Mr Mark Pendlington
Chair of Governors

Mark joined the RHS Board of Governors as Chair in May 2020.  

He has extensive experience of working across the public and private sectors including in industry, national and regional voluntary organisations, further and higher education, economic development bodies, local enterprise partnerships, and academia, many with UK, EU and international dimensions.  

He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk and is High Sheriff of Suffolk for 2023/2024. Mark devotes his time to helping and promoting organisations in Suffolk and the east of England that support enterprise, opportunities for young people, better skills, thriving diverse communities and a flourishing environment. This includes as Chair and Pro-Chancellor, University of Suffolk; Non-Executive Chair of CEFAS (Defra’s International Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science); Patron of the Green Light Trust; and is the Chair of Finance and Senior Non-executive Member of Chapter at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.  

Mark was Chair of the ‘Festival of Suffolk 2022’, a county-wide community-based celebration for the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. Mark chairs the Suffolk Lieutenancy Business and Enterprise Group that actively promotes The King’s Awards for Enterprise, to recognise and reward business achievement and excellence across Suffolk.   

Professor Tan Arulampalam
Member of the Risk & Audit Sub-committee

Professor Tan Arulampalam qualified as a Doctor in 1992 from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He completed his surgical training in London before undertaking a Fellowship with Professor Cristiano Hüscher in Rome. He was appointed Consultant Surgeon at Colchester Hospital in 2003.

He is a surgical oncologist specialising in bowel cancer treatment. He has an extensive research portfolio, which includes studying molecular imaging in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer at The Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London and proteomics at Essex University. He has been appointed visiting Professor at the School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University in order to pursue his teaching and research interests.

He is on the faculty at the European Surgical Institute in Hamburg. He continues to publish his work in peer-reviewed journals and was on the editorial board of the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He acts as a medical advisor to the charity Bowel Cancer UK. He has worked on Department of Health projects on Enhanced Recovery Programmes, Bowel Cancer Awareness and is a trainer on the National Laparoscopic Colorectal training programme.

Professor Arulampalam has contributed to the ICENI Centre for Surgical Research and Training over the last 10 years with his teaching and training as well as leading the project to secure its funding. He was elected onto the Research Committee of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgeons in 2015 and serves as Honorary Treasurer on the Council of the Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.

Tan is married to Katy and they have five children, four of whom have been to or are currently attending the Royal Hospital School.

Mrs Tessa Bartlett

Tessa spent seven years working at the University of Essex, five as Director of Communications, with a diverse portfolio of responsibilities including increasing the representation of students from underprivileged backgrounds into higher education.

Prior to this much of her career was spent working in professional sailing as Sailing Operations Manager for London 2012, Ellen MacArthur, the British Olympic Sailing Team and the British America’s Cup Team.

Tessa spends much of her free time on the water either sailing or coaching.

Ms Alison Beech

Alison works as a business coach and mentor and has particular skills in executive coaching, organisational development and change management. With broad and diverse experience in growing, developing and transforming businesses, she has worked as a mentor and adviser to a London based PropTech start-up, and set up a new mortgage lender. Alison's last full-time role before semi-retiring in 2018 was leading a £13m turnover national chartered surveying business. Previous roles include HR Director for a UK plc, Managing Director, Business Development Director, HR Director, and Non-Executive Director for a Ministry of Defence agency.

In 2013, Alison joined the board of governors at Suffolk New College and, at the time of leaving in August 2023, was Vice Chair of Corporation, Chair of Governance and Search committee, a member of the Remuneration, Academy Standards & Quality, and Strategic Safeguarding committees.

Since 2013, Alison has volunteered for Anglia Care Trust as an Appropriate Adult, supporting juveniles and vulnerable adults in police custody. A member of Ipswich Jaffa Running Club since 2009, she has served on the committee in various roles and held the role of Chair from 2016 until 2022. Alison is currently the club’s Vice President and is Volunteer Manager for the Ipswich Half Marathon and Ipswich Twilight races. She also volunteers with Locate International, investigating cold cases of unidentified and missing people.

Ms Judy Dow
Vice Chair of Governors
Member of the Education Sub-committee
Member of the Marketing and External Relations Sub-committee

Judy has been Head of Philanthropy and part of the executive team at Suffolk Community Foundation since 2016, and has recently joined Norfolk Community Foundation in the same capacity. She manages relationships with benefactors to ensure they achieve their philanthropic ambitions and identifies potential new fund holders and donors. She develops initiatives to ensure steady growth in the Foundation’s endowment fund and works with key stakeholders to enhance partnership working.

