Meet the team whose mission is the advancement of education
John Jackson
CEO
John helped to found LGfL in 2001 and held senior leadership and advisory roles in both central and local government. He is passionate about harnessing digital innovation to inspire children and teachers to enable education transformation. John has been named in the top 25 IT Leaders in the UK and is currently a member of the DfE National EdTech Advisory Group. John most recently won the ERA Outstanding Achievement Award for accelerating the adoption of new technology in schools and his dedication to saving them money, keeping children safe, tackling inequality, energising teaching and learning and promoting wellbeing.
Customer Success Management
Paul Smith
Service Delivery Lead
Paul has held senior positions within leading Telco companies. Paul’s role incorporates ownership of all service management activity and makes sure services run smoothly and quickly! Paul has huge experience in the telecommunications industry.
Siân Shordon
Customer Success Manager
Siân joins LGfL with 34 years of experience in local and central government, with the last 17 years focused on schools and pupils being able to safely access and harness technology. She will be supporting schools moving to LGfL and ensuring that all schools are making the most of their LGfL service.
Jose Kingsley
Customer Success Manager
Jose has worked in both Education and Public Sector roles. He is a Microsoft 365 Specialist with a focus on Teaching and Learning integration and Cloud migration. He has supported schools in effectively adopting Cloud technology Nationwide to enhance Teaching, and Success Cloud adoption. Jose now works on Customer Success and Onboarding new schools joining the LGfL community.Service Delivery
Lee Murrey
Incident Manager
Lee has worked for a large Academy Trust and has also held a Global role within a large communications company. Lee works within the Operations team, he is responsible for Incident Management and proactively monitors all customers connections and outages 24/7 ensuring that downtime is kept to a minimum.
Dave Thomas
Local Government Service Management Lead
Dave has worked in the Public Sector for many years and has experience in a number of IT related roles. He looks after LGfL’s Local Government service management function and a primary responsibility of his role is as a ‘Customer Champion’ to take ownership of customer service issues and to work with our technology partners and the customer to get service issues resolved quickly and efficiently.
Dickon Exton
Fibre Provisioning Lead
Dickon manages the delivery of fibre into schools and works with our technology partners to ensure a trouble-free journey for schools joining the LGfL community. Dickon also makes sure that changes in the speed of your connection and any B-end shifts are undertaken as effectively and efficiently as possible.Safeguarding and CyberSecurity
Mark Bentley
Safeguarding and CyberSecurity Lead
Mark was a secondary head of department who leads LGfL’s safeguarding and cybersecurity centres of excellence. He is passionate about keeping children safe and schools secure. He plays an active role nationally advising and developing policy in these areas and the emerging safetytech space.
Mubina Asaria
Online Safeguarding Consultant
Mubina is passionate about empowering young people through the positive use of technology, especially regarding whole-school approaches to bullying, in which she took her Masters, or Prevent, where she was the Ealing Prevent Schools Adviser and is now recognised nationally as a subject expert.
Alex Dave
Safeguarding Education Officer
Alex is LGfL’s Safeguarding Education Advisor, supporting schools with ensuring that they meet and indeed exceed their statutory duties to keep children safe. Alex has for the past 15 years, worked predominantly in education and social care managing services and leading safeguarding practice. Alex is dedicated in her work to ensure all children enjoy their rights enshrined in law, to be happy, safe, listened to and to thrive.
Gareth Jelley
Product Security Manager
Gareth has worked in IT with Schools for 17 years, working with individual schools and MATs. He is currently responsible for supporting the development of LGfL’s Cyber Security Centre of Excellence and managing LGfL’s security products.
Sagar Solanki
Cybersecurity Education Officer
Sāgar has worked in education for over 15 years, assuming various roles within Primary through to Further Education. Currently, he is responsible for providing cybersecurity solutions to LGfL schools. He also supports schools to comply with the DfE standards for cybersecurity in education.Teaching and Learning
Bob Usher
Content Manager and EdTech Hubs Programme Lead
Bob Usher was a former secondary school teacher and pastoral & curriculum leader. Bob leads LGfL’s work on the curriculum content and the strategic adoption of technology to enhance everyday teaching and learning. He has been responsible for a range of ground-breaking and award-winning initiatives including the acceleration of new technologies such as Robotics and Augmented & Virtual Reality across the curriculum, the PedTech portal and the Digital Transformation Toolkit. He was a regional lead for the Dfe Edtech Demonstrator Programme supporting senior leaders during the Covid 19 Pandemic and now leads the EdTech Hubs Programme developing communities practice across the England in the effective use of technology to support everyday Teaching and Learning.
