Board of Trustees
Meet the incredible group of people that give their time and expertise to help govern the SS Great Britain Trust, ensuring it has a vibrant and sustainable future.
Matthew Jones: Chair
With a wealth of non-executive board experience as well as key leadership positions, Matthew brings extensive expertise to the SS Great Britain Trust. Over a 30 year career Matthew has played pivotal roles within the global pharmaceutical sector, including as founder member of a renowned UK biotech company. His background includes guiding early and mid-stage founder technology companies as both an investor and mentor. He has overseen complex transformational programmes, also serving as a board observer for several growth-focused healthcare-related spin-out companies. Matthew maintains close relationships with Private Equity and is a special advisor at Vitruvian Partners.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Matthew is deeply committed to charitable causes and serves as a Magistrate. He has made significant contributions to developing sports opportunities for young people, focusing on principles, values, and ethics. Born and educated in Bristol, Matthew has a passion for the SS Great Britain Trust’s role around inclusion and diversity, and in tackling inequality in access to STEM careers for young people from all backgrounds.
Sam Mullins OBE: Vice Chair
Sam, BA (Oxon), AMA, FMA, FSA, FRSA was appointed to the Board in June 2015.
Surrounded by the past as a boy, Sam was always going to be a historian. His mother’s family, originally from Bristol, ran Hodges & Son, Exeter engineers, while his father was a Salisbury antique dealer of great judgment and business acumen. Working in museums since the late 1970s in Shropshire, Leicestershire, St. Albans and now London, Sam’s career has been founded on an instinct to share his own fascination with the narratives and material from the past with Brunel’s SS Great Britain’s visitors and users.
Of the SS Great Britain he says: “As a historian who has worked in museums since the late 1970s, the opportunity to contribute to the extraordinary story of Brunel and especially his iconic SS Great Britain, is a singular honour.”
Ed Rowberry: Hon. Treasurer
Ed is Founding Chief Executive of Bristol and Bath Regional Capital, an Impact Investment Company operating in the South West since 2015. Prior to this, Ed qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG with subsequent roles working in the field of property development and investment at Lend Lease and after that as a Finance Director of a Local Housing Association.
Ed is a Pension Trustee of the Bristol Zoological Society and is Co-opted to the Board of Black South West Network. Ed has previously volunteered as Chair of Bath based Housing Charity, Julian House.
Ed is married with a son and enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing guitar, walking in the countryside with their dog, and good food. “The SS Great Britain is a strategic and iconic asset to Bristol and the West of England and I am honoured to serve as a Trustee. My wife and I were fortunate enough to hold our wedding reception on the ship and so this is a place that is close to my heart.”
Sarah Staniforth
Sarah Staniforth is President Emeritus of IIC (International Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works) following six years as President from 2013-2019. She is a Trustee of the Science Museum Group, Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation and Holst Birthplace Trust and a member of Historic England Historic Estates Conservation Committee, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust Conservation Review Committee and Gloucester Diocesan Advisory Committee. Sarah is also a Professor in Practice in the Archaeology Department Durham University, a Director of the Landmark Trust Lundy Company and the Historic House Hotels of the National Trust. She is a Fellow of IIC, the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society of Arts.
Sarah held a number of director roles at the National Trust between 1985 and 2014. Sarah was educated at Oxford University where she read Chemistry, and the Courtald Institute of Art, London where she received a Diploma in Easel Paintings Conservation.
Emma Millington
Emma came to Bristol in 1995 to read Ancient History at University of Bristol. After falling in love with the city decided to stay.
Following graduation, her early career was a mix of service driven and sales focused roles. Today, Emma is owner, MD and Head of Customer Relations at Modular Digital a customer experience consultancy based in Bristol specialising in the creation of bespoke customer centred websites, apps and communications for organisations looking to make an impact on a local or global scale.
Outside of work, Emma is mum to an energetic and curious boy who loves nothing more than questioning how things work, discovering new things, and generally being amazed by the world.
