Trustees
Miss Joy Buchan (Chairman)
Joy had a long and successful career in the Civil Service starting in the Ministry of Defence, moving through the Land Registry to the Cabinet Office and Office of Public and Civil Service in Whitehall. Her career included working in procurement and supply, conveyancing, computer system analysis and design programming, and implementation and purchases. When in Whitehall she was involved with Machinery of Government, Personnel Policy and her final post was as Senior Finance Officer.
Following retirement she was involved with the Industrial Society in a research project for young people aged 12-25 through which she became involved with Dunottar. She was invited to become a Trustee in 1996 and has been Chairman since 2001.
Mrs Andrea Gabb
Born and educated in Yorkshire, Andrea lived in South Africa for 10 years during her twenties, working for architects and consulting engineers. On return home she worked for 3M and Video Arts (the John Cleese training company) where she did a training qualification with the Institute for Training and Development. In 1997 she started her own training consultancy business working for a number of different clients, and also for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development who use her to run some of their public courses, and to run tailored courses for their own corporate clients. She also works for an American consultancy called Blessing White on some of their senior development projects.
Married with two sons, she was a Governor of Westcott First School for 11 years, 4 of them as Chair of Governors.
She is a member of the committee of Dorking NADFAS, and has just been elected as Area Trainer for the East Surrey Area of NADFAS. Andrea is also a member of Kingston Inner Wheel, having recently been President. She became a Trustee of Dunottar in 2007.
Mrs Derry-Anne Hammond
Having graduated with a BSc in Environmental Studies and Education, Derry-Anne went to Nottingham Trent to study for the Diploma in Careers Guidance. On qualifying she worked for Sutton Careers Service for five years before moving to Surrey Careers Services. She first visited Dunottar in 1995, and then spent seven years (one day a week) as the school Careers Adviser.
In 2002 she moved to VT Careers Management as Information Services Manager, managing information provision for all Careers Centres in Surrey, West Sussex, Buckinghamshire and London East. Her role also involves training staff on resources and software purchased and producing publications for young people and their parents/carers.
She accepted the invitation to join the Board of Trustees in 2004.
Derry-Anne has a very active life outside work. Her main passion is sport. She loves rugby union and has a season ticket at London Wasps. She is a qualified cricket umpire and has officiated at junior county level.
Mr David Martin
David was educated at Marlborough College and graduated from Cambridge in mechanical sciences. He finished his professional training as a civil engineer with consulting firm Rendel Palmer & Tritton, working in design offices and construction sites in the UK, Iran, Jordan and Australia. Most of his professional career was spent with BP, working on port facilities worldwide and then on the planning, construction and operation of offshore oilfield facilities, mainly in the North Sea. He went on to head up the Engineering Department of BP’s Aberdeen office, supporting all their UK production operations. Since leaving BP he has gone on to work in a variety of roles including teaching and tutoring, management recruitment and training and financial management for small businesses.
He has lived in Redhill for 38 years. His daughter Susanna was at Dunottar from 1981 – 1987 where she was selected for the South of England U18 lacrosse team before going on to take up a place at university. David joined Dunottar as a Trustee in 2001. He is Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
He is keenly involved in a local amatuer dramatic society, plays golf and tennis, skis and sails and is President of his cricket club. His wife is a stained glass artist.
Miss Stephanie Pattenden
Stephanie was educated at St Anne’s College, Sanderstead. After graduating in Mathematics from the University of Durham in 1972 she went on to qualify as a teacher at King’s College, London. She started her career at Harrow County Girls’ School and went on to teach at St Paul’s Girls’ School before moving to Lady Eleanor Holles School as Head of Mathematics and Sixth Form. In 1992 she took up the post of Deputy Head of South Hampstead High School. Since 1997 she has held her current position as Headmistress at Francis Holland School, Sloane Square. She became a Trustee in 2002.
Mr Nicholas Pinks
Nicholas has lived south of the Thames since 1987, when he moved to join a large firm of Solicitors in Reigate, having formerly both lived and worked in Hertfordshire. He is still a Solicitor in private practice where he specialises in Probate, Trusts, Wills and Tax and is now senior partner of a small firm with offices in both Reigate and Westerham.
He was appointed a Trustee of Dunottar in June 1999 when John Staddon was still Chairman of the Trustees and Margaret Skinner was Headmistress. Amongst his other roles he is a Trustee of the Ditchling Museum in Sussex.
He lives in Nutfield and has three children. In his spare time he enjoys travelling, gardening, opera and supporting Newcastle United Football Club.
He is the Trustee with special responsibility for Child Protection matters.
Mr Trevor Seckel
Trevor was born and educated in the North of England and moved to London in the early 1970's where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst working for BDO Binder Hamlyn in the City. He then moved into industry and became Chief Accountant of part of a UK based group of publicly quoted companies. Returning to private practice in 1977 he joined Alfred Simmons and Company Chartered Accountants in Redhill, becoming a partner in 1980 and senior partner in 1985. He has been closely involved with Dunottar since 1984 initially as accountant and Clerk to the Trustees and for a time as acting Bursar. He withdrew as Clerk in 1990 on becoming the school's Auditor. He was invited to join the Board of Trustees in 1999 on retiring from public practice. Trevor is a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the Chartered Accountants Livery Company. He still acts as a business consultant. His interests are many and varied but principally include choral singing and racing classic sports cars.
Mrs Margaret Young
Margaret was educated at Queen Elizabeth College, Mauritius and Welwyn Garden City Grammar School. She has a diploma in Institutional Management from the National Society’s Domestic Science College in London and holds the Royal Society of Health’s Advanced Hygiene Certificate. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality FIH, a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health FRSPH and a member of the British Institute of Cleaning Sciences. Most of her working life has been spent in the hospitality industry in roles ranging from assistant domestic bursar initially to senior management positions with major contract caterers and with the United States Air Force. In 1992 she set up her own catering and housekeeping consultancy and has worked on hundreds of projects, including several for independent schools. She is a former Branch Secretary of the Oxford, Berks and Bucks Branch of the HCIMA. She has chaired schools conferences on ‘Women in Management’ for the Industrial Society and acted as group leader for them on their ‘Challenge of Management’ courses. She has served on committees for a number of clubs, including the Royal London Yacht Club. Margaret is a keen motorcyclist, glider pilot, sailor and gardener. She became a Trustee of Dunottar in 2004.
Neil Wood
"Neil Wood spent 25 years in the Army before becoming finance director of a small engineering firm for three years and then spending a further three years as the assistant bursar, responsible for estates matters, at Dunottar. Subsequently, in 1999, he became bursar and clerk to the governors at Walthamstow Hall, an independent girls school in Sevenoaks. He retired at the end of 2011 to devote more time to his role as chairman of an athletic club and to the campaigns of the first Duke of Wellington. He is also a trustee of the European School of Osteopathy."