Our staff and trustees

Dr Niki Cooper

Clinical Director

Niki is a trained counsellor who joined Place2Be in 2002 as a School Project Manager before moving into the Learning Team, where she co-authored Place2Be’s Postgraduate Diploma course. As Head of Learning, she developed Place2Be’s professional qualifications pathway. She was appointed Clinical Director in 2019.

Nick Herod

Chief Financial Officer

Nick qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young in Manchester and has since worked with a mixture of corporates and not-for-profit entities. Nick was CFO at Place2Be from 2013 to 2018 and returned as CFO in February 2020.

Sarah Houghton

Director of Mental Health Workforce Development

With over a decade in programme design and delivery, Sarah joined Place2Be in 2018 as a Programme Leader. She previously led leadership development programmes in education with the Future Leaders Trust and then Ambition School Leadership. She is a Gestalt psychotherapist with a small private practice.

Jacqui Segal

Director of Fundraising

Jacqui has over 20 years’ fundraising experience including at Shelter, Macmillan Cancer Support and Whizz-Kidz. She held senior positions at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity where she was responsible for raising an annual income of £9m, and chaired the charity’s Leadership Group.

Sarah Williams-Robbins

Director of Marketing and Communications

With over 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications, Sarah has held senior roles in media organisations including the BBC, where she delivered change-management programmes and launched high-profile brands. Sarah began her career in the Civil Service and NHS, working on national health promotion campaigns.

Si Yates

Director of Operations

Si joined the Royal Navy from college specialising as an Aircrew Officer for much of his career. He has an MBA and joined Place2Be from British Airways where he held roles in operations and business transformation, focusing on people change programmes.

Simon Mackenzie Smith

Chair of Trustees

Simon has nearly 40 years of finance experience in accountancy and investment banking. He is chairman of the automotive company Dowlais Group plc and a non-executive director of Interpath Advisory Limited. 

Adrian Levy

Adrian is a Corporate Partner and Global co-Head of the Real Estate Sector at Clifford Chance LLP. He has over 25 years' experience in corporate finance transactions in real estate.

Aamir Ahmad

Aamir was founder and CEO of furniture retailer Dwell. He was awarded Lloyds TSB Asian Retail Entrepreneur Jewel award in 2008. Aamir has worked as a foster carer with disadvantaged LGBT teenagers and is a Non-Executive Director at East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Matt Barwell

Matt has over 35 years of marketing and corporate affairs experience. He has held senior positions in three of the world’s leading FMCG businesses: Mars Inc., Diageo, and Britvic, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer. Matt has strong industry stakeholder relationships and regulatory experience gained through the Presidents Committee of the Food & Drink Federation (FDF), Advertising Association (AA) and ISBA. He is a Fellow of the Marketing Society and a former Chair of the Marketing Group of Great Britain. He is currently an Advisor and Non-Executive Director for several scale-up businesses.

Sandy Begbie CBE

Sandy is Chief Executive at SFE and holds several senior and Non-Executive roles including Chair of the National Advisory Board, Career Ready. He was awarded a CBE for Services to Business and Social Inclusion.

HHJ Anuja Dhir KC

Anuja was appointed as an Old Bailey Judge in 2017. She also sits in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division and is a Judicial Appointments Commissioner. She was Governor of the City Academy Hackney and is currently Governor of (Haberdasher) Borough Academy and a Trustee for Mansion House Scholarships.

Richard Douglas

Richard is a former civil servant and an influential health leader. He has previously served as Director for Finance, Strategy and the NHS at the Department of Health, Deputy Chair of NHS Improvement and Non-Executive Director of NHS England. Richard currently serves as Chair of the South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Liz Greetham

Liz spent 30 years in the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, primarily in assessing clinical trials. She was the CEO and board member for Drug Abuse Science which developed medications to treat alcoholism and drug addiction.

Siân Hill

Siân was a Financial Services Tax Partner at KPMG LLP and, for three decades, advised clients on international corporate tax issues, particularly in relation to mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and re-organisations.

Osama Khan

Professor Osama Khan is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, at Aston University. He serves on the board of Farnborough College of Technology, TEF Advisory Group and Student Minds Advisory Group, among others, and has 24 years of experience teaching, including at University of Surrey and University of Cambridge.

Elpha LeCointe

Elpha is a barrister practising in all areas of the law relating to children. She has extensive experience in care proceedings, adoption and private law disputes within families.

Dr Margaret Murphy

Margaret is a qualified doctor and a psychiatrist specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry. She is a Clinical Advisor at the Anna Freud Centre, a tutor on the University of Cambridge medical undergraduate course and an Advisor at the Care Quality Commission.

Tim Robinson

Tim is Non-Executive Chair at LGC and has followed an international career in technology and science. He has held non-executive roles for the UK Government Department of International Development and Oxfam and presently for the UK Government Home Office. He was awarded a CBE in 2020 for services to UK Government in Digital Technology.

Prof Stephen Scott CBE

Stephen is Professor of Child Health and Behaviour at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. He is Director of the National Academy for Parenting Research, a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Maudsley Hospital and Chair of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

David Weaver

David was President of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) from 2017-2022. He is a former social worker, university lecturer, local authority senior manager and political advisor. He has worked with NHS, local government and professional bodies on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategies. David is a fellow of the British American Project and co-founder of human rights body Operation Black Vote.