Running one academy trust is hard enough, but some chief executive officers are leading two at the same time.
This “dual CEO” role has been highlighted by the delay in the merger of the Coast and Vale Learning Trust with the much larger Delta Academies Trust, with a decision on a transfer being referred to the education secretary.
Delta Academies Trust CEO Paul Tarn was appointed chief executive of Coast and Vale last April, running both trusts at the same time. His dual role reportedly raised some eyebrows locally, but he’s not alone.
Tes has identified 14 CEOs across England who are currently serving as chief executives of two academy trusts at once, including some on an interim basis.
Many dual CEO roles are announced with a view to either a potential or an intended merger. A year ago, the University of Portsmouth Academy Trust (UPAT) named Gwennan Harrison-Jones as interim CEO and Haydn Mitton as interim primary director - the two roles they simultaneously hold, on a permanent basis, at Hampshire’s Gateway Trust.
“Gwennan and Haydn will lead UPAT into a ‘coexistence’ alongside their existing trust, The Gateway Trust,” the joint chairs of UPAT’s trustees said when .
“This coexistence, supported in principle by the Department for Education, will enable both trusts to continue the fantastic school improvement work they have undertaken with their existing schools and enable the exploration of the possibility of a more formal partnership in the future.”
‘A partnership where everyone will benefit’
In other cases, the dual role is billed as a move towards collaboration rather than an outright merger. Last summer, Tom Banham, chief executive of Barnsley-based academy trust HCAT, additionally took over as CEO of its financially troubled neighbour St Mary’s Academy Trust.
“From September 2024 to 2025 HCAT will be working to support every one of the nine St Mary’s schools,” Banham told at the time. “This should help with financial stabilisation. It will also help with job security.”
The dual role was part of moves towards greater collaboration between the two similarly sized MATs. “It’s not just about one trust taking over,” Banham added. “It’s a partnership where everyone will benefit.”
Sir David Carter, the former national schools commissioner, says that trusts sharing the same CEO can work if there is capacity to deliver the strategic vision of both organisations.
“Conflict can exist where this model occurs, but this can be avoided by a clear memorandum of understanding linked to strong trustee oversight at both trusts.
“Whether this is a long-term strategy I would doubt, but it can help manage a transition from an outgoing CEO to the appointment and commencement of a new CEO.”
That transition is why Rachel Shaw is currently CEO of both Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT) and Exeter Learning Academy Trust (ELAT). She has effectively joined the former trust from the latter, but for the time being is working part-time for both trusts while ELAT recruits a replacement to take over in the autumn.
“This has meant ELAT is able to ensure consistency in the interim period while still enabling DMAT to move forward under its new leadership, setting both trusts up for success in their respective journeys,” a DMAT spokesperson says. “This arrangement is monitored by both boards of trustees, who have agreed it can be worked flexibly to meet needs as they arise.”
Dual CEOs: unsustainable in ‘long term’
The National Governance Association (NGA) sounds a note of caution over people serving as CEO of two trusts, particularly as a long-term arrangement outside a merger.
“As the trust’s lead professional, [CEOs] will usually have essential responsibilities ranging from their legal duties as accounting officer to delivering the trust’s agreed strategy and overseeing all operations,” says NGA deputy chief executive Sam Henson.
“While we have seen a limited number of cases where a single individual has led two trusts that are about to merge, it is difficult to see how one individual leading two trusts could be sustainable in the medium or long term.”
He says that where a merger has been agreed and finalised, there is unlikely to be a clear conflict of interest. “Nonetheless, our advice on the challenges of leading two separate MATs for a significant period of time still applies.
“If a merger is being proposed and discussed, then a clear conflict of interest would exist if the trusts share a CEO. A chief executive plays an active role in many elements of the merger process, and there would be obvious concerns that they will be unable to objectively evaluate the various options open to each MAT they lead. The perception of a conflict is damaging in itself, and needs to be avoided.”
Other sector bodies are more sanguine. Samira Sadeghi, director of trust governance at the Confederation of School Trusts, reiterates the need to monitor and mitigate potential conflicts of interest, but adds: “It is increasingly common in other areas of public services, such as NHS trusts and local councils, for chief executives and other leaders to work across multiple organisations.
“This will not be appropriate for everyone, but with the right structures and support in place it can be an effective way to share expertise.”
‘Strong professional development’ for CEOs
Will Roberts is currently the CEO of two trusts. As chief executive of Castle School Education Trust since 2016, he initially advised the nearby The Priory Learning Trust (TPLT) on filling its CEO vacancy. When this could not be filled, TPLT asked him to take over on an interim basis.
“I didn’t want to leave the trust that I was working in, but the opportunity to get to know a different group of schools, different local authorities and different people, work with a different board, was really strong professional development for me,” says Roberts. “So that was part of the motivation.”
When TPLT approached him for the role, a merger wasn’t on the cards - although it was not explicitly ruled out either. However, the two trusts had similar profiles and were looking to grow, and the boards decided to merge. “The more closely we worked together, the more it was apparent that we were trying to achieve the same things,” he says. “So it started as helping out a neighbouring trust and turned into something different.”
The two trust boards are separate, and some of their discussions around the merger and conversations with the DfE have not involved Roberts, to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
To make the dual role more manageable, both trusts have a primary and a secondary director to line-manage the headteachers. “Certainly without those roles, I don’t think it would be possible, but I’m able to focus on the strategic aspects of the role,” Roberts explains. The two trusts split his CEO salary, including the 10 per cent uplift he receives in recognition of his twin role.
Financial benefits of dual arrangements
Adrian Rogers, CEO of Chiltern Learning Trust, sees dual CEO arrangements as cost-effective for this reason. “The biggest cost to a trust is going to be the CEO wage,” he says. “Now, if you are putting that money back into schools, and you’re saving on that wage because you’re sharing costs, then I do think that’s financially efficient.
“The success of it will depend on the shared, aligned vision of the two trusts. If they’re very different trusts, then I think that would create more cultural differences.”
At one point, he was CEO of both Chiltern and the Bedfordshire strand of another MAT, with a view to a merger. There was transparency that a merger was the intended outcome, and he says this openness over at least the possibility of a merger is key to avoiding the appearance of a conflict of interest.
“That would be the conflict of interest - when you’re not being honest and open and transparent with all stakeholders,” Rogers says. He has heard of cases where a dual CEO was appointed amid denials of any merger, only for a merger to then happen.
“You can read the writing on the wall that they’re going to join or merge, and then everyone’s saying, ‘Oh no we’re not, they’re just looking after us’. And I think that’s when people feel ill will towards it, because they haven’t been told the full transparent story.”
Coast and Vale Learning Trust and Delta Academies Trust were contacted for comment.
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