Staff And Board

Denise was a corporate finance lawyer in the City before embarking on her in house career. She was Company Secretary and General Counsel at Asda, later part of the international retailer, Wal Mart. She joined international law firm Eversheds as a partner in 2004 where she advises clients on a wide range of strategic and operational in house management issues. Denise has a portfolio of non executive directorships including housebuilder Bellway plc, Pool Reinsurance Limited and Y2019 Limited which is managing the world cycling championships, she is also Pro Chancellor at the University of York. She has previously held non executive roles in the retail, financial services, health, education and museums sectors. In 2012 she was named City Woman of Achievement in recognition of her significant contribution to the promotion of gender equality in the workplace and in 2013 was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws for promoting women’s development in business. She joined the Board at St Giles Trust in 2014.

Gary joined the Board in 2008. He is currently Editor of The Express having been editor of The Sunday Mirror. He was previously at the Daily Mirror and the News of the World. In 1995, he was named "Reporter of the Year" at the British Press Awards.

Julie joined the board in 2013. After early work in social housing, she trained as a chartered accountant at BDO serving both high growth businesses as well as charities. Later she moved into forensic accounting and became a partner, working on complex assignments including war reparations for the UN, corporate claims and large government deals.

Charles Pitts-Tucker was appointed Head of Investment Banking EMEA at Nomura in September 2012. He is also Co-Head of International Investment Banking Business and plays a continuing role in the acquisition finance business. He is a Senior Managing Director of Nomura. Prior to joining Nomura, he was Co-Head of the European Corporate and Leveraged Acquisition Team at Lehman Brothers and played a key role in a number of high profile transactions in the investment grade and sub-investment grade market. Before this, he was a member of the Leveraged Finance Team at Morgan Grenfell and began his career as a lawyer at Allen & Overy.

Upon graduation, Phil joined the Prison Service as a Prison Officer in 1969 and was promoted Assistant Governor in 1970. In 1986 he became Governor of Hull Prison; moving on in 1990 to a variety of headquarters’ roles. In 2003 he was made Director General of the Prison Service, becoming Director General of the National Offender Management Service responsible for all prisons and probation services in England and Wales in 2008. He delivered improvements that reduced reoffending, escapes, drug abuse and suicide and increased efficiency in both prison and probation before retiring in 2010. He was a Non Executive Director of the Northern Ireland Prison Service from 2010-16 and a member of the Scottish Prison Service Oversight Group for their Prison Officer Professionalisation Programme 2018/19.  He is currently a Board Member of the Management Board of the Cambridge Institute for Criminology. He contributes to international conferences and academic study on penal practice, he advises both public and private sector prison operators in the UK an internationally and he is an Expert Witness of prison operations. 

Alfy was appointed Head of Strategic Portfolio Management at NCS Trust (National Citizen Service) in 2020.  He is a qualified Programme Manager with experience in Portfolio Management and Governance and a proven track record of delivering high quality PMO expertise across multi-disciplinary sectors. Experienced in successfully designing & implementing a portfolio office and risk function in corporate settings, promoting consistency, insight, prioritisation and quality of programme delivery, resulting in informed strategic decision making and benefits realisation. 

Qualified with a Law Degree & Masters, Alfy has devoted his working life at organisations in the private, third and government ALB sectors working in youth, welfare to work and criminal justice, where social purpose and helping improve the lives of disadvantaged and marginalised groups lie at the heart of the core values and ethos of the business.

Duncan started his career in the forces serving in both the Army and Royal Marines after which he went into the retail sector, initially with Marks and Spencer. Over the last 25 years Duncan has held leadership roles with companies Graze, Brakes Group and is currently COO at Paperchase. He joined the board in 2017.

Pippa joined our board this year, coming over from the Royal London Society when we merged in December 2016.  Pippa was called to the Bar as a barrister of Grays Inn in 2007, and worked for four years in the legal profession before moving into public relations. Pippa brings a wealth of experience and knowledge with her and is currently Head of Public Relations at Carter Jonas LLP.

Ameeta has worked in regional and then local government for over 10 years. She has worked for a variety of London boroughs in a range of areas, including working with the voluntary and community sector and commissioning employment and welfare advice. She currently works for Kensington and Chelsea Council. A passionate south Londoner, Ameeta is committed to giving back and in her spare time is a volunteer mentor at the Baytree Centre, in Brixton. Ameeta joined the board in 2018.

JP Marks is a career Civil Servant and Director General at the Department for Work & Pensions. JP leads the Jobcentre Plus network and was Principal Private Secretary to Ministers in both the Labour and Coalition Governments, and now leads DWP Operations delivering Work & Health Services. JP is DWP Wellbeing Champion, and is Senior Responsible Officer for the cross-Government Criminal Justice Programme on tackling the Misuse of Drugs. JP lives in Camberwell with his family, is also a trustee of Treloars College & School, and is a member of the St Giles Finance Committee. 

Janet is a former President of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and is also the current Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association (MetBPA). She is a serving Police Officer with 27 years’ service. She has held a number of posts on the MetBPA Executive, including First Contact Support Co-ordinator and General Secretary, before becoming the first female Chair of the MetBPA in 2013 and then the first female police officer elected as NBPA President. Janet joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1991. She began her service at Brixton Police Station where she started on response team before venturing into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Janet has worked in a number of departments including the burglary and robbery squads and the Community Safety Unit. She went onto specialise in the Human Trafficking Unit before returning to Brixton on promotion as a Detective Sergeant. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List 2021.

Caroline trained as a Chartered Accountant before embarking on a career in banking where she has held leadership positions in Finance and Operations. She is currently the EMEA CFO for Credit Suisse and a member of the UK Executive Committee and Board. In addition, she is a Trustee of the Credit Suisse EMEA Foundation, co-sponsor of the European Women’s Network and Senior Champion for the LGBT & Ally Network. Caroline has previously been a trustee for an educational charitable trust and joined the Board at St Giles Trust in 2020.

Erica is an executive coach and a non-executive director on the Board of the Government Legal Department. Previously she was a lawyer and was European General Counsel at Barclays Investment and Corporate Bank and most recently at asset manager BlackRock. Prior to that she was a structured finance partner at law firms Weil Gotshal and Ashurst. She is currently a Trustee of charity Working Chance which helps to place women who have been through the criminal justice system into employment.

Jahnine Davis is the Co-Founder and Director of Listen Up Research. She has been involved in a variety of national and local innovations, bringing about systems change via the promotion of evidence-informed practice in child protection and safeguarding. Jahnine is also a Research Fellow for Contextual Safeguarding at the University of Bedfordshire. She is currently the Safeguarding Trustee at IMKAAN.