Board of Trustees

The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is a charitable trust, and is governed by a Board of Trustees. Their role is to agree our strategic direction, and bring their expertise to overseeing the management of the BPMA. 

Professor Brian Goodey (Chairman of Trustees)

Brian is Professor Emeritus in the Joint Centre for Urban Design at Oxford Brookes University. There he provides research training, and continues to offer courses on aspects of urban design, landscape and heritage management.

His research interests include the evolution of British townscape, and the role of electronic media in re-shaping understandings of place and heritage. He writes on aspects of urban development, and on the role of the artist in public settings.

Grandson of a postman who he never knew, he is an accumulator of stamps and an admirer of the graphic artists who make them.

Dr Helen Forde (Vice Chairman)

Dr Helen Forde is a leading archivist with expertise in collections management, preservation, and National Archives standards and procedures.

Helen was Head of Preservation Services at The National Archives until 2001 and has taught part time at University College London at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies. She is Vice President of the Society of Archivists and Chair of the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) Designation Panel.

Helen is Vice Chairman of the BPMA and became a Trustee in 2004.

Richard Adams (Royal Mail nominated trustee)

Richard Adams worked for the Post Office for 33 years, joining in 1966 as a graduate trainee. Assignments during his varied career included Director of Studies at the Post Office Management College, Head Postmaster of Northamptonshire, and Group Planning Director and Secretary to The Post Office.

Richard chaired the Post Office Heritage Board from 1997 to 1999. He was an adviser to the European Commission on postal matters from 2000 to 2002 and Chairman of a postal consultancy company from 2004 to 2008.

Nick Booker

Nick is a director of the visitor attraction and leisure consultants Attract Marketing Ltd. He is a trustee and Vice Chairman of the Coventry Arts and Heritage Trust, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and member of the Tourism Society.

He has a particular interest in the sustainability of museums and heritage sites and consults, writes and speaks on the subject. He is a member of arts and heritage related organisations including the National Trust, English Heritage and the Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society. Nick has had a lifelong interest in communications including railways and has family connections with post offices, the mail and telecommunications.

Javid Canteenwala

Javid is a Director of Finance in the Wealth Management Division for UBS. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with an MBA from the London Business School and an undergraduate degree in Commerce and Economics. Prior to UBS, he worked for KPMG and the Barclays Group.

Javid is the Chairman of the Audit Committee for the BPMA, a Trustee of the Contemporary Arts Society and a non-executive director of a faith-based charity.

Hamish Clifton

Hamish Clifton has a background in financing and operating commercial venues and visitor attractions. He is the Commercial Director for the University of the Arts, London. He previously worked as Commercial Director for Wembley Stadium Ltd and Senior Manager with Deloitte Consulting specialising in performance venues.

Before joining the University, Hamish successfully carried out a management buy-in. Subsequently, as Chair and CEO, he developed a national catering business.

Hamish is a philatelist but more importantly believes that our postal heritage is precious and will be increasingly recognised as such.

Peter D'Sena

Peter D'Sena is Principal Lecturer in History and Education at Leeds Metropolitan University. Peter has experience and an interest in diversity issues, websites and their uses, education and teaching (including higher education) and the history of London.

Peter has charity and committee experience and a broad overview of primary and secondary education.

Andrew Holden

Andrew Holden is Head of Advocacy and Campaigns at MLA London, the strategic regional development agency for museums, libraries and archives.

Previously he worked in public policy advocacy for a number of human rights and democratic reform NGOs. His background is as an academic historian and he is the author of 'Makers and Manners: public morality and politics in post-war Britain'.

David Walker (Royal Mail nominated trustee)

David began his career with British Airways and spent 14 years in various marketing roles both in the UK and overseas. In 1989 he became the commercial director of a much smaller airline with a tour operation attached.

David then joined the Post Office where he ran a commercial unit within the retail side of the business. The lure to travel clearly not out of his system, he moved to the USA for 5 years to run Royal Mail's joint venture TPG (now called TNT) and Singapore Telecomm. He came back to Royal Mail UK in 2003 as the Director of Brand Marketing where he was responsible for external communications, product support and development of Royal Mail's digital strategy.

He moved to his current directorial role in 2006 where he has responsibility for the overall design, production, marketing and selling of Royal Mail's philatelic products as well as the fufillment of stamps for general business use.