Bradley Dardis
Learning Resources Consultant
Bradley has been a Primary Teacher for over 14 years. He is a Computing specialist (CAS Master Teacher and SSAT Lead practitioner for Computing), Early Years specialist and Apple teacher and lead consultant for Apple platform. Bradley now supports schools in creatively using the LGfL Curriculum and Learning Resources.
Belinda Evans
Learning Resource Consultant
Belinda has been a Primary Teacher for over 18 years and an advanced skills teacher for the borough of Lewisham in her last three years of teaching. After leaving the full-time classroom Belinda worked for local authorities and education providers as a computing consultant supporting schools across London with implementing and resourcing primary computing. She has supported LGfL for many years, especially in creating many of the curriculum support materials for the learning resources.Business Development & Customer Support
Richard Engers
Sales and Marketing Lead
Richard has more than 30 years IT Industry expertise. He started life in procurement, moved into sales and then into sales and project management. Richard supports & guides schools, colleges, MATs and councils through the sales lifecycle. Richard also supports LGfL’s marketing activities and events management.
Paul Hanlon
Senior Technical and Business Development Consultant
Paul has worked in Education for over 20 years for both Public and Private Sector organisations supporting schools with Digital Transformation. This has gained him an in-depth understanding of schools' business and operational goals, and where and how technology can support them. Paul is currently working with the Sales and Customer Success Teams, assisting schools and MATs with their technical migrations to the LGfL community and ensuring the best value is achieved from the LGfL award-winning bundle.
Dan Robinson
Customer Relationship and Service Development Manager
Dan has been involved in Education for over 20 years, account managing existing LGfL customers and developing new business with schools, colleges, LA’s and MATs across London and throughout the UK. Dan enjoys showcasing all the safeguards, protections and resources LGfL/NGfL now includes in its ever-growing ‘Save More Than You Spend and Keep Children Safe’ portfolio.
George Crace
Business Development Executive
George has a varied background in Sales & Marketing, working with consultancies, start-ups, sustainability and now education. The common theme throughout all his work however is his desire to make a difference. George’s focus will primarily be on introducing new schools into the NGfL & LGfL community and showcasing the wide range of benefits this includes. Ben Lawrence
Business Development Executive
Ben has worked in a range of industries throughout his career, with a particular focus on sales and negotiation. Studying and working within an electronic engineering field means Ben brings a great level of technical expertise alongside his extensive sales experience to the table. Primarily focused on reintroducing previous customers to the growing LGfL community and maximising their utilisation of all the products offered. Justin McPherson
Business Development Executive
Justin has had a varied sales background for over 10 years and has been using his expertise to enhance the profile and understanding of LGfL across the industry, Justin is focused on introducing customers to the growing LGfL community and maximising their utilisation of all the products offered.
Debbie Aruliah
Customer Services
Debbie has been supporting LGfL customers since 2007, with an emphasis on contracts and liaising with LGfL’s partner suppliers with regard to orders. Debbie is keen to see all schools get the most out of their service and provides help to schools and MATs alike to ensure they receive support where and when it’s needed.
Lydia Musima
Customer Services
As a first point of contact, Lydia is waiting to help customers that phone in, responding to enquiries and forwarding them to the relevant departments. Lydia also helps customers access their SmartBuy product licences, processing applications as well as keeping systems up to date.
Ibukun Ogunnowo
Customer Services
Ibukun assists with general customer enquiries over the phone and via email as well as helping customers access the Smartbuy product licences such as Adobe Creative Cloud.
Derryn Nesbitt
Sales Support Officer
Derryn has a background in Sales Support and Customer Service for various sectors. Derryn will be providing support to schools participating in product initiatives and supporting them in the development of their digital strategies through LGfL services. Helen Love
Business Admin Support
Helen provides admin support for the CEO Office and assists the Sales Team with inputting information for new and existing customers. She also assists with enquiries which arrive via telephone and email. Helen has worked in a secretarial and administrative capacity in a variety of sectors including local authorities, charities, music industry, investment banking, travel and tourism, and social media.Programme Management
Michael Eva
Programme Manager
Michael Eva has held senior project and security roles in the Public Sector. Michael is leading LGfL’s work on GDPR and supporting the development of LGfL’s security platforms.
