Meet the Governors

James Pinchbeck is the Marketing Partner with mid-tier and multi-regional, top 40 UK accountancy and tax practice Streets Chartered Accountants. He is responsible for the strategic development of the firm’s marketing and is principally concerned with its growth and development, along with that of its international association SBC Global Alliance, Streets Law and its specialists sector provision which includes Streets Media, Mark Carr & Co and Streets Bloodstock as well as the firm’s financial services provision.

As part of his wider interest in enterprise and education, he is a non-executive director of the regional enterprise agency NBV Enterprise Solutions Ltd, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a past Branch Chairman for Greater Lincolnshire and currently Regional Ambassador in the East Midlands for Governance and Policy Voice.

He is Chair of the University of Lincoln International Business School Advisory Board.  He also chairs the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub Strategy Board and is a member of the Employment & Skills Advisory Panel.

In 2020 James was awarded IoD Non-Executive Director of the Year for the Midlands.

James interests include food and wine, music, long distance cycling and spending time with his family.

Ian Billyard was the Principal & CEO of Leeds College of Building, the only specialist Further Education College for the Construction & Built Environment Sector in the UK, up until his retirement on 31st December 2018.  At this time Ian had been Principal for nearly sixteen years.  Prior to becoming Principal he was Deputy Principal at LCB, Head of Faculty, Head of Department and lecturer at a number of Further Education Colleges in England.

Latterly, as part of his role, Ian was a member of one of the Dfe/IfA groups involved in developing the new T Level qualifications for England. Additionally, Ian was a Council member with CGLI, a Board Member of the construction Cross-Industry Apprenticeship Task Force; Board Member of the Yorkshire Builders’ Federation (YBF); Chair of the West Yorkshire College Consortium; FE representative on the Leeds City Region LEP Employment & Skills Panel; Chair of the Leeds City Region Skills Network; Member of the FMB Area Board (Yorkshire & Trent) and Member of the NFB North East Region Executive Board and member of the FMB National Training Group.  He is also a member of various local, regional and national groups supporting education and training.

Prior to his move into the Further Education sector Ian trained as a building surveyor, initially with English China Clays in the South West, subsequently he worked for contracting companies and a Local Authority, also in the South West.

Post retirement Ian has been keen to maintain involvement in the sector and has maintained/taken on a number of roles, including; Fellow and Council member with CGLI; Board Member of the Yorkshire Builders’ Federation (YBF); member of the City & Guild Industry Board for Construction and member of BACH (British Association of Construction Head) National Executive Committee.

Mark is an experienced CIMA qualified accountant with over 10 years’ experience of working within the Lincolnshire healthcare sector.

In his current role, as the Deputy Director of Finance at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Mark is developing a strong awareness and knowledge of strategic management within a large successful organisation. This knowledge is being used to support the College’s management team to develop the continued growth and success of the College.

Originally from Leicestershire, Mark studied Accounting & Information Systems at Sheffield Hallam University and started his working career at Tesco, where he developed a strong passion for leadership and team development.

Mark enjoys spending time with family and has a number of interests including Motorcycling, mountain biking and running.

Mark Locking was appointed as the Principal / Chief Executive Officer of the Lincoln College Group on 1 April 2022.  He also holds voluntary positions as Chair of the Board of Active Lincolnshire, Director of the Lincolnshire Institute of Technology, Director of Association of Colleges Sport, and a member of the Lincoln University Technical College.

Starting out as a lecturer in Further Education in 1994 Mark has worked in education for over 25 years in a number of roles in colleges, a school and a specialist SEND college, interspersed with 2 separate roles in the commercial sector. These positions were across a range of teaching and leadership roles that as they became more senior transitioned into leadership roles with teaching no longer at their core. The 2 positions in the commercial sector, that were 10 years apart, gave Mark a commercial perspective to education and have helped him see training from an employer’s perspective when he came back to FE, having worked with the likes of Kellogg, JCB, Legal and General and Walkers.

Mark has underpinned his public and private sector career spanning nearly 28 years with high quality education and training including postgraduate qualifications and leadership training from the likes of the SAID Business School at Oxford University, Loughborough University and the Institute of Directors.  Time working in education and leadership has strengthened his view that people and talent are at the heart of an organisations’ success and an open and growth mindset to learning enhances the chances of success and happiness in life and the workplace.

Nick Lyons retired in April 2018, having worked for companies within the Hexadex Group based in Gainsborough for 16 years. The Hexadex Group can trace its origins back to 1978 when it started the Eminox business, which has grown to be one of the largest companies in Lincolnshire, with a strong international reputation. The Group also owns Ceramex, based in Slough, Teconnex, based in Keighley, and Hooton Engineering based in Gainsborough. The businesses have spread geographically and operate outside the UK, in Europe, North America and Asia. They concentrate primarily on the automotive sector but are pursuing a strategy to diversify their interests.

