Members

Pauline Waterhouse is the former Principal and Chief Executive of Blackpool and The Fylde College, designated Outstanding by Ofsted, and one of the UK’s largest colleges of further and higher education.

Pauline is driven by a passionate belief in the power of education to transform the life chances and economic prospects of individuals and their families. She has led and engaged in many initiatives to increase participation and to raise standards of education and training. These included strong involvement with the government’s National Challenge initiative, and the subsequent academy programme, both as a Trustee and a Chair of Governors.

Pauline led the initiative to develop a University Centre in one of the country’s most deprived communities in the north west – including raising capital funding and working as design champion for the project. The establishment of the University Centre led to significant growth in student numbers and it is now one of the UK’s largest providers of higher education in a college setting.

Pauline is engaged in a range of activities that span each phase of education from primary through to higher education. She is a trustee of EMLC, an educational charity involved in leadership development and school improvement services as well as being a Director of an expanding Multi-Academy Trust. She is also a Board member of the University for the Creative Arts. Pauline is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Pauline was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2010 for services to education.

Lisa O'Loughlin Principal

Lisa joined The Manchester College in July 2013 as a Vice Principal, from Blackburn College, where she was Deputy Principal. She has extensive experience of further and higher education, with expertise across curriculum, quality and learner support services. Lisa was appointed Deputy CEO/Principal of The Manchester College in November 2014 and has overall responsibility for the organisation, management and development of the College, providing operational and strategic leadership.

As Principal, Lisa oversees college-based programmes and development of curriculum and quality improvement across the Group. She ensures these meet the objectives of the Strategic Plan and our mission, visions and values. Lisa keeps us responsive to the external environment and proactive in identifying and meeting our customers’ needs.

Philip Johnson

Philip was previously a senior partner in the Deloitte UK firm, having retired in 2007 after being a partner for 30 years, specialising in audit, mergers and acquisitions. He was an elected member of the Deloitte UK Board of Partners and the first chairman of the firm’s Audit Committee.

In 2002, Philip had primary responsibility for integrating the clients, partners and staff of Arthur Andersen UK into Deloitte. From 2003 he was head of Quality and Risk Management for the UK audit practice of Deloitte until his retirement from the firm.

Philip was the President of Accountancy Europe (formerly the Federation of European Accountants (FEE)) during 2011 and 2012. He was also a member of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board Consultative Advisory Group (IAASB CAG) and the International Ethics Standards Board Consultative Advisory Group (IESBA CAG). From 2013 until 2019, Philip was a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the US.

From May 2007 to April 2015, Philip was a non-executive director of Yorkshire Building Society, where he also chaired the Audit Committee. He was a seconded member of the Audit Committee of Wellcome Trust for 9 years from 2008 and is a non-executive director of Lakeland Limited, a retail kitchenware company based in the Lake District.

He also chairs the board of governors of Cheadle Hulme School, a large independent day school in Cheshire, is a member of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, a trustee of the Rugby Football Foundation, the charitable arm of the Rugby Football Union, and a member of the RFU Audit Committee.

Philip has recently been appointed as chairman of the Audit Quality Board at Grant Thornton.

Jenifer Burden MBE

Jenifer is a Director of Programmes for the Education team at the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. At Gatsby she focuses on programmes to support the delivery of technical education in the further education and training sector.

Prior to joining Gatsby, Jenifer was inaugural Director of the National STEM Centre in York, which provides resources and professional development for teachers and tutors of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

She has previously worked at the Centre for Innovation and Research in Science Education at the University of York, with a focus on science curriculum development, and the Association for Science Education.

Jenifer studied Genetics & Cell Biology at the University of Manchester, completed a PGCE and taught for 12 years in secondary schools in the North West of England.

Jenifer was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for services to education.

Cllr John Hacking

John is an elected member of Manchester City Council and is Chair of the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee. In addition John is a member of the Manchester City Council Economic and Skills Scrutiny Committee.

John is currently an Associate at the Network for Europe, a regional network supporting the Third Sector to access funds from Europe. John has extensive experience in the Third Sector; in particular in the areas of community regeneration, learning and skills, and employment creation.

He is currently a Director of the Third Sector National Learning Alliance. Prior to his current role, he was managing director of a social enterprise in Manchester providing workspace for small businesses.

John is a governor at the Chorlton Church of England Primary School and a governor at the Federation of EBSD Schools.

John is on the management committee of the Chorlton Beer Festival.

Catherine Hill OBE

Catherine is the former Deputy Principal of Blackpool &The Fylde College. The college was designated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2013, was awarded Foundation degree awarding powers in 2015 and TEF Gold in 2017.

Catherine has worked in the further education sector for over 30 years; initially as a lecturer in science and maths, progressing to executive roles. She has worked in a number of North West colleges and has been involved in national level work such as Best Practice networks, National Challenge Initiative and Study Programme review.

As a former Ofsted associate inspector and a reviewer for the QAA, Catherine's work has always focused on high quality learning and teaching to help bring about life changing opportunities for all students.

Catherine is involved in a range of work involving both education and community work. Catherine was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s honours of 2016 for services to further education.