Introducing the Governors

Introducing the Egerton Governors

Neil McKinlay

Neil has lived in Knutsford since 1983 with an absence of 4 years when he moved to Dublin to make Baileys Irish Cream. A mechanical engineer he has had a career in manufacturing latterly in the healthcare sector and is now happily retired. He and his wife Jane have 3 grown up children, 2 of which attended Egerton, and now have 4 grandchildren.

Neil became a Governor in 2017, has been Chair for 3 years and loves working with the great team at Egerton.

He is a keen if frustrated golfer and enjoys walking and travelling.

Caroline Lowe

Caroline has been the Head Teacher of Egerton since September 2023. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Head for 17 years (4 in Cheshire East) and then 13 years in a large 3 form entry school in  Cheshire West. Her passion is English and she was a Key Stage 2 Writing Moderator in the West for 8 years, alongside this, she was also a Specialist Subject Leader for the authority and would work with schools who were in need of further support. For the last 5 years, Caroline has been the Designated Safeguarding Lead and she is trained at Level 3, in addition to this she has expertise in Child Sexual Exploitation and Neglect, as well as Safer Recruitment Training. Caroline lives locally with her husband and 2 daughters and labradoodle Maggie. In her spare time, she enjoys horse riding, skiing and shopping!

Sarah McGuire

I am a parent Governor at Egerton. I have two girls, Isla who is currently in year three and Nancy who started reception class in 2023. I have a well-established career in HR, having worked across various sectors including Legal Services, Aviation and Football. My current role is Head of Talent & Recruitment at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have a law degree, a post graduate diploma in legal practice, and am an Associate Member of the CIPD, the professional institute for HR practitioners. We love living in Knutsford – my husband and I moved here in 2016, and we are currently doing up a property we bought in 2020. I do have a keen interest in education, which fuelled my recent move to work at a university. I also have previous experience of being a primary school Governor. My spare time involves a lot of organising and running around after my children and their various activities, but I also love to cook, going to the theatre, spending time socialising with friends and family, travel, and going for long walks to explore our local area.

Andy Martin

Andy Martin is one of our Parent Governors.  Andy is a Senior Project Manager with The Mersey Rivers Trust, a charity that works in partnership with various stakeholders to improve our local rivers and waterways. Before joining The Trust, Andy managed and delivered Groundwork CLM’s Outdoor Education Programme - working with Primary, Secondary and Special Schools to improve pupils’ access to the natural world and build schools’ capacity for delivering Learning Outside the Classroom.

Andy lives in Knutsford with his young family, and is also a Trustee of Knutsford GROW, a charity that provides gardening services and volunteering opportunities to local people.

George Hughes

George has lived in Knutsford since 1991 and is married to Claire with 2 children and one granddaughter. He has had a career in sales and general management in the Chemical industry including spells living overseas in South Africa, Switzerland and the USA. He fully retired in 2020 and joined the Board of Governors in 2022. He is particularly interested in promoting pupils to develop into global citizens to fully understand the planet that we need to protect for future generations.

George is a keen traveller and walker and also has a role as leader for Ramblers Walking Holidays. His hobbies include golf, listening to music and reading.

Robin Maxwell

Robin originates from Northern Ireland, and after leaving school, he moved away to study in Edinburgh and then to work in Glasgow, where he met his wife Anna. During this time, Robin joined his current company Bunzl, where he has now worked for over 16 years in many roles, currently Sales Director.

Having then moved to Knutsford in 2008, Robin settled into the community through sport with Knutsford Rugby Club and then Knutsford Tri Club.

Robin has two very happy children at Egerton. With this in mind, alongside the values of the school and the close family feel, Robin wanted to give something back to the school and in 2017 took an opportunity to do so by becoming a governor.