Governing Body
Mr Philip Howell
ACIB, AMP (Harvard)
Chair of Governors, Finance & General Purposes Committee
Philip is Executive Chairman of The Openwork Partnership, one of the UK’s largest financial advice networks comprising over 800 professional practices. Prior to joining Openwork, he was Chief Executive of the FTSE 250 listed wealth manager Rathbones.
Following an early military career, Philip enjoyed a 24 year career with Barclays, primarily in investment banking and wealth management. This also included assignments as Regional CEO in Asia and subsequently South Africa. He returned to the UK as Head of Strategy & Corporate Development. Following his time with Barclays, Philip has focused on the wealth management and financial advice sector for over 20 years, serving as Chief Executive of Fortis Private Banking, Williams de Broe, Rathbones and Openwork.
Philip is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Programme and is the proud father of three former OBH pupils, for whom the school is etched as their happiest years.
Caroline Coates
Deputy Chair, Governing Body of Rugby School
Caroline is the Deputy Chair of the Rugby School Governing Body, with a particular focus on the Group’s prep schools. She is a current parent of children at Rugby School and also Bilton Grange, where she was previously a governor before the merger with Rugby School. She is Head of In-House Legal at Oxbotica, an autonomous vehicles technology business, having spent 25+ years as a lawyer in private practice, lastly as Executive Partner at DWF. Caroline is also a non-executive director of BHSF Group and a Governor of the Ronald McDonald House Birmingham charity.
Mrs Camilla Ewart
BSc (Hons), LLB (Hons)
Local Board Member
Camilla studied Agricultural Business Management at Wye College, before spending 10 years in Institutional Equity Sales, covering the US stock market. Camilla then became a Freight Derivatives broker at GFI Group, before a return to education to study Law. Camilla practised briefly as a barrister, specialising in the financial element of family law. The arrival of her second daughter brought a change of focus, resulting in a family move back to Suffolk. Prior to having children, Camilla was an enthusiastic point to point jockey, and more recently has enjoyed trialling and working her cocker spaniels. Both daughters are keen members of the Essex & Suffolk Pony Club.
Camilla joined the Board in 2019.
Mr Paul Ferguson
Local Board Member
Paul was brought up in an RAF family so travelled widely growing up and was educated at Grace Dieu Manor then Ratcliffe College in Leicestershire, before going on to read History and Italian at Warwick University followed by law school in York. He trained at international law firm, Clifford Chance and then was a Managing Director at Citi in London. He is currently a senior lawyer at Bloomberg based in London and New York overseeing News, Employment and Litigation matters globally.
Paul is an assistant girls cricket coach at Copdock and Old Ipswichians and he and his wife Sophie, are devoted cricket fans. He and Sophie and his family of three (all former or current OBH pupils) moved to Suffolk in 2008 and now live in Groton.
Charlotte Marten
Director of Safeguarding, Rugby School
Charlotte is the Director of Safeguarding for Rugby Group. She is responsible for co-ordinating and developing safeguarding practice across the group's schools. She is a former headteacher and has worked in both the state and the independent sectors. Charlotte is a past governor at Rugby School, and is currently the Chair of the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools and sits on the board of ISC.
Gareth Parker-Jones
Head Master, Rugby School
Gareth is the Head Master of the Rugby School. He has operational responsibility for the leadership and management of Rugby School. Gareth has worked in HMC schools for more than 20 years. He has worked at Rugby since 2015, initially as Deputy Head (Academic) and as Head Master from 2020.
Dean White
COO, Rugby School
Dean is the Chief Operating Officer of the Rugby School Group. He is responsible for the leadership of the operational and professional functions across the Group, including finance, HR, IT, property and estates; and is also heavily involved in Rugby’s strategy for growing a group of UK schools. Dean has been a ‘Bursar’ in the independent sector for 11 years having worked in two other HMC schools, and is a Chartered Accountant by background.
Mr Fergus Wells
Local Board Member
Fergus lives in Suffolk. Having attended Orwell Park School and St Edward’s, Oxford, he read Modern Languages at Bristol University. As an undergraduate, Fergus organised and participated in sponsor-funded mountaineering and travel expeditions. As a result, Fergus has a mountain named after him and his brother has two Guinness World Records in respect of exploring (but now only three toes)! Fergus is fluent in French, Spanish and Italian.
Having trained at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Chartered Accountant, Fergus specialised in personal and corporate tax. He has since gained financial experience in diverse sectors: from online gambling, industrial property development, to manufacturing. He has also acquired broad management experience in small to medium-sized businesses, and is a partner of his family farm partnership in Suffolk.
Fergus enjoys providing financial oversight to senior business executives, and has fulfilled a number of non-executive support roles throughout his career to date. He has advised Construction, HR, Financial Services and Engineering businesses.
Fergus joined the Board in January 2023.