Bellenden

Dr. John Dunford OBE

Specialist Associate and education sector expert

One of Bellenden’s leading specialists in the field of education, skills and wider public services reform, Dr. John Dunford served as General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders between 1998 and 2010, having previously served in senior leadership roles at a number of state schools, including for 16 years as the head of an 11-18 school with 1500 pupils in Durham.

A member of the advisory board of TSL Education, he is also chair of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, Whole Education, and the charity WorldWide Volunteering and also sits as a trustee / board member for a number of national organisations including Teach First, Future Leaders, the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services and the charity, Education for All.

During the autumn of 2010, John conducted an independent review of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education. He also acts as an adviser to the House of Commons Education Select Committee.

He was a member of the Councils of Durham and Nottingham Universities for 11 and 6 years respectively and was a member of the Local Government Association’s Commission on the Organisation of the School Year.

John Lakin

Specialist Associate and education management expert

John is a leading strategic adviser in education management having worked in the education sector for over 30 years, 22 as a consultant.  He was until recently the partner leading Education Consulting for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he also led the wider Public Policy, Research and Economics capability.  He has worked across all sectors of education and advised the UK government, national agencies, universities, colleges and local authorities.  He has also worked internationally for the World Bank, the European Commission and the Hong Kong Government.

Recent clients include Universities UK for a review of shared services within universities, BIS for national evaluation of RDAs, and DfE for a review of Academies and BSF.  He has also represented business interests on Business in the Community and on other Education Business Partnership bodies.

Prior to entering consultancy, he was a local authority officer in inner London and an adviser to the leader of the ILEA.

Linda Beers

Associate

Linda has over 30 years experience in strategic communications consultancy, 26 of them at the helm of Inform Communications, Belfast which she established in 1984. 

Linda offers clients an in-depth understanding of the Northern Ireland political, government, business, environmental, and social agenda.  Her client list spans the private, public and voluntary sectors and over the years Linda has advised on and managed many highly complex and often controversial communications issues in Northern Ireland.

In addition to her professional work, Linda is a Trustee of the National Museums for Northern Ireland and works with a number of charitable organisations on a voluntary basis including the Ulster Orchestra, Crimestoppers NI, the SOS Bus NI and the Lord’s Taverners.

Mary Derrane MCIPR

Associate

Mary has over 30 years experience in public affairs, media and internal communications and is one of Bellenden’s team of experienced associates.

For 15 years she worked for Pfizer Ltd as Communications Manager. She then went on to spend eight years as a public affairs consultant working primarily on local government and education clients.

Mary was a senior Labour councillor on Thanet District Council for 12 years. In addition, she was a non-executive director of her local hospital trust for six years and also served as a non-executive director of Technology Enterprise Kent until November 2009.