Business Support Staff

Since January 2012, Jon Coles has been Group Chief Executive of United Learning.

Darran has a wide range of achievements in Education, including leadership in both Primary and Secondary phases as well as in Special Education.

Darran was a National Leader of Education, leading one of the first national teaching schools and a federation of primary schools in the North of England. The teaching school under his leadership provided a wide range of school improvement work and was one of the first schools providing training for Schools Direct.

Darran has overseen growth of our primary schools, which now includes over 35 schools. Darran’s leadership of improvement work has secured enhanced quality of teaching, resulting in schools moving from Special Measures to Good, at times requiring him to step in as Exec Head or acting Principal to support. In addition,

Darran is Director with responsibility for the Trust’s support, challenge and accountability on Safeguarding, ensuring that United Learning meets Statutory requirements and that Safeguarding processes across the Group are robust and effective.

Ben Antell is the recently appointed Director of Secondary Academies in United Learning. Before taking up this role, Ben was a Regional Director in the trust and previous to that an Executive Principal with a responsibility for schools in Bournemouth and London. Ben is passionate about school improvement and the belief that education is the key to social mobility and future success. Ben also works as an Ofsted inspector in the south-west and counts himself fortunate enough to have worked with some of the leading educationalists in the country through both his Regional Director, Executive Principal and Ofsted roles.

Fiona became Director of Independent Schools in September 2022. She originally joined the organisation in 1995 when it was the Church Schools Company; it later became United Learning. She was Head of Guildford High School from 2002 – 2022. Guildford High became a Teaching School in 2013 and Fiona was appointed an NLE, leading the United Learning Teaching School Alliance from 2013 - 2020.

She has a variety of Governance roles; she is an Associate Director of Cumbria University (since 01.06.21), she is on the Governing body of Epsom College (since 01.11.09) and she is a member of the ‘Learning Partners Academy Trust’. Fiona is on the Advisory Board of the School Partnerships Alliance and she has helped to establish the West Surrey Partnership of all the state and independent schools in the Guildford area. She was Chair of HMC in 2019-2020, and on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education (IEAIED) (2018 – 2021). In 2023, Fiona was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to education.

Jess Johnson joined United Learning as Head of Professional Development Projects in 2023. She leads on projects in the areas of line management, SEND and Inclusion, and support staff development. Jess believes that great communication and professional development are the foundations of strong teams. She is committed to providing high quality learning opportunities for adults so that, in turn, they can make education better for children and young people.

Matt’s role involves overseeing Operations at Barnsley Academy, Sheffield Park Academy, Sheffield Springs Academy and Fir Vale School. Matt is supported by Operations Officers placed in each school and his role includes overseeing administration functions, compliance, health and safety, data protection and catering. Matt works closely with various departments within the cluster, including the Principals and SLT at each school as well as other business services managers such as the Cluster Facilities Manager, Cluster Finance Manager, Cluster Network Manager and Cluster HR Manager. Matt’s role sits underneath the Executive Business Manager and within a business services structure supported by this management team.

Matt is passionate about providing an exceptional service to all stakeholders he deals with, including providing exemplary support and guidance to his team, students, and local communities. Matt continuously strives to build strong relationships both internally and externally, driving and developing the support available within each school from an operational and business services perspective, with the end goal always being to ensure students have all the tools they need to succeed within an exceptional learning environment.

Leanne is a School Business Manager with over a decade of experience in the education sector, Leanne’s career has excelled throughout her seven years currently at United Learning. Having led on strategic business operations as Business Manager for multiple schools as well as a cluster she manages key areas such as finance, HR, compliance, and site operations, ensuring that the school runs efficiently and effectively to support the best outcomes for students.

Leanne is most passionate about leading teams, processes and systems that allow teaching staff to focus on delivering quality education, while ensuring the infrastructure behind the scenes is robust, compliant, and pupil-focused by ensuring that pupils are at the heart of every decision so that they have the best possible experience as they develop through the school.

With over 15 years of experience in education business management, Kate brings a deep understanding of financial strategy, operational leadership, and school improvement. She currently serves as the Executive Business Manager at United Learning, a role Kate has held since February 2025. In this position, Kate leads strategic business planning and support across multiple academies, ensuring that resources are aligned to deliver the best outcomes for students.

Kate's journey with United Learning began in 2018. Over the years, she has held key roles including Finance Business Partner at Central Office and Finance Manager at Stockport Academy. These roles have equipped Kate with a strong foundation in financial planning, stakeholder engagement, and cross-functional collaboration.

Prior to joining United Learning, Kate worked in Local Authority schools from 2009, where she developed her expertise in school business management and administration. This early experience gave her a solid grounding in the operational challenges and opportunities within the education sector.

Kate is passionate about driving efficiency, supporting school leaders, and making a meaningful impact on the educational experience of young people.

Sarah joined United Learning in 2020 and works in the central Professional Development Team. She leads on projects to support the development and progression of business support staff. Her areas of work include Business Manager development, central office training, and support for Group-wide networks. Sarah is committed to ensuring that business support staff have access to high quality CPD, including introducing and managing tailored agendas for business support staff at the BiE Induction Conference.

Marie Sugarman built her career in the Financial Services sector as a Learning and Development Consultant, Quality Manager and Head of Communications, advocating continuous improvement at all stages.

Marie joined United Learning as Strategic Communications Manager at the start of summer 2021, where her initial focus was supporting the promotion of the DfE's EdTech Demonstrator Programme. Marie is responsible for the internal communications strategy, improving collaboration across teams and departments and championing best practice for communication-based activities.

Mel has been Principal of Salford City Academy since April 2017 which has improved significantly under her leadership. More recently, Mel has been appointed as an Executive Principal (North) and is currently working with Principals in Lancashire to provide leadership support. Mel has delivered leadership sessions on radical candor and challenging conversations to aspiring leaders both in teaching and support roles; she is passionate about providing leadership opportunities for both staff and students. 

Louise joined United Learning in June 2014 having previously worked at Travelex, the leading global foreign exchange provider, most recently leading their Shared Service Finance centre in Peterborough, managing the UK and European finance, operational and facilities teams.

Louise qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998 training at PwC, managing the audits of both private and public sector clients.

Louise is now responsible for the financial management of the United Learning group together with company secretarial and legal governance, group procurement and freedom of information compliance.

She is also a governor at her local primary school.