Educated in Ipswich, Judy has had a varied career, working in recruitment, administration and management in Suffolk companies. She has been public relations manager at Ipswich Town FC and a consultant at ProHelp Suffolk where she supported local charities and community groups with their applications to a network of businesses which undertake pro-bono work with local charities and community groups.

Prof Richard Harvey
Member of the Education Sub-committee
Member of the Risk & Audit Sub-committee
Member of the Marketing and External Relations Sub-committee

Richard Harvey is Professor at the School of Computing Sciences at the University of East Anglia where his research focuses on an area known as Computer Vision. Previously he has worked on the accuracy of systems that can lip-read humans and ideas in the automatic detection of malicious content in images. At UEA he currently leads a government funded program to train the next generation of robot scientists in agriculture (AgriForwards). He is IT Livery Company Professor of Information Technology at Gresham College and his lectures can be found on YouTube. He has been UEA’s Academic Director for Admissions since 2008 and sits on UCAS Council. 

Before joining UEA in 1993 Richard worked for Plessey Naval Systems and then Marconi Underwater Systems as a mathematician. He has acted as consultant for a number of international companies and as Executive and Non-Executive Director for several spin-outs and start-ups. He lives in Suffolk and in his spare time he likes messing around in boats.

Miss Heather Hunt

Heather is a creative and innovative manager with substantial experience of leadership. Having spent several years in catering and hospitality management, she returned to full-time study before embarking on a career in education and children and young people's services.  Heather is passionate and committed to improving the life chances of those in society who are most vulnerable, ensuring they have the same life opportunities as their peers.

With 20 years of experience working and volunteering in both education and charities across Suffolk and Essex, Heather brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of safeguarding from both operational and strategic perspectives. Having held senior positions across multiple sectors, she is currently the Head of Student Services at the University of Essex.  

Heather has a BA (Hons) in English and a master's degree in Childhood and Youth Studies - both gained at the University of Suffolk.

Mr Adam Kerr
Member of the Finance & Resources Sub-committee

Adam runs Millwood Capital, a commercial property company focussed on creating long term real estate investments for the pensions industry. Previously he was Head of Annuity Transactions at Legal & General Property, and having held Director level positions at Kilmartin Property Group, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and Stonehage Property Partners. He has a broad range of experience both within financial institutions and private property companies. He gained a Masters in Land Economy at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Mr Oliver Peck

Oliver is a practicing educator at The Leys School in Cambridge, where he has been Director of Studies since September 2020. His educational and career background is as a biologist, having graduated from the University of Leeds with a Biology BSc before going on to work at Ampleforth College, Brighton College, and Oundle School. In these schools he has had varied roles, including as a classroom teacher of Biology and of Physics, teaching extension courses to Year 9 and Lower Sixth pupils, Assistant Housemaster, Head of Biology, and Director of Science and Technology. He has always enjoyed contributing to life outside of the classroom too as a rugby coach.

Mrs Nella Probert
Member of the Education Sub-committee
Member of the Marketing and External Relations Sub-committee

Nella's background is in publishing where she was a Director of Hamish Hamilton Ltd. She is currently Patron of Marie Curie Suffolk and a local organiser for the Royal British Legion. She is married with four children and lives in Suffolk.

Mr Tony Stenning
Chair of the Finance & Resources Sub-committee
Member of the Risk & Audit Sub-committee
Member of the Governance and Nominations Sub-committee
Member of the Remuneration Sub-committee

Tony Stenning is CEO of Catley Lakeman May Group, the market leading provider of defined returns investments. Tony has worked in the financial services sector for almost three decades, beginning his career as an economist and fund manager. Following a number of years within UK wealth-management he moved to a leading global asset manager in 2000 holding a number of senior roles, latterly as Head of their UK Retail Business and Head of Retirement for EMEA.

In 2017 Tony took a year’s sabbatical which enabled him to undertake several benevolent projects within the industry and society more broadly. Since returning to his career, he has held a number of advisory posts with a focus on asset management, FinTech and governance.

Tony is also currently the non-executive Chair of a consumer-focused industry association and also Chair of an asset servicing company.

Tony has a wide range of sporting and arts interests and has three daughters at RHS. 

Mr Paul Torrington
Chair of the Risk & Audit Sub-committee
Member of the Finance & Resources Sub-committee
Member of the Governance and Nominations Sub-committee
Member of the Remuneration Sub-committee

Paul is a director of BPL Holdings where he has worked for 34 years and is chairman of its French subsidiary. Its UK trading subsidiary BPL Global is a specialist insurance broker in the area of political risk and export credit.

Paul is a keen musician and sings with the Marenzio Singers. He is a trustee of Brass for Africa, a UK-registered music charity which transform the lives of disadvantaged children in Africa.

Paul’s children Dominic, Martha and Lydia have all been educated at RHS.