Trustees

Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE DL, Chair

Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE DL is a British former media executive, author, and cultural chair. Sir Nicholas was appointed Chair of Historic Royal Palaces by His Majesty the King in September 2023, for a three-year term beginning 1 November 2023.

Sir Nicholas was Chair of the V&A Museum from 2015 to 2023. During his tenure, the V&A embarked on a major expansion adding four new sites to its portfolio including V&A Dundee and Young V&A, while laying the groundwork for the opening of V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse in 2025.

Sir Nicholas was previously President of Condé Nast International. He is currently chairman of the Campaign for Wool (established by HM King Charles III as Prince of Wales), an ambassador for the Landmark Trust, and a patron of the Elephant Family. He has also been Chairman of the British Fashion Council and of the Professional Publishers Association, a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art, and a member of the Trading Board of The Prince's Trust. He co-chaired the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in 2022 and was knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries.

Professor Michael Wood OBE

Michael Wood is a historian and film maker who for forty years has brought history alive for viewers and readers in Britain, the US and worldwide. He is the author of highly praised and bestselling books on English history including number one best sellers In Search of the Dark Ages, Domesday, and The Story of England. He has made 120 documentary films, among them In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great and The Story of India, which the Wall Street Journal described as ‘the gold standard’ of documentary history making’.

Michael has written widely on British history. His special academic interest is in Anglo-Saxon history, and the origins of the English monarchy and state in the tenth century. He also has a long-term interest in Shakespeare – his many films include a highly praised four-part series for BBC 2: In Search of Shakespeare

Michael is currently Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester. He is a recipient of the Historical Association’s Medlicott Medal for ‘Outstanding Services and current contributions to History.’ He recently received the British Academy President’s Medal for services to History and outreach.

Born in Manchester, Michael lives in North London with his partner the producer/director Rebecca Dobbs: they have two daughters.

General Sir Gordon Messenger, KCB DSO* OBE DL

General Messenger retired as the UK’s Vice Chief of Defence Staff in 2019, after over 36 years’ service in the Royal Marines. His career was notable for becoming the first Royal Marine to be promoted to 4* rank for over 50 years, and the first member of the naval service to be awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order since the Korean War. As Vice Chief of Defence Staff from 2016-2019, he was the second most senior military officer in the UK, responsible for the day-to-day management of the Armed Forces.

Since retiring, he has managed a portfolio career. He is a Board member of QinetiQ plc, on the Advisory Board of the Leadership College of Government and the UK Health Security Agency, the UK’s representative on the Ukraine Defence Reform Advisory Board, and a member of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration. In November 2021 he was commissioned to conduct a review of leadership and management in Health and Social Care which was published in June 2022.

Camilla Finlay

Camilla graduated with Honours degree and diploma in Architecture in 2001 from the Mackintosh School of Architecture. After completing her Masters she joined the London offices of Terry Farrell & Partners and worked on a range of architectural and masterplanning projects including the redevelopment of Regents Place.

Camilla moved to Oxfordshire in 2006 and joined Acanthus Clews Architects. She became a Company Director in 2008. Since joining ACA her focus has been on the conservation, repair, development and management of historic buildings, particularly places of worship and English Heritage sites. She is an Accredited Architect in Building Conservation (AABC).

Camilla was appointed to the post of Cathedral Architect to Exeter Cathedral in 2012 and Surveyor to the Fabric of Worcester Cathedral in 2014. She is a member of the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England (CFCE). Significant architectural projects include Mucknell Abbey, a sustainable monastery for the Anglican OSB Community, that received the 2011 EASA President’s Award and the conversion of the Undercroft at Worcester Cathedral into a Centre of Learning that received the 2021 Architects Journal Retrofit Award.

Camilla’s family life and work are closely linked. She is married to David, a fellow Director at ACA and they have two children Thomas and Isaac.

Tim Knox

Tim Knox was appointed Director of the Royal Collection by HM The Queen in 2018. Previous to that he was Director and Marlay Curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum between 2013 and 2018, where he made a number of important acquisitions and planned the Museum's masterplan, New Ways In. He was Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in London between 2005 and 2013. Here he restored Sir John Soane’s glittering architectural treasury to its appearance in 1837, just as its founder wished, and converted the neighbouring houses to provide facilities for the museum.

