Trustees

Andrew Radford (Chair)

Andrew Radford was appointed Chair of Trustees for ACT at the end of 2003.  Andrew graduated with a degree in Business Studies and spent the first 15 years of his career with the Metal Box Company, progressing from Commercial assistant to General Manager of the MB Plastics Bottle Division.  He moved on to the Rockware Group as Managing Director for the Plastics Division.  During this period he joined Andrews & Partners as a non-executive Director, motivated by his Christian faith and desire to be involved in some charitable activity.  He has remained on the Board ever since and was appointed Chairman in July 2005.

Andrew left Rockware due to ill health, and was instrumental, with others, in founding the Churches in Reading Drop in Centre for the homeless, where he worked as a volunteer and served as Chair of Trustees for seven years.  He also became MD of a privately owned plastics company in Suffolk for three years and undertook several commercial consultancies.  He is married with two grown up sons.

Andrew has always been interested in the broad responsibilities of businesses and in 2008 embarked on an MSC in Responsibility and Business Practice at Bath University.  He graduated in 2010 and is now involved with Quakers in Business looking at alternative forms of ownership and sustainability in business.

Helen Battrick

Helen joined ACT as a Trustee in 2006.

Helen has a degree in history and politics and a post graduate diploma in law.  Since completing her studies Helen trained to become a solicitor and went on to set up her own firm of solicitors with a colleague in 1997. 

Helen’s specialist area is family law and she is an advanced member of the Law Society Family Law Panel, a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and is a member of the Charity Families Needs Fathers.

Helen’s hobbies include antique collecting, opera, and interests in many sports. Helen is married with twin boys.

Nicholas Colloff

Nicholas rejoined ACT in 2010 as a trustee but is an old friend having not only served as a trustee in the past, but also as director of ACT for some years.

Nicholas has extensive experience in the world of charity and is now the Director of Strategy & Innovation at Oxfam GB.  Nicholas has a degree in Theology & Philosophy, a Certificate in Psychological Counselling, and completed a Spiritual Direction Training Course.

He has or is serving as a trustee for Basic Needs, Impetus Trust, Prison Phoenix Trust, the Religious Education and Environment Project, and Opportunity International UK.   Nicholas has spent significant time in Eastern Europe having helped found to micro finance banks in Macedonia and Russia.

Nicholas’ interests include sailing, ecology, hill walking, cooking, social history, early music and literature.

Chris Chapman  

Chris is Financial Services Director for the Andrews Financial Services. Chris joined Andrews in 1981 as a Mortgage Consultant, having previously been a Life Inspector. Chris has enjoyed an established career in the field of Financial Services, working at Natwest, Leeds Permanent Building Society, National Mutual Life and then Andrews.

Chris was promoted to the board in 1998. He is responsible for the growth and development of Andrews Mortgage Services.

Chris married in 1981 and has 2 children aged 22 and 18.  He was born in Middlesbrough, but has lived in the South East for 38 years.

Chris is a former school governor, and became of Trustee for ACT in 2011.

Paul Heal

Paul has spent most of his working career with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the international accounting firm, the last 20 years or so as a Partner, based mainly in Bristol but for a time in New York.  Paul is no stranger to ACT as he has provided audit and accountancy services to Andrews & Partners. 

Paul has a number of directorships/trustee roles in the charity world, is Treasurer of the Friends of Somerset Churches and Treasurer of the PCC in his local village of East Pennard, where his wife is Church Warden and organist. He also sits on the parish council. Paul also Chairs or is a member of a number of Audit Committees and Remuneration Committees in the commercial world and in the not for profit sector.

Now retired, Paul and his wife live on a smallholding and breed pedigree Jacob’s sheep and a motley collection of rare breeds of chickens.  He also participates and helps organise long distance car rallies including a classic car rally from Peking to Paris. Paul became a trustee for ACT in 2010.  Paul  has two grown up children who has followed in his footsteps and are both Chartered Accountants.

Liz Hughes

Liz has extensive experience of international humanitarian response and development work.  Having worked for organisations such as Oxfam, Save the Children and the British Red Cross, Liz has developed skills in management and team leadership over the last 16 years. 

Prior to this, Liz gained a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology and a Masters in Social Work, before beginning her career in the UK working in community development and social work for six years. 

