The leadership team

Sir Loyd is Chairman of The Royal Parks. He chairs the Nominations Committee and serves on The Regent’s Park Store Yard Projects Board.

He is a broadcaster and entrepreneur with a long association with the arts and heritage. He is Chair of The Royal Society of Arts and a Vice President of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Sir Loyd’s past appointments include as a board member of English Heritage, the Museums and Galleries Commission, and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. He was formerly chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust and vice chairman of the Royal Drawing School. A keen guitarist, he and his band made their eighth appearance at Glastonbury in June 2019. He was awarded a Knighthood in the King’s New Year Honours List for services to heritage in 2024. He was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to heritage in 2015.

Aurora serves on The Royal Parks’ Investment Committee, on the HR Committee and on The Regent’s Park Store Yard Programme Board.

She is an award-winning arts documentary filmmaker who, as Aurora Gunn, spent many years working on The South Bank Show for ITV and Sky.

Aurora has over 20 years of experience managing an historic landscape, with a focus on income diversification and sustainability, having overseen the running of the Glenarm Castle estate in Northern Ireland.  Her horticultural experience includes the complete restoration and replanting of an historic walled garden which won, by public vote, the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award in 2023.

Harris is a social entrepreneur, public engagement advisor and chartered accountant. His wide range of roles include serving on the Board of the Natural History Museum, the Prince’s Trust Mosaic Initiative and he is an ambassador for the British Asian Trust.

Harris founded Patchwork Foundation in 2010 to promote the political and democratic engagement of under-represented communities. He is an Independent Member of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee, and an Independent Member of the Community and Voluntary Service Honours Committee.

Harris was awarded an OBE in Her Majesty's 2015 Birthday Honours List for services to young people and interfaith relations; named as one of London's most influential figures by the Evening Standard's Progress 1000 List; and awarded Imperial College’s inaugural Distinguished Alumni.

Richard is a Senior Vice President at State Street. He began his career with Barclays, where he spent ten years, followed by eight years at KPMG. He has worked variously with Clarence House, the British Council, Ordnance Survey, ENO, Business in the Community and the Department for Business.

Richard has been a local authority member, a non-executive director of an NHS Trust, and for over a decade has been on the advisory board of the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in New York.

Bronwyn is a director of the Trafalgar Trust 2001 Ltd and a committee member of Globe Rowing Club. She is a Friend of Greenwich Park.

She was the Chair of the Governing Body at the University of Greenwich, stepping down 1 September 2024. Bronwyn continues as a Governor at the University until her term of office finishes on 31 August 2025.

Bronwyn was previously a non-executive director of the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She brings significant experience of transport strategy and programmes from her time at the Department for Transport.

Councillor Adam Hug has served on Westminster City Council as the member for Westbourne Ward since 2010. He became Leader of the Opposition in 2015 and then Leader of the Council following the elections in May 2022. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the Foreign Policy Centre, a human rights focused international affairs think tank of which he served as Executive Director from 2017 to 2022.

Jane is chairman of The Royal Parks’ Audit and Risk Committee and has been a trustee since August 2021.

She is a chartered accountant and former partner in KPMG UK, with 20 years experience of complex financial and operational restructuring, performance improvement and turnaround. She has worked in a vast range of businesses in manufacturing, defence, consumer, retail, insurance and banking – from the very large, and global, to the very small. She has also supported multiple public sector entities undergoing change.

Councillor Anthony Okereke is the first Black Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. He previously served as Cabinet Member for Housing and has represented Woolwich Common, where he still lives and grew up, since 2018.

His priorities as Council Leader have been the cost-of-living crisis, climate emergency and health inequalities. As a trustee of the Royal Parks, Cllr Okereke will be committed to preserving Royal Greenwich's unique heritage and historical sites, as well as its green spaces. He believes that we must prioritise delivering high quality, accessible parks and green spaces to residents, so that every community can experience the physical, mental and social benefits they offer.

When he’s not in a council meeting or being a family carer for his father, he can be found running along the Thames Path, supporting Charlton Athletic (of course) or enjoying some fish and chips in Beresford Square.

He has a degree in Civil Engineering and is reading a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.

Councillor Gareth Roberts has served on Richmond Council as a Liberal Democrat councillor since 2010 and in 2015 became leader of the Opposition Group on the Council. In 2018, following the change of administration, he was elected as Leader of the Council.