Brought up in Nigeria and Fiji, he studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was Assistant Curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings Collection 1989-95, and moved to the National Trust, first as its Architectural Historian, becoming its Head Curator in 2002. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a Member of the Society of Dilettanti. He is Co-Patron of the Mausolea and Monuments Trust, which he helped found and Chaired 2000-2004. He currently sits on the Advisory Committee of the NHMF and is a Director of Yale University Press.

He regularly lectures and writes on aspects of architecture, sculpture and the history of collecting. Publications include Sir John Soane’s Museum London (2010), and The British Ambassador’s Residence Paris (2011).

Sir Michael Stevens CVO, Deputy Chairman

Sir Michael Stevens is Keeper of the Privy Purse, Receiver General of the Duchy of Lancaster. He is also a Trustee of The Royal Collection Trust and the Military Knights of Windsor.

Sir Michael was Finance Director of The Royal Collection Trust from 1995 to 2014. He was a Governor and Member of Council, King Edward VII Sister Agnes Hospital from 2010 - 2019 and Chairman of the hospital's Audit and Investment Committee 2013-2019.

Formerly a Senior Manager with KPMG, his career included working in the UK and the Middle East between 1979 and 1995.

Sir Michael became Deputy Chairman of Trustees for Historic Royal Palaces in May 2019.

Sarah Jenkins

Sarah is the incoming Managing Director of Saatchi and Saatchi London, one of the biggest and most successful agencies in the UK, clients include BT, HSBC, Direct Line Group, Visa and Proctor & Gamble

Previously she held the positions of Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Account Management at Grey London, where she was responsible for some of the agency’s flagship accounts - including the British Heart Foundation. Across her advertising career she has driven marketing activity for organisations as diverse as Mars, GlaxoSmithKline, Virgin Media and the Home Office, delivering campaigns across TV, print, PR, activation, direct marketing and tech.

A champion of creativity, in particular within schools, Sarah is also the co-founder of the Advertising Diversity Taskforce (ADT); a collective of the UK's most progressive advertising and media agencies. The ADT work together to create legacy initiatives to make advertising and marketing a more accessible place for people from diverse backgrounds and to drive greater diversity within campaigns.

Sarah is a regular speaker, news commentator and industry panellist. She has been recognised with numerous accolades including a Fellowship from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).

Dr. Jo Twist OBE

Jo is CEO of Ukie, the trade body for UK games and interactive entertainment, making the UK the best place in the world to make, sell and play games. She is also Deputy Chair of the British Screen Advisory Council, London Tech Ambassador, Chair of the BAFTA Games Committee and BAFTA Trustee, an Ambassador on the Mayor of London’s Cultural Leadership Board, and Creative Industries Council member.

In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for services to the creative industries and won the MCV 30 Women in Games award for Outstanding Contribution. She won MCV Industry Hero in 2019 and Devcom Hero for Leadership in the European games industry in 2019. She is a VP for games and accessibility charity, SpecialEffect and the government’s Sector Champion for Disabilities.

Previously, Jo was Channel 4 Education Commissioning Editor where she commissioned Digital Emmy-winning Battlefront II (not the game), free to play browser and iOS games and social media projects. Jo was Multiplatform Commissioner for BBC Entertainment & Switch, BBC Three Multiplatform Channel Editor, and technology reporter for BBC News.

Her doctorate in the late 1990s was an ethnography exploring identity and concepts of difference in place based and virtual communities. In 2018 Jo was awarded an Honorary Visiting Professorship by Ravensbourne University.

Lisa Burger CBE

Lisa Burger is a leader of the UK theatre sector and theatre producer. She stepped down as Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre in mid-April 2022 after a 20 year career during which she has been instrumental in expanding the NT’s reach. From establishing NT Live in 2009, the creation of NT at Home during the pandemic, reaching record levels of nationwide NT touring and founding the Theatre Nation Partnerships network, ensuring that the widest possible audience can engage with the highest quality theatre wherever they live has been a central focus for her.

Lisa played a key role in the growth of the National Theatre’s commercial work, including as producer of Broadway transfers such as the Tony Award-winning Angels in America, Network, and in October 2021 Lehman and Nationwide tours of War Horse and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

Lisa read Music at Sheffield University and after graduating qualified as a chartered accountant in her home town of Cardiff. Lisa worked at the Royal Opera House from 1987 to 1997 and then moved to the National Gallery Company. Lisa was Chair of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith from 2018-2022. Lisa has an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Sheffield University, was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Years Honours and a Special Recognition Olivier Award by the Society of London Theatres in April 2022.