Nick originally joined Eminox in 2002 in a technical role before becoming MD in 2011. He transferred over to a role at Group level in 2016 to explore new business ventures, new technologies and help support the Group’s growth through acquisitions. 
Originally from Cumbria, Nick studied engineering at University and spent the early part of his career working on the design of mobile cranes, printing presses, lawn mowers, medical devices and roof tiles. Nick moved with his family to the Lincoln area in 2002.

Haydn Beeken is now enjoying retirement.  Previously Haydn worked as the HR and Compliance Director for Turbine Efficiency Group Ltd. The company grew from its beginnings in 2000, from one person to currently 82 personnel.   90% of the companies work is overseas; Haydn has been indirectly involved with the company from its birth, then at a non-executive level from 2008, before becoming an executive director in 2012.

Prior to that Haydn worked the majority of his employment for the National Government, one of his roles being Area Benefits Manager East of England, Department of Work & Pensions. Within this role he managed a group of 6 DWP Benefit Offices over a large geographical area, with some 700 staff. Haydn had 4 Benefits Managers reporting to him and was responsible for managing the target outcomes required, change management, and managing budgets.

Before this Haydn worked as an Area Director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire for Government Office East Midlands. He was the Governments Performance and Relationship Manager for the two counties working closely within Government Ministers, Departments, Local Authority Chief Executives and Elected Leaders at both tiers of the local government, NHS Chief Executives, Chief Constables, The Police Authority, Government bodies and the Third Sector in the delivery of the Governments Agenda for the counties and in the performance management of the outcomes required of that agenda.

Haydn was a member of Council for Bishop Grosseteste University from 2005 to 2013 with the last year and half spent as Chair of the Council. Haydn is now a school governor for Westgate School in Lincoln having taken up this role in September 2015. Haydn is married to Julie with two children, whom both studied at Lincoln College, and four grandchildren. Haydn enjoys spending time with his family, working on his allotment, football, cricket, golf, wine and travelling in no particular order.

Tim is a commercially focused senior HR professional, with a Masters in Strategic HRM and a further Post Graduate Diploma in Employment Law. Currently working within Dixons Carphone PLC who are Europe’s leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company, employing over 41,000 people in nine countries.

In his current role within the Technology Division, Tim’s remit focusses on the Technology, Transformation, eCommerce and Data teams – across Newark, Acton and our store locations. This remit includes challenging how we attract, engage and develop our colleagues – in a fiercely contested digital space and where we have a number of large scale transformations being undertaken.

https://www.dixonscarphone.com

Previously Tim has held a number of senior roles covering predominately the 3^rd Party logistics fields as well as various national and international mining businesses. Originally South African Tim retains a passion for travelling and experiencing other cultures as well as spending time together as a family.

Amy Conyard attended Wisbech Grammar School, Cambridgeshire and completed up to AS Levels before leaving to pursue a career in hospitality management.

Amy went through the management training programme with a large pub company to become a unit manager, along with working with new open set ups and area training inclusive of company inductions.

After moving to Lincolnshire, Amy left the hospitality industry and joined the Danwood Group, where she worked within the Customer Resolutions Team, resolving cases from query up to legal disputes.

Whilst on maternity leave, Amy co-founded Bottomley Distillers Ltd and brought Pin Gin to market. Bottomley Distillers grew from a small batch gin, distilled in the garage, to one of the county’s most recognisable brands within just a few years and in the last month completed the acquisition of the company by global enterprise, Next Frontier Brands Ltd.

Amy is now Managing Director of Distillery Operations for the group. The distillery facility is at the heart of the group’s spirit plans and over the next two years will see £5m of investment into a new distillery and visitor centre.

Tim comes from a Lincolnshire farming family, having trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Leeds he returned to the county in 1996. He is a director of Duncan & Toplis Limited and is based in their Lincoln office and lives just north of Lincoln. Although a general practioner Tim is a member of the specialist team providing all manner of support to the firm’s academy clients. In addition, Tim is the firm’s Audit Compliance Director as well as being the head of student training.

Outside of work Tim undertakes all manner of activities in trying to keep himself fit including walking and cycling. He is also a keen Leicester Tigers supporter.

After getting a First-Class degree from the University of Nottingham in Finance, Accounting and Management, Lucy Goodier started her professional career at Deloitte LLP in Leeds in their Audit Practice, where she trained to become a Chartered Accountant. Lucy's clients were in a range of sectors but included manufacturing, energy and education. Lucy worked for ASDA for over five years in their Finance Controllership team, gaining expertise in controls and financial reporting. After relocating to Lincolnshire, just over a year ago, Lucy started working at her current position as Group Financial Controller at Branston Potatoes.

Dean Graham is Founding Publisher of CityX Ltd, the publishing house behind the CityX business news website, digital magazine and LincolnX business network.  CityX are also organisers of Lincolnshire Tech Week, Lincolnshire Tech and Innovation Awards, the Lincolnshire Business Expo, Expo East and the Directors Conference amongst other local high profile events.

