Appointed Chair of Trustees in November 2021, Paul retired from running his own management consultancy business in 2017 and prior to that was European Commercial Director for an American chemical company with responsibility for business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Paul was previously Chair of the Board of Trustees for Citizens Advice North Oxfordshire & South Northants, and also volunteers for the Environment Agency as a volunteer assistant lock keeper on the river Thames. Together with his wife Rosie, Paul has been an active volunteer at Cogges since January 2017.

Works as a valuation surveyor, within a specialist leisure and trade-related team at Savills PLC in Oxford, for the last ten years. She lives in north Oxfordshire with partner and cocker spaniel who keep her outside and active.

Lewis is a chartered accountant and holds the ICAEW charity specialist qualification the Diploma in Charity Accounting. He trained within practice at a firm based in Oxfordshire and London but he is now Head of Finance at national charity Plunkett Foundation, a charity that focuses on rural empowerment through community business.

Bob first encountered Cogges when being walked across Langel to the shops in his pram as he has lived in and around Witney almost all his life. His mother volunteered here and his (now adult) children have fond memories of visiting the farm in their youth. 

In addition to his main career experience running 7 companies, including as CEO of an AIM listed company, of a medium sized family business and a £45M revenue training company, Bob has been on 17 boards including setting up and chairing three trusts; an employee owned commercial company, an Academy Trust and a Multi-Academy Trust. He was also a National Leader of Governance for the Department of Education.

He is now a semi-retired business leader that speaks on business leadership, strategy and growth and facilitates meetings where he encourages business leaders to learn with and from each other how to run great businesses that are a force for good in the world.

Trained as a Chartered Public Finance Accountant. He worked for several organisations including Lancashire County Council and Oxfordshire County Council but the significant part of his career has been as Deputy Vice Chancellor with Oxford Brookes and Sunderland Universities.

Peter is a Chartered Construction Manager and a Fellow of the Association for Project Management. He has 30 plus years of corporate experience and is the founder and Managing Director of Chana Projects who are an independent construction, heritage, and property consultancy. They provide project, programme, and portfolio management services together with listed building & heritage asset management solutions. Peter has a passion for all aspects of the heritage, arts and culture sector and helping to preserve assets for future generations.

Lucy Chesher is a Chartered Health & Safety lead with over 20 years experience working across different businesses from UNESCO World Heritage Sites to rural and manufacturing environments as well as being an Event H&S Advisor. Lucy is also a member of the IOSH Rural Industries Group who provide guidance to industries including farming and forestry. Lucy lives in Oxfordshire with her family and two cats, and has also been a Cogges Volunteer on the Witney Remembers Project.

Rachel Harber is an HR Consultant specialising in talent attraction and retention strategies. She has over two decades with recruitment and HR and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Rachel lives near Burford and has a young family who regularly enjoy visiting Cogges.

Peter Harkness has spent most of his career on the Boards of media and finance companies, having started life as a newspaper reporter. He is a director of GlobalData plc, an international business information group. For the last 10 years he has also farmed in the Cotswolds, specialising in sheep, with six different breeds, including a flock of rare Whitefaced Woodlands. He has previously served as a Trustee of organisations managing heritage assets in Yorkshire and Gloucestershire.

George is the Director of Training and Development for Complete Works, working with visitor attractions in the cultural sector providing staffing, staff training, shows and tours. He works with clients all over the UK, including The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, Kew Gardens, Wembley, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle, National Trust for Scotland, and partnering with Farm Parks across the UK. The work he does drives significant revenue and delights visitors. He has been doing this for 8 years.
The first 10 years of George’s career was as a professional actor. He performed over two thousand times in over 30 countries around the world. Mostly in Shakespeare under the direction of Paul Stebbings MBE for TNT and the American Drama Group.
Cogges has recently become an important part of his family life, and he looks forward to bringing his experiences to the team.

Graeme is managing Director of Tribe Festivals, who run events and festivals including the 10,000 a day capacity Wychwood Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse; launched in 2005, it has been nominated Best Family Festival in the UK Festival Awards each and every year since. Graeme also set up and runs the Cheltenham Comedy Festival. He previously worked across arts and events and in music sponsorship for Elton John. He is a local resident who has enjoyed Cogges with his children for many years.

Marketing and PR Director for real estate and flex-office space brand, Fora. Adam has over 20 years experience of building strong brands such as Dyson, Renault, Hyundai and Jaguar – bringing data, insight, customer behaviour and creativity together. Adam has lived locally in Witney since 2006 with his wife and two daughters.

Currently Head of Operations at Blenheim and previously Area Manager for a leading visitor attractions company, developing and operating award winning sites across the UK. Emily has worked in heritage management for the last 15 years, in both commercial and charitable fields. She lives in Oxfordshire.

Bernice Walker is a Business Manager with over twenty years commercial operations experience in the energy sector. Bernice relocated to Oxfordshire three years ago, having been in Aberdeenshire for fifteen years. She’s now enjoying the better weather, as she is a keen gardener. Bernice lives with her husband, two sons and a very fluffy Australian Shepherd dog.

Suzanne Williams is Head of Marketing & Communications for Oxford University's Gardens, Libraries and Museums. She has over 20 years' experience in senior roles covering audience development, exhibition programming, marketing, communications and digital in libraries (Bodleian Libraries), museums (Glasgow Museums, Leicestershire Museums) and for clients such as the Toronto Film Festival and History Television. Suzanne lives in Oxford with her two daughters.