Trustees

New Brewery Arts is supported by our Honorary Patron, and is guided by our Board of Trustees.

HONORARY PATRON: DAME FIONA REYNOLDS DBE, MA, MPHIL

Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE became Chair of the Royal Agricultural University Governing Council in January 2022. Her previous role was as Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 2012 where she served from 2012-2021. She joined Emmanuel after a long career in the voluntary sector, latterly as Director-General of the National Trust from 2001-2012. During her time as DG she made the Trust warmer and more welcoming, bringing the houses to life and raising the profile of the Trust’s work in the countryside.

Before the Trust, she was Director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office (1998-2000), Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (now Campaign to Protect Rural England) from 1987-98 and Secretary to the Council for National Parks (now Campaign to Protect National Parks) from 1980-87. She read Geography and land Economy as an undergraduate at Cambridge University.

Fiona also holds a number of non-Executive roles. She is Chair of the National Audit Office, a Trustee of the Grosvenor Estate, a Non-Executive Director of Wessex Water, a Trustee of the Green Alliance, and Chair of the International National Trusts Organisation, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden and Cambridge University’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy. She was a Panel Member for the Glover Review of Protected Landscapes, Adviser to the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and a member of the Advisory Panel for the Dasgupta Review of the Economics of Biodiversity.

New Brewery Arts’ Board of Trustees governs all aspects of the organisation.

Jeremy Hobbins

Originally graduating with a Business background, Jeremy transferred his skills into the horology world and worked as a professional horologist for 30 years.

Jeremy created the BA (Hons) Horology course at Birmingham City University School of Jewellery to share his love of the subject and train a new generation of horologists. Now the former Deputy Head of the College of Jewellery, Fashion & Textiles, having left BCU after 17 years, Jeremy now mentors and supports craftspeople across several disciplines

Jeremy is a Fellow of the British Horological Institute and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.

MAtthew Smith

Matthew has been a resident of Cirencester for more than 25 years. In 2011, he retired from a 30-year career in International Banking, during which he worked in 14 countries around the world. He went on to run a Trade Association for the Middle East and then to found a Credit Union for retail workers in 2017. Matthew is an emeritus Board Member of a Chicago Theatre Group, and a Trustee and Vice-Chair at a Cheltenham-based Group of Schools.

tHERESA BERGNE

Theresa is a curator and producer specialising in commissioning artists to work in the public realm. Her passion is to work with artists to develop new work outside of a formal gallery setting; to broaden audiences for the visual arts including through participation and engagement; