Please see below for more information on Westminster Academy Trust Board.

Pen Portraits

Mr Edward Wright (member & trustee):

• Project management professional with experience in developing and managing complex service offers, internationally.
• Experience includes IT, directorship, account management and systems engineering.
• Experience in directorship of educational charitable trust

Mr Nadeem Bhatti (trustee):

• Experienced headteacher
• Designated National Leader of Education
• Experienced in supporting school improvement nationally.

Mr Naeem Aslam (member & trustee):

• Considerable experience in retail and commercial banking
• Business Development Manager in global retail banking, corporate investment and wealth management bank.
• Experience of leading cross-border and multi-jurisdictional banking services for corporations and intermediaries.

Mrs Annette Gurney (trustee):

• Qualified as a teacher in the secondary sector and as a social worker, holding masters level qualifications
• Served as a senior university lecturer and course director, gaining experience in curriculum delivery, data analysis and safeguarding
• Significant experience of the charity sector as an employee and trustee’

Mr Maneer Samad (trustee, Accounting Officer):

• Experienced headteacher and CEO
• Designated Local Leader of Education
• Significant experience of supporting school improvement across Birmingham

Dr Suhail Tarafdar (trustee):

• Considerable experience as a medical professional, qualified to masters level
• Experienced General Medical Practitioner
• Experienced teacher of GP Registrars and foundation doctors

Mr Stephen Griffin (member):

• Lengthy experience as an accountant qualified at AAT and CIPFA part 1 and 2
• Particular expertise in school and academy finance, including budget setting, monitoring and reporting
• Experienced provider of training in educational finance

Mr Roy Fackrell (member):

• Assistant Headteacher and teacher of French in the secondary sector (retired)
• Lead for primary school outreach and pastoral provision
• Considerable experience as a governor and trustee across a range of schools and educational trusts

Mr Paul Griffiths (member):

• Experienced in business ownership and development
• Co-founded market leading provider of sports provision and staff development for schools
• Established international charitable foundation

Name	Post	Occupation	Date of appointment	End date of appointment	Business interest declared	Date interest registered	Date interest ceased	Other Committee Post
Edward Wright	Trustees Chair Of trustees From 10/11/2023 Member	Channel Manager UKI and Nordics Parrallels	01/02/2025 18/01/2017	31/01/2029 Ongoing	Chair of Trustees Handsworth Association of Schools	March 2017	N/A	Finance & Audit
Maneer Samad	Trustee Headteacher	Headteacher – Westminster Primary School	01/02/2017	Ongoing	Westminster Academy Trust	February 2017	N/A	Finance
Mohammed Nadeem Bhatti	Trustee	Headteacher – Shaw Hill Primary School	01/02/2026	31/01/2030	Trustee – Canterbury Cross Academy Trust	April 2018	N/A	Curriculum
Mohammed Naeem Aslam	Trustee	Retired	07/01/2023	06/01/2027	N/A	N/A	N/A	Finance & Audit
Annette Gurney	Trustee	Retired	20/03/2023	11/11/2025	Evans Cottage Homes trustee	November 2025	N/A	N/A
Suhail Tarafdar	Trustee	General Practitioner for NHS England; Small Heath Medical Practice; Clinical Associate Professor at College of Medicine & Dentistry; Tutor at University of Cambridge; Your Health Partnership; Warwick Medical School	07/01/2023	09/12/2025	Memberships – Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners; Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators; Senior Fellowship of Higher Education Academy	July 2020	N/A	Audit
Helen Brookes	Trustee	Head O fDepartment for Services for Education	12/11/2025	11/11/2029	Music Provision By Services for Education Music Services	November 2025	N/A	Audit
Edward Wright	Member	Channel Manager UKI and Nordics Parrallels	018/01/2017	Ongoing	Chair of Trustees Handsworth Association of Schools	March 2017	N/A	Finance & Audit
Mohammed Naeem Aslam	Member	Retired	07/01/2019	Ongoing	N/A	N/A	N/A	Finance & Audit
Stephen Griffin	Member	Self Employed	07/01/2019	Ongoing	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Roy Fackrell	Member	Retired	18/01/2017	Ongoing	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Paul Griffiths	Member	Company Director	01/02/2017	Ongoing	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

ATTENDANCE FOR 2024-25- TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS

Name	14/11/2024	10/12/2024	04/03/2025	08/07/2025
Edward Wright	Present	Present	Present	Present
Maneer Samad	Present	Present	Present	Present
Nadeem Bhatti	Present	Present	Present	Apology
Naeem Aslam	Present	Apology	Apology	Present
Suhail Tarafdar	Apology	Apology	Apology	Apology
Annette Gurney	Apology	Present	Apology	Apology

ATTENDANCE FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR 2024-25

Name	14/11/2024	10/12/2024	04/03/2025	08/07/2025
Edward Wright	Present	Present	Present	Present
Maneer Samad	Present	Present	Present	Present
Naeem Aslam	Present	Present	Present	Present

ATTENDANCE AUDIT & RISK COMMITTEE FOR 2024-25

Name	14/11/2024	10/12/2024	04/03/2025	08/07/2025
Edward Wright	Present	Present	Present	Present
Naeem Aslam	Present	Present	Present	Present
Suhail Tarafdar	Apology	Apology	Apology	Apology

ATTENDANCE FOR 2023-24- TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS

Name	09/11/2023	14/12/2023	14/03/2024	16/07/2024
Roy Fackrell	Apology	Retired
Maneer Samad	Present	Present	Present	Present
Edward Wright	Present	Present	Present	Apology
Nadeem Bhatti	Present	Present	Present	Present
Naeem Aslam	Apology	Present	Apology	Present
Suhail Tarafdar	Apology	Present	Apology	Apology
Annette Gurney	Present	Apology	Present	Present

Local Governing Board 24- 25

Name	Post
Nadeem Bhatti	Chair
Maneer Samad	Head Teacher
Ahsama Gulshan	Parent Member
Shazia Mahomed	Parent Member
Farkhanda Farzeen Madni	Parent Member
Danny Hemmings	Staff Member
Ben Hughes	Co-Opted

Local Governing Board Attendance 24-25

Name	19/03/2025	09/07/2025
Maneer Samad	Present	Present
Nadeem Bhatti	Present	Apologies
Daniel Hemmings	Present	Present
Ben Hughes	Present	Present
Shazia Mahomed	Present	Resigned
Ahsama Gulshan	Present	Present
Farkhanda Farzeen Madni	–	Present

Local Governing Board 23- 24

Name	Post
Nadeem Bhatti	Chair
Maneer Samad	Head Teacher
Ahsama Gulshan	Parent Member
Shazia Mahomed	Parent Member
Danny Hemmings	Staff Member
Ben Hughes	Co-Opted

Local Governing Board Attendance 23-24

Name	11/07/24	14/03/24
Nadeem Bhatti	Present	Present
Maneer Samad	Present	Present
Ahsama Gulshan	Present	Present
Shazia Mahomed	Present	Present
Danny Hemmings	Present	Present
Ben Hughes	Present	Absent