Venturers Trust appoints new CEO

David Watson OBE, has been appointed CEO of Venturers Trust. David is currently Chief Executive Officer and Executive Principal of Changing Lives in Collaboration Trust, based in Manchester, a position he has held since 2016.

A highly experienced educationalist, David’s career to date has included headships in both Birmingham and Manchester. In parallel to this, he has held leader and director-level positions for national and regional educational bodies, as well as being an Ofsted inspector. His strong track record of success delivering positive impact at school, system, local, regional and national level, saw him awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List for services to education.

Throughout his career, David has successfully delivered sustained improvement in both pupil and Ofsted outcomes. He also has a keen interest in developing leadership programmes to encourage and nurture highly effective leaders and staff, alongside a values-led approach to driving strategy, where all stakeholders play their part.

David said: “I believe that we can change the lives of children through the transformative value of education. This aligns with the clear vision and mission of Venturers Trust which address disadvantage and seek to ensure that all pupils receive a truly inspiring education. The Trust has two highly engaged and committed sponsors and by harnessing the full capability of their expertise and forging valuable new partnerships, together we can implement a strategy that significantly improves the life chances of young people.”

Chair of Trustees for Venturers Trust, Gail Bragg, said: “We are delighted that David will be joining Venturers Trust in January. He is an innovative, inspirational leader with a successful track record of driving organisational improvement and implementing best practice. Our leadership team is of a very high calibre, with Academy Principals who are collaborative and ambitious and who see no limits to what our students can achieve. David’s appointment comes at an exciting time for the Trust, as we move forward into the next phase of development.”