Muir Macdonald
Muir is a freelance strategic adviser with a portfolio of paid and voluntary roles. After 30 years in the Ministry of Defence, principally designing, fixing and buying submarines, and occasionally aircraft and ships, he stepped down to become Managing Director of BMT Defence Services.
He led this company (an employee benefit trust, affectionately known as ‘the John Lewis of defence’) for 9 years, organically doubling its size to £50m and seeing it win a Queens Award for Enterprise and a ‘Sunday Time Best Company to Work For’. Muir is a professional Naval Architect, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Chartered Director and an alumnus of University College London, Oxford University Business Summer School, and the Royal College of Defence Studies.
He lives in Bath surrounded by Brunel’s works, considering IKB to be, “one of my engineering heroes, and the SS Great Britain one of his most sublime achievements”.
Caroline Duckworth
Caroline Duckworth DL became Treasurer (de facto Chief Executive) of The Society of Merchant Venturers (SMV) in November 2015. SMV is a social purpose, membership organisation whose objectives are to improve social inclusion across Greater Bristol, and to help resolve the structural, social, and economic inequalities in the region.
Caroline had spent the previous 18 years working in the Charitable Sector, most recently as CEO of Quartet Community Foundation and prior to that as Managing Director of Common Purpose UK. Caroline started her career, following a degree at Aberdeen University, by joining Habitat as a graduate management trainee. Caroline is a Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire, and in her personal capacity a Governor of Wycliffe College, a Trustee of the J&M Britton Trust, Trustee of the Mrs GB Trust and a Trustee of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum. She is married to Jonathan and together they have two adult children.
Georgie Power
Georgie Power is a digital strategy and delivery specialist with over 15 years’ experience leading large-scale digital transformation programmes across sectors including retail, engineering, food and beverage, and travel. She brings expertise in digital innovation, smart working practices, eCommerce, user experience, and a passion for using technology to tell stories and create meaningful connections.
Georgie has lived in Bristol for 15 years and raised her two sons in the city. Her love of history has grown over the years, and she’s proud to support the SS Great Britain’s mission to inspire curiosity, preserve heritage, and champion innovation.
As a trustee, Georgie is particularly excited to contribute to the charity’s digital vision as it evolves from a much-loved visitor attraction into a global educational and cultural brand.
Sean Taggart
Sean Taggart is a Trustee and Chair of the Enterprises Board. An experienced leader in the leisure and tourism sector, he is the Founder of The Group Travel Company, trading as Leisuretime by Toureasy, and a long-standing Director at the European Tour Operators Association. Sean previously spent more than two decades leading The Albatross Group as CEO and owner, growing the business through innovation, acquisitions and strategic leadership. He brings strong commercial acumen, governance experience and a passion for sustainable tourism.
Peaches Golding OBE
As His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant, Peaches Golding OBE is His Majesty The King’s personal representative for the County and City of Bristol. Her main duties are to support The King and Royal Family in all that they do, and to connect the Palaces to the City.
Peaches is the independent chair of the Bristol Water Customer Challenge Panel, non-executive consultant of Moon Executive Search, a Trustee of the SS Great Britain and a Trustee of the Bristol Zoological Society. She was England’s first black female High Sheriff in over a thousand years serving the County and City of Bristol.
She was awarded the OBE in 2009 for services to minority ethnic people in the South West, an honorary MBA by the University of the West of England (UWE) in 2010, an honorary Doctorate of the University by UWE in 2017, and a Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Bristol in 2018.
Kelvin Blake
Kelvin Blake is an experienced non-executive director and board level leader. Up until very recently (June 2018), he led some of the largest and most complex programmes for BT and their customers, as well as sitting as a board member on BT’s South West regional board. He has experience in the NHS, having spent six years on the board of United Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. Kelvin is also currently a non-executive director of North Bristol NHS Trust, BrisDoc and of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative (BCCI). He is also a charity trustee of WECIL and Second Step.