over 30 years, specialising in buying. Since March 2018, she has been Director of Lingerie at M&S, having been Head of Buying from 2014 to 2018. Her career has covered both buying and design within retail and manufacturing. She has worked for companies such as Next PLC, La Senza, Etam and Courtaulds.
Professor Linda Drew
Linda has a range of non-executive roles in the creative industries, social enterprise, and education. She is the former Vice-Chancellor of Ravensbourne University London (2015/19) which specialises in the design, content, screen and technology disciplines. Previously, Prof Drew was at the Glasgow School of Art, as Deputy Director and a Dean at the University of the Arts London where she led Chelsea College of Arts. She studied Fashion at Saint Martin’s School of Art and has a PhD in Educational Research from Lancaster University.
Fiona Gaughan
Fiona has been working in fashion retail for over 20 years. She spent 14 years at Arcadia before moving to ASOS in 2014 to be the Womenswear Merchandising Director. Fiona’s current role is Global Trading & Channels Director, where she oversees multiple functions including Trading, Forecasting, Pricing, Global Planning and Wholesale.
Sally Harris
Sally has spent over 20 years working in finance within fashion retail. She spent 13 years at Arcadia starting as an analyst in the Oxford Circus store and progressing to Finance Director of Dorthy Perkins and then BHS. She then moved to M&S where she spent six years as Finance Director of the Clothing & Home half of the business. She now runs her own consultancy business and is a trustee for two other charities.
Sally has spent over 20 years working in finance within fashion retail. She spent 13 years at Arcadia starting as an analyst in the Oxford Circus store and progressing to Finance Director of Dorthy Perkins and then BHS. She then moved to Marks & Spencer where she spent six years as Finance Director of the Clothing & Home half of the business. She now runs her own consultancy business and is a trustee for two other charities.
Susanna Kempe
Susanna is the CEO of the Laidlaw Foundation, Chair of the Laidlaw Schools Trust, Chair of B2B Marketing and a board member of both Criton and Zapnito. Prior to leading the Laidlaw Foundation, Susanna had over 15 years of CEO, CMO and Chief Strategy Officer roles in global media and B2B businesses, including as CEO of WGSN the world’s leading trend forecaster.
Vanessa Spence
Joining ASOS in 2007 with a team of two, Vanessa was influential in shaping the ASOS brand and now has a team of over 100. Vanessa was promoted to Design Director of both Womenswear and Menswear in 2018 to develop a unified look and feel to the ASOS ranges, trends and collaborations. Vanessa is also a patron of the charity Fashion Awareness Direct (FAD).
Simon Williams
Simon is currently Director of Change and Improvement at Sainsbury’s, responsible for Transformation across Commercial, Supply Chain and Global Sourcing. Having worked for Sainsbury’s since 2004, Simon has held several leadership positions across Multi-channel Merchandising, Trading and Planning covering all GM and Clothing categories. Simon is also an accredited Master Coach and hugely passionate about developing talent.
