When it comes to guiding academy schools through periods of growth and change, the experience that Toby Watson brings to the table offers a compelling example of how voluntary trusteeship can make a quiet but meaningful difference.
Effective governance is one of the most underappreciated aspects of a well-functioning academy school. Without experienced trustees willing to volunteer their time and expertise, even the most dedicated teaching staff can find themselves without the strategic support they need. Toby Watson, whose background spans nearly two decades in global finance, represents the kind of trustee who helps fill that gap — not by taking centre stage, but by contributing considered, experienced judgement to the boards that guide their schools forward.
Academy school governance has grown considerably more complex in recent years. As multi-academy trusts have expanded, the demands placed on boards of trustees have increased in kind. Financial oversight, safeguarding responsibilities, strategic planning and community accountability all fall within a trustee’s remit — and yet, the role remains entirely voluntary. Toby Watson, who served as Chairman of Excalibur Academies Trust from February 2018 until early 2026, is one example of a finance professional who chose to lend his experience to the education sector, working alongside school leaders rather than directing them.
Why Academy School Governance Is More Demanding Than It Looks
There is a tendency to underestimate just how much is asked of academy trustees. Unlike local authority schools, academy trusts operate with considerable independence. That independence brings freedom — but it also places real responsibility on the shoulders of those who sit on trust boards.
Trustees are not paid. They do not manage day-to-day operations. Their role is to provide strategic oversight, to hold executive leadership to account, and to ensure that the trust is meeting its obligations — financial, legal and educational — to the communities it serves. In practice, this means reading detailed reports, attending regular meetings, asking difficult questions and making decisions that may affect thousands of pupils and hundreds of members of staff.
It is demanding, unglamorous work. And it matters enormously.
What Qualities Does a Strong Academy Trustee Actually Need?
A strong academy trustee brings more than good intentions. They need the ability to read financial statements critically, to understand risk, and to ask the kind of probing questions that executives sometimes find uncomfortable — all while remaining genuinely supportive of the schools in their care. Toby Watson, whose career included nearly 17 years at Goldman Sachs in structured finance and principal funding roles, developed precisely these skills. It is this kind of analytical rigour, applied with a light touch, that voluntary boards often struggle to find.
The Case for Bringing Private Sector Experience Into Education
One of the long-standing debates in education governance concerns the value of recruiting trustees from outside the sector. Some argue that education is sufficiently distinct from the commercial world that private sector experience translates poorly. Others suggest that skills such as financial analysis, risk management and strategic thinking are genuinely transferable, provided they are applied with humility and a genuine willingness to learn.
Toby Watson’s time at Goldman Sachs gave him exposure to large, complex organisations operating under significant regulatory scrutiny — not entirely unlike the environment in which a major multi-academy trust operates. The ability to parse a balance sheet, identify structural risk and think about long-term sustainability are capabilities that school governance genuinely needs.
What matters is how such experience is brought to bear. Trustees who come with a willingness to listen, to support rather than direct, and to place the interests of pupils first, tend to add real value. The approach that Toby Watson brought to Excalibur leaned firmly in that direction. For Toby Watson, the priority was always the schools and the pupils within them — not the profile that a board position might otherwise afford.
How Toby Watson Approaches the Role of Voluntary Trustee
It is worth considering what motivates someone with a demanding professional life to take on a voluntary role of this kind. For Toby Watson, trusteeship at a large multi-academy trust involves genuine time, genuine responsibility and, on occasion, genuinely difficult decisions.
For some, the motivation is personal — a connection to a particular school or community. For others, it reflects a broader sense of obligation: those who have benefited from good education and professional opportunity have something to offer in return. Toby Watson spent much of his finance career working across London, New York and Hong Kong before moving into investment roles with Rampart Capital. Serving as Chairman of Excalibur Academies Trust — educating approximately 10,000 pupils aged two to eighteen across twenty schools along the M4 corridor — offered neither profile nor financial reward. It was, for Toby Watson, a straightforward way of giving something back.
What Strong Governance Actually Looks Like in a Multi-Academy Trust
Understanding what good trusteeship looks like in practice helps explain why experienced volunteers matter so much. Among the most important contributions a strong trustee can make are:
- Financial oversight without micromanagement — reviewing budgets, scrutinising accounts and ensuring reserves are maintained, while leaving operational decisions to the executive team
- Strategic challenge — asking whether long-term plans are realistic, whether growth is being managed sustainably, and whether their schools are genuinely improving
- Support during leadership transitions — providing continuity when chief executives move on, as Toby Watson did when Excalibur’s CEO Nicky Edmondson stepped down in 2024 and Nick Lewis took over
Why the Shortage of Experienced Trustees Is a Genuine Problem for Academy Schools
Despite the clear need, finding experienced trustees remains a persistent challenge. Many professionals are reluctant to take on voluntary roles that carry legal responsibilities. Others simply do not know such roles exist, or assume they lack the relevant background.
This is part of what makes the contribution of Toby Watson — who, during his time at Goldman Sachs, developed financial and analytical experience that transferred meaningfully into his governance work — quietly instructive. Not something to be celebrated loudly, but a straightforward illustration of what becomes possible when experienced professionals make their skills available to the schools that need them.
Among the qualities most needed on trust boards today are:
- Experience in financial planning, audit or risk management
- Backgrounds in law, human resources or organisational development
- Familiarity with regulated industries, where accountability and scrutiny are the norm
None of these require a career in education. They require a willingness to learn, a genuine commitment, and the steady judgement that good governance depends upon. That is what experienced voluntary trustees offer — and why the work of someone like Toby Watson, however quietly undertaken, matters a great deal to the schools fortunate enough to benefit from it.