Gareth represents Hampton on Richmond Council, a ward which covers a sizeable part of Bushy Park.

Michael is the Comptroller in the Lord Chamberlain's Office, and head of one of the five departments in the Royal Household. The Lord Chamberlain's Office is responsible for all ceremonial events attended by The King, including State Visits, the State Opening of Parliament, investitures and garden parties.

Michael joined the Royal Household on 1 October 2014, assuming the appointment of Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. Prior to this, he served for over 35 years in the Coldstream Guards.

Andrew has been Chief Executive since June 2015. As part of this role he is also a Commissioner of the Crown Estates Paving Commission, and a member of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group, Film London Executive Task Force and GLA Sports Stakeholder forum. Previously he held roles at Ofcom, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Foreign Office. He worked on the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics for 10 years. Earlier in his career he was Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Having originally worked as an asset finance lawyer, Alan became company secretary of the then FTSE100 listed British Airways Plc where he was responsible for board governance and the running of the board and all of its committees. He has also worked in the non-listed sector as company secretary of BUPA and as interim general counsel and company secretary of John Lewis Partnership PLC. In addition to his work in the Parks, he is also chairman of a local Citizens Advice charity.

Julia joined the Royal Parks in June 2022 after 11 years working as the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of the Financial Ombudsman Service. During her time there she delivered new funding solutions which supported the rapid growth in the organisation and also provided sufficient reserves for the longer term transformation programme that followed. Most recently she was joint sponsor for the implementation of a new people and finance system designed to consolidate systems and improve people processes. Prior to the Ombudsman Service she held a number of finance roles at Serco, the support services group, including a period of time as the Group Company Secretary. She qualified as an accountant with Deloitte in London.

Lucy joined the Royal Parks in January 2025, after six years leading various teams at social housing organisation RHP. Lucy’s passion is about showing how delivering great culture and people engagement, can deliver excellent business performance and customer service. She is a CIPD Fellow and has worked leading business change at Director level within the not-for-profit sector. She has worked in main charities such as the Royal Horticultural Society and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, plus in the professional sector at Grant Thornton. Lucy has also undertaken several voluntary positions as is currently a Trustee of OneRichmond and a Non-Executive Director for Teacher’s Housing Association.

Ali joined The Royal Parks in February 2020, after nine years as Director of Marketing and Communications for the NSPCC. During her time there, she delivered a number of award-winning behaviour change and political campaigns, rebranded NSPCC and Childline, led on digital transformation projects including new websites and commercial products, and was accountable for income across individual giving, legacy and face to face fundraising. Prior to this, she held Director roles at BT Retail and BBC Worldwide, where she was responsible for all internal and external communications across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia.

Bidisha joined The Royal Parks in December 2022 after 20 years in policing and national security. She was an Executive Director at the Metropolitan Police Service for four years, specialising in leading complex change and transformation. During that time, she was a Senior Responsible Owner for the next generation of HR, Finance and Commercial outsourcing. Prior to this, she was the Director of Operational Support Services leading a critical department of over 1,000 staff delivering essential services necessary to keep the front line moving. Bidisha has also worked at a national level leading change at the National Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters for 5 years until 2018, and on secondment to Government for 4 years working on the security of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

Darren joined The Royal Parks in January 2024 after working for Birmingham City Council for 38 years. Darren started as an apprentice gardener and progressed to work in all sections of Birmingham’s Parks Service. Over the last 25 years, Darren has worked with communities to deliver positive benefits of parks in an urban environment. Darren led all of Birmingham’s ‘In Bloom’ entries, and from 2011 designed and led Birmingham’s entry to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.  

Darren is also a Trustee for the Royal Horticultural Society and a national ‘Britain in Bloom’ judge.

Darren joined The Royal Parks in October 2018 after 15 years working as a consultant Project Manager for Rider Levett Bucknall, a leading property and construction consultancy. During his time there he worked in partnership with The Royal Parks, delivering several high-profile Parks projects, including The LookOut education centre in Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Super Nursery and the restoration of the Henry Moore Arch in Kensington Gardens. A Chartered Engineer, Darren began his career with a degree in Engineering on a Ministry of Defence sponsorship, specialising in procurement and project management on various multimillion pound Navy projects, representing the MoD, including a posting on HMS Invincible during the Persian Gulf Conflict in 1999.