Natalie Harling has lived in the Lake District for over 22 years now, having lived previously in the South of England and the Alps. As Director of Business Development for The Outward Bound Trust, an Educational Charity focused on supporting young people to unlock their potential through learning and adventure in the wild. Natalie has spent the past 19 years working within the Education system and a wide range of Senior Leadership Teams across schools in England, Scotland and Wales. She has vast experience of Marketing and Sales strategies and practical experience of implementation. Natalie has had one child who has completed their education at Hunter Hall and another in Upper school.

Despite being born a Yorkshireman, Gerard has made Cumbria his home. He has two children, one who has completed their education at Hunter Hall and the other who is currently in Upper school. Gerard is a consultant eye surgeon who works in the NHS and has his own business providing private eye care under Lakeland Vision Ltd. In his role in the NHS he has been the Clinical Director for the Ophthalmology service for North Cumbria. He is well acquainted in the regulatory role of large and small institutions. Gerard is the Chair of the Oversight and Training sub-committee.

Sam Hart joined Giggleswick School as the Headmaster in January 2022. Having studied Mechanical Engineering with Management at the University of Edinburgh, he served as an Army Air Corps pilot before moving to Winchester College in 2008 as a Physics teacher. During his time at Winchester, he was Head of Sport, the Contingent Commander of the Combined Cadet Force, and a housemaster. Throughout, he was actively involved as a trustee for the Lotus Flower Trust, fundraising for, and leading expeditions to remote parts of Northern India supporting disadvantaged children. Prior to starting at Giggleswick, he was a governor of a grammar school in Kent.

Peter has been a school leader and teacher in state and independent, charitable and for-profit sectors in the UK and Asia. He has 25 years’ experience in leading organisational development in very different, dynamic, competitive environments and has also set up a Prep school. 

Outside his school responsibilities Peter has served as education advisor to The London Stock Exchange, The Financial Times and the Ministry of Education in Thailand. He has written textbooks on economics, business studies, technology in schools, writes on educational matters in the UK and overseas and has been a keynote speaker to school governors at the CBI and Institute of Directors. Abroad he has lectured to Heads and teachers in Poland, Russia the Caucasus and Asia about leadership and safeguarding. His education projects have included creating an online tuition college, an anti-bullying app, an online bank for schools and stock market resources used by 100,00 pupils annually. 


A graduate of Liverpool, Leeds and The Open University Peter was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His wife’s family moved to the village of Bolton in the early 1990s and this has been a point of stability and a second home during his career. He returned to the UK in 2020 and has taken on a number of new education projects including being Interim Executive Head of Windermere School in 2021.

Tony Roberts was born in North Wales and attended a number of schools as the family moved around with his father’s job. He finished his education in Norwich before starting his working life in the Hotel and Catering industry as an Assistant Hotel Manager in Bedford and Cambridge. He then joined the family catering business with 6 outlets around Norfolk and 50 franchised units across the country. Having sold out a few years later, he went back into industry, focusing on Project Management, Finance and Information Technology. During this time he worked abroad on feasibility studies for Government.
He was a founder member of Learn Direct and Learn Direct Higher Education and opened the first Business Link in Lincolnshire. He was also a founder of Lincoln University when it was just an idea with the CBI and then became a Pro Vice-Chancellor looking after relationships with industrial and local authority partners. He also established a wide-area network of outreach learning centres across Lincolnshire, providing access to higher education in rural locations.

It was time for a break, taking five years out living in various locations around Europe before returning to the United Kingdom where he joined Sedbergh School just for something to do, but 15 years later, he is now the Bursar for Compliance & IT and spends a great deal of time talking to parents about the School and their changing circumstances as their children matriculate through the school.

He sees Hunter Hall School as an exciting opportunity to bring some of the above experiences to bear for the benefit of the School and its staff.

  

Nicola has been part of Hunter Hall School since 2008, with two older children having worked their way through the school and who are now enjoying the delights of Keswick School. Her youngest child is in Lower school.  Born in the North East, she moved to Cumbria in 1996.  She has spent 13 years as a HR Professional, at store, Area and Regional level.  Following the birth of her first child, Nicola has worked in the family business which comprises of the processing and sale of Firewood, Agricultural Contacting, farming and the renovation of properties.  Plenty to keep her busy!  Nicola Chairs our Estates Committee, is part of the Health and Safety Committee and is our Early Years Governor.

    

John was brought up in the Eden Valley and has lived in Penrith since his early twenties. After attending Austin Friars School in Carlisle he joined the family Civil Engineering & Road Surfacing business. Wanting to get experience of life at the sharp end he started work in the road gangs & over the next 25 years worked his way up to the top of the business to work alongside his Father. Having built the business up to a substantial size they sold it to Hanson Plc, a global quarry materials company, in 2004. Working at a senior level in Hanson for 3 years John gained great experience of management within a FTSE100 company.

Following 5 years jointly managing a house building firm John then decided to set up his own alternative lending business. After the financial crisis of 2008 he saw a gap in the market and PallisterCo now provides invaluable funding for small to medium sized businesses, mainly in the home construction sector, across the north of England.

John also manages a number of investment portfolios so has a good understanding of finance and the markets which all helps in his role on the Finance committee.

Having had his youngest two children at Hunter Hall, John has a passion to help the board drive the school forward to build on the success it has seen to date.

  

Laura grew up in Windermere and  was educated in the independent sector. She joined Cumbria Police in 2002 and is currently the Penrith problem solving Sergeant. In her role she works closely with the local safeguarding board which lends itself to her position as safeguarding governor.
Laura has a child at Hunter Hall in Upper school.

   

Tracey has lived and worked in the local area for over 30 years and has always been a Human Resource Manager.  She has worked in the Logistics sector, Interiors and Chartered Accountancy.  Tracey has two children now at university but both who attended Hunter Hall School.

   

Gemma Bullimore returned to her home county of Cumbria eight years ago after a ten year career in London specialising in PR for furniture, product design and architecture. She took a sabbatical year in 2004 to participate in volunteer work in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami. Gemma then went on to work at her family business in Manchester in a Sales & Marketing role before becoming Managing Director which she ran for nine years. 

She has studied at Cumbria College of Art & Design and Teesside University where she gained a BA (hons) in Product Design and Marketing.

She now helps her husband run Smart Show Homes Ltd, a technology business based in Eden Hall, Penrith and has two children at Hunter Hall.