Steven Smith
Programme Manager
Steven has 18 years of experience in education and local government, having started as a primary school teacher. In recent years he managed the school IT service at a Local Authority, supporting schools to get the most out of technology and their LGfL services. Steven will be supporting the rollout of major technical projects.Communications and Design
Mark Eagle
Graphic Designer and Web Developer
Mark is an Interdisciplinary Graphic Designer and Front-End Web Developer with a focus on strategic brand design, web + UI, and commercially-driven communications design. Through art direction and creative ideas, he brings the LGfL brand image to life by coding, building responsive websites and creating relevant content experiences that are captivating and a joy to view on every device. The results help to connect with customers and build brand loyalty.
Cy Foster
Communications Officer
Cy manages all social media accounts, crafting engaging content to drive engagement and build the brand’s presence. She leads marketing and communication efforts across digital and print channels, including coordinating campaigns, promoting services, and organising LGfL events. Cy also oversees and enhances the LGfL website, ensuring it remains user-friendly, up-to-date, and optimised for SEO while clearly conveying the organisation’s brand identity. Her work ensures LGfL’s messaging resonates effectively with its diverse audience.Procurement
Terry Brewer
Procurement Lead
Terry is LGfL’s procurement lead and has held senior roles in local government and national services. Terry has a track record of delivering innovation and significant savings and has played a key role on the development of LGfL’s SmartBuy service which is saving schools millions of pounds.Local Government
John Bagley
Local Government Lead
John looks after LGfL’s Local Government practice which is now available across the UK. John has an extensive knowledge of technology in the public sector and is currently focused on developing a new generation of network services to support public sector transformation.Operations
Mark Tremain
Technical Support Manager
Mark has been working in the IT industry for more than 30 Years. He started life on BBC micros in 1986 and has continued through the evolution of the PC to the present day. He has been supporting schools for the last 23 years and supports a variety of systems at LGFL, with Webhosting being one of them.
Ian Bannerman
Technical Support Lead
Ian is a new addition to the Operations Team and has nine years experience working in IT within the Education sector. Ian supports LGfL staff and provides 2nd and 3rd line assistance to Schools.
Kam Varma
Technical Support
Kam is responsible for assisting the Operations department to deliver on and off-site technical support to the LGfL / NGfL community. Kam has worked previously in Education as a Governing Body Clerk.Finance
Laura Penn
Financial Systems and Business Intelligence Manager
As a management accountant and experienced Sage consultant with over 20 years’ experience in senior financial management and consultancy roles, Laura brings a wealth of experience to LGFL. Currently responsible for implementing the Sage 200 upgrade as well as automating and streamlining processes to support the finance function.
Kirsty Egan
LGfL Transactional Finance Manager
Kirsty is a skilled Finance Manager with a proven track record and over 20 years' experience in leading and developing successful AR and AP teams. She has been with LGfL for 13 years; responsible for all areas of the Purchase and Sales ledger functions, managing a team of transactional finance specialists to ensure timely, accurate billing whilst maintaining a healthy cash flow through timely collections of monies owed and paying suppliers in accordance with terms.
Fay Kingsley
Assistant Finance Manager
Fay has worked at LGfL for over 13 years and assists with managing the Purchase and Sales Ledger teams. She has over 30 years of Financial Sector experience and 15 years in supervisory roles. Rickesh Patel
Senior Finance Advisor
Rickesh is an experienced finance officer and brings a wealth of experience in Fixed Asset Management and project management. As a member of the purchase ledger team, Rickesh’s duties include; ensuring business partners are paid promptly, the management of LGfL Assets and assisting in the production of the Management accounts.
Daniele Gouro
Finance Assistant
Daniele is responsible for collecting and recording financial Information into the LGfL systems and posting all cheques, Invoices and Credit Notes into the Ledgers. She is responsible for running a weekly analysis report, reviewing outstanding payments and liaising with customers to make their accounts current.
Caroline Matos-Pereira
Finance Assistant
Caroline is part of the sales ledger team and currently is responsible for billing, debt collection, settling accounts, and customer relations. She also liaises with the teams to support sales orders and create accounts for new customers.
Gemma Oriogun
Finance Assistant
Gemma is a Chartered Accounting Technician with several years of accountancy experience, working within the Financial Services Industry. Her role sits in the Finance Team and lies within the Accounts payable, carrying out all aspects of duties involved in Accounts payable, with a focus on producing the weekly Customer Payment Run, ensuring prompt payment to our business partners.Admissions
Elaine O'Brien
Admissions and Pupil Premium Lead
Elaine supports Councils and schools in London and Surrey with the co-ordinated admissions process across reception, junior and secondary phases of education. Elaine also champions and leads on the Free School Meals eligibility checker which has identified over £50M in potential claims since it was introduced in 2014.