Dean is a Chartered Marketer with the Institute of Marketing.  Having worked in senior positions in both the private and third sectors across Lincolnshire; Dean is particularly passionate about tech startups and cryptocurrency.

In his spare time, Dean enjoys restoring classic performance cars and is involved with a number of motorsport teams.

Simon has worked for the Lincoln College Group since 2007 and is currently employed as a Professional Standards Learning Coach in the Quality Improvement Team. Prior to this he worked as a Creative Media Production Lecturer based at the Newark campus. In his current role, Simon supports practitioners across the organisation in a range of contexts and leads on LAT initiatives and the induction of new recruits to the teaching staff. He is also a teacher educator, currently co-ordinating the Level 4 Certificate in Education & Training and working as a mentor for both teacher trainees and qualified teachers at the college.

Outside of work, most of Simon’s time is taken up by his two year old twins but on the few occasions they are asleep he is a huge football fan (and indeed most sports) and enjoys good food and as many trips to the cinema as possible.

Katrina was born in London and moved to Australia in the early 70s. She attended the University of New England gaining a BA in Psychology & Sociology, Graduate Diploma in Education and a Graduate Diploma in Business. Katrina has taught within the primary, secondary and FE sectors and has also held administrative positions across various Australian Universities. She has owned a number of successful small businesses within the sectors of construction, hospitality and hydroponic farming. She has now worked at Lincoln College in a support role within the team of Professional Industries for the last five years.

She moved to the UK in 2016 after her husband was assigned to KSA in Riyadh (construction), viewing it as a chance to move the family to her country of origin to spend more time with extended relatives and be closer to KSA.

Both her daughters have gone through the Lincoln College system and have used their college qualifications to springboard onto University and private sector employment.

Katrina has always had a keen interest in education and has been on various committees over the years with curriculum development as the main focus. Her interests include volleyball, travelling, cooking and reading.

Thomas McKenzie started his career straight from school, becoming an engineering apprenticeship with Siemens, based in Lincoln. Throughout his apprenticeship he completed an NVQ level 3 in Technical Engineering while also completing a National Diploma and National Certificate in Engineering at Lincoln College.

After completing his apprenticeship, Thomas took a job within the Spares Stores department working on specific projects while also working as a storeman. From here he moved into the Sales Support department, supporting the Sales Managers with quotations and orders for customers around the world.

From this role, Thomas began a secondment as a Sales Manager to support with customers within Europe to gain further knowledge of the role. After four months on secondment he became a permanent Sales Manager and now manages customer accounts worldwide, focusing on India, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Libya and Turkey. Thomas has now taken on the role of Regional Product development Manager, overseeing the growth of the Small Gas Turbine product line in the Regions of Asia and China.

Peter Price is Finance Business Partner at AB Mauri, a global business of Associated British Foods plc. Prior to joining AB Mauri, Peter was Finance Manager at L.J. Fairburn & Son Ltd., one of the UK’s largest egg producers and distributors. Peter did his initial accountancy training at Lincolnshire-based accountancy firms Peach & Co. and Dexter and Sharpe.

In additional to being a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Peter has a first-class BSc (Hons) Degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University and an MSc with distinction in Professional Accountancy from the University of London. Peter is currently studying for an MBA at Warwick Business School.

Charlotte graduated from Liverpool John Moores in 2011 and started at her first Marketing and Communications job at South Kesteven District Council, working alongside the economic development team. Charlotte took 18-months out to travel, during which time she visited Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Australia and New Zealand and while travelling secured short term project, event and marketing positions, which were in the public and higher education sector.

Charlotte progressed through a series of promotions at Waldeck Consulting, starting out as Copywrite and Marketing Coordinator, progressing to Marketing Manager, before leaving the company in October 2018. 

In October 2018 Charlotte joined Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, progressing to a Senior Leadership role in just a year.

I am currently a Student at Lincoln College. While sitting on the Lincoln College Group Board, I am also a member of the Student Council. The college gives me and other young people's voices an opportunity to be heard.  

I am currently the Chair of the Lincolnshire FA Youth Council, where a team of young people and I help provide the voice of young people within the FA. We work with younger people, clubs, leagues and charities to provide football opportunities for everyone and ensure everyone is safe within the game.  

I am a Flight Sergeant within the Air Training Corps, based at North Hykeham. Through this, I am the current Station Commander at Waddington. I also have completed a large number of badges, qualifications and courses. This allowing me to achieve my flying wings, trained shots, cyber, teaching (MOI) and many more. I am currently the youngest Wing and Regional Sports Cadet. I am a Mental Health Champion among cadets. This allows me to support cadets struggling with their mental health and provide workshops that create awareness. 

I am currently looking to do my Psychology and Counselling degree to further my knowledge and help people worldwide.  

I am currently an apprentice at Lincoln College, currently studying Civil Engineering as a HNC alongside my work.

I am a Trainee Structural Engineering Technician at RPS working in Newark.

I have completed a carpentry course at the college, and a full time Extended Diploma in Construction and Civil Engineering.