In 2010 Liz started her own business as a consultant in international development and humanitarian work.  ACT welcomed Liz to its board of Trustee’s in 2010.

Tony Jackson

Tony Jackson is the nephew of our founder Cecil Jackson Cole and provides the continuing family link.  He is now retired from an international business career with Blue Circle Ind where he was a main board director for 14 years.  Since retirement he has remained active in the Construction Industry and is Chairman of the British Board of Agreement.  He was Chairman of the Construction Industry Board and President of the Building Materials Association.

He was appointed OBE for promotion of British and Community interests in Nigeria and CBE for services to the Construction Industry.   He has had charitable links with RNIB, The Mental Health Foundation and the Nigerian Youth Trust and is Chairman of the Aldermaston Charity Trust.

Alastair Page

As an experienced Engineer and business man with an Engineering Maths degree and an MBA from London Business School, Alastair has extensive experience in creating, building, buying and selling small businesses.  Alastair was owner & Managing Director of a successful and innovative technology business (AIM) supplying complex vehicle tracking and mapping systems internationally.

Alastair sold AIM to a Canadian multi-national in 2005 and is now co-owner and Finance Director of a Serviced Office company in Wiltshire. He also works as a freelance consultant advising and supporting a number of small companies and charities in growth and change management as a management consultant, trustee and/or non-executive chair.

Alastair joined ACT as a trustee in 2010

Michael Robson

Michael joined Andrews Estate Agents in 1976 as a Trainee Sales Negotiator and held a number of management positions within Andrews culminating in the position of Group Chief Executive in 1990.

Michael is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents, a Director of the Property Ombudsman, Chairman of the Christian Initiative Trust an Andrews minority shareholding charitable trust and a trustee of the Estate Agency Foundation (EAF).

David Saint

David Saint is a Management and Fundraising Consultant specialising exclusively in the not-for-profit sector.  Having held senior fundraising positions in Scope, Sense, SANE and Arthritis Care over a period of some 16 years, he established Action Planning in 1990, which has now become one of the leading specialist agencies serving the UK not-for-profit sector.

A regular contributor to voluntary sector conferences, seminars, journals and reference books, David specialises in organisational strategy and fundraising strategy.  He is a member of the Institute of Fundraising (where he was founder Chairman of the Consultants’ Group), a member of the Association of Fundraising Consultants, and Chair of EU Consult, a network of European consultants.

David is a trustee of the Christian Initiative Trust, and Advantage Africa.  An active member and former Church Secretary of St. Andrew’s United Reformed Church in Cheam, Surrey, David takes a particular interest in working with Christian charities and churches.

David Westgate

David has been involved with a range of property services in private and social sectors for 25 years.  David gained an honours degree in a property related subject and subsequently qualified as  a Chartered Surveyor.

He has worked for Andrews for 14 years, and been a trustee of CIT for the past 10 years.  The work in Andrews principally involves the residential letting business but also involves commercial premises management.

His work in the charitable sector has involved projects for children on deprived estates and latterly in the UK prison service.  David has a busy life outside of CIT and Andrews being a trustee for Andrews Charitable Trust as well as being involved with a number of community based groups.

Home life for David is equally as busy with 3 children under the age of 10 and a very accommodating partner.

Nick Wright (Treasurer)

Nick is Finance Director for Andrews Group. Nick graduated with an Economics degree from Warwick University, then subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Nick joined Andrews as Finance Director in 1987. He is also Company Secretary, Chairman of Andrews’ Pension Fund, Trustee and Treasurer of Andrews Charitable Trust and Christian Book Promotion Trust who are the other shareholding trusts of Andrews and Partners Ltd as well as trustee and Company Secretary of the Estate Agency Foundation (EAF).

Siân Edwards (Director)

After a couple of years in public relations – including working for the British Council and running the press office for SportAid (the predecessor to Sport Relief), Siân retrained in social policy and practice at the LSE.

She subsequently spent the next twenty years working for the voluntary sector – almost all of it in long term international development.  Through appointments with ActionAid, Action on Disability and Development and BasicNeeds, plus seven years of freelance work, she has supported work throughout south Asia, but also in more than a dozen countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific rim, this included periods living in Bangladesh and Uganda.

Siân joined ACT in December 2006, as her first appointment working for a funding organisation.  She is also Chair of the Rebecca Hussey Trust for Africans.

She is married with two children and lives in London.