Board of Governors

Mrs Flynn studied French and German at university and went on to obtain a PGCE, followed by a Masters degree in Education.  For ten years, she taught French and German at secondary level, becoming Head of Modern Languages.  Her three children all attended Lady Barn before progressing to Manchester Grammar and Withington Girls’ School.  Mrs Flynn’s own career at Lady Barn included posts as French teacher and Head of Upper Juniors.  Her final role before retiring was establishing Lady Barn’s Able, Gifted and Talented programme as AGT Co-ordinator.  Mrs Flynn is the Chairman of the Education and HR Committee and is the Designated Safeguarding Director (DSD).

Kay is a Director in Risk Management at KPMG. She is firmly supportive of Lady Barn's ethos and values, which were the key attractions when she and her husband selected the School for her son, and her admiration and fondness for Lady Barn has grown ever since.

Kay brings a broad skill set to her Governor role; her background in Risk Management and Finance includes experience running meetings with high level management and directors, team working, analytical skills, challenge and the ability to be a “critical friend”.

Professor Aziz is a surgeon at The Christie Hospital and a leads a team of researchers at the University of Manchester’s Academic Health Science Centre. He studied medicine and completed a PhD at Imperial College, working in north-west London for 13 years, before moving to Manchester in 2014. His roles include, leading a specialised national NHS clinical service, undertaking research that guides clinical care and healthcare policy making, being an advisor to charities, and a clinical director for a medical device company. He is married and has two children, both of whom are currently at independent school in Manchester.

Mr Kabbani was a pupil at Lady Barn from 1974 until 1981.  After leaving Lady Barn, he attended The King’s School in Macclesfield and then went on to study at Newcastle University.  Mr Kabbani has three girls, all of whom attended Lady Barn. He has been on the Board of Directors since 2012.  Mr Kabbani sits on the Finance Committee.

Dr Maxwell studied medicine at Manchester University and has been a partner in a GP practice in Poynton since 1987.  Her particular interests include Paediatrics, Women’s Health and Safeguarding.  She is married with three boys, all of whom attended Lady Barn before moving on to Manchester Grammar.  Dr Maxwell sits on the Education & HR Committee and is the governor with responsibility for Early Years.

James brings a career in international marketing to the Governor table, with past experience at British Airways, American Express, Avis car rental and MBNA. He is now the co-founder of Project50, a strategic marketing consulting business based in Cheshire, with a global client base. James has an MBA from Manchester Business School, with study in part completed at the Stern School of Business at NYU. His daughter attended Lady Barn before taking a place at Withington Girls' School.  

Chair of Finance, Christian heads KPMG's Corporate Finance team in the North. He advises a variety of private and public clients on disposals, acquisitions and fundraising. In addition to his M&A and Private Equity work, Christian heads-up KPMG Corporate Finance's Technology Team in the North. Christian is married with four girls, two of whom attended Lady Barn, and has two Labradors. Christian Chairs the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Mrs Ledson is currently the Chief Operating Officer of a Multi Academy Trust in North Manchester.   She has a BA (Hons) degree in English Literature and has completed her MSc in Human Resource Management.  In addition to developing strategy for growth as part of the Trust Executive, as Chief Operating Officer Mrs Ledson also oversees the operations and business functions of the Trust. 

Prior to starting work with the Trust, Mrs Ledson worked in various management positions in the finance sector, before moving to the Education Sector 20 years ago. During her time in education Mrs Ledson has held a range of key HR, operational and leadership roles across both the Independent Sector and the Maintained Sector which included consultancy roles for schools across the region. 

Mrs Ledson is married and has a very spoilt cat. 

Dr Perry studied Medicine at Liverpool University and has been a partner at a large GP Practice in Macclesfield since 2000, before retiring in late 2022. She continues to work in GP Education and part time clinical work. 

Her particular interests include GP Education, Diabetes, particularly in young people, Safeguarding and Women’s Health. 

Dr Perry is married with 3 adult children, all of whom attended Lady Barn before moving on to Withington Girls’ School and Manchester Grammar. 

Janet read Agricultural Botany at Nottingham University followed by a PGCE at Cambridge and a PhD at Glasgow. She worked for AQA, the biggest UK exam board, for forty years where she held a variety of subject officer posts and in her final role had responsibility for the publication of all GCSE and GCE results and liaison with UCAS.  She was a member of the University of Manchester General Assembly for nine years.   

She is married to Tim, formerly Headmaster of The King’s School, Chester and has one son.  He was at Lady Barn (1991-98) and then MGS followed by undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, California Berkeley (Fulbright Scholar) and is currently Reader in Classics and Ancient History at King’s College, London.  It all began at Lady Barn!   

Janet has two grandsons, aged 3 and 5, who attend Laxton Junior School, Oundle – a school very similar to Lady Barn!