Associates who work for Nexus include:


Stephen Forster


From April 2004 to December 2007 Stephen was Head of the Secondary School Transition Team for Peterborough City Council. He had responsibility for implementing the Secondary Education Review in the City. This included: the closure of five schools in July 2007; opening an Academy for 2200 students in September 2007 (at a cost of £47 million); implementing a £68 million PFI in September 2007 (two schools refurbished and enlarged, one new school constructed for 1675 students); upgrading two Voluntary Aided schools and one Foundation school through Targeted Capital grants (£30 million now secured); and supporting the development of plans to upgrade or replace the three remaining secondary schools in the City. He also coordinated TUPE planning and staffing needs and supported the development of a 14 to 19 curriculum strategy and a Learning Platform for the City.

Prior to this Stephen held two secondary headships, most recently at Stanground College, which had been identified as having ‘serious weaknesses’ before he took up post in 1997 but was described by Ofsted in 2004 as a ‘good school’.

He has also been Senior Education Officer (Curriculum) for Cambridgeshire County Council and was their Project Director for the introduction of local management of schools

Stephen was accredited as a School Improvement Partner 2007 and is a
governor of Peterborough Regional College.


Sue Gallagher

Sue has worked for many years as a freelance education consultant. Her portfolio includes:

♣ Training
♣ Project management
♣ Evaluation
♣ Support for specialist school bidding
♣ Advice on school improvement
♣ Conference speaking
♣ Research and writing

She works for a diverse range of clients - schools, LEAs, Arts Council England and the Specialist schools Trust. She is also a trained OFSTED inspector.

Her career experience includes:

14-19 Adviser for Cumbria County Council
Key tasks: Lead management role of TVEI; evaluation of specific county projects; advice to schools and colleges on 14-19 developments; Ofsted inspection.

TVEI Pilot Director for Post 16 Phase
Key tasks: Management of final phase of TVEI pilot scheme across 8 schools and colleges; dissemination of pilot experience across Cumbria and North West.

Flexible Learning Coordinator for Cumbria


Chris Tomsett

Building on a successful career in Youth Work and Inspection, in both the statutory and voluntary sector, Chris established the “Mosaic” consultancy in 1992, developing a portfolio of consultancy and training work, concentrating on community based and community focussed education initiatives, of both a formal and informal nature. He has worked extensively with Schools, Voluntary Organisations, National Charities, London Boroughs and County Councils.

His previous career experience includes:

  • General Education Inspector for schools
  • Inspectorate Team Leader for Cambridgeshire County Council
  • Adviser to two county wide voluntary youth organisations
  • Area based youth and community education officer
  • National training adviser and moderator to national voluntary organisation
  • Constructing and implementing major curriculum and project developments around the youth work curriculum on a county and national basis
  • Developing Quality Standards for county-wide voluntary youth organisation



Ian Wigston

Ian is a specialist in innovation strategy, new product and service development, coaching and leadership development. A banker by training, he brings a risk management perspective to innovation.

In 1993 he established one of the first Innovation Units in Europe within Barclays which undertook projects across the Barclays Group and with third parties including ICI, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and Green Flag. Since establishing his own business in 1995, his clients have included Boeing, Zurich Insurance, Boots Healthcare, and Shell.

He has been working in education for more than five years and has undertaken projects for the DfES Innovation Unit, as well as a number of primary and secondary schools. He is currently working with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust on their Community Leadership programme, where he is lead facilitator.

As part of a “purposeful sabbatical” in 2005, he was a student at the School for Social Entrepreneurs where he developed the business model for a new social enterprise aimed at encouraging creativity in schools and among young people outside the school system.

A graduate of Nottingham University, he holds an MBA from Henley Management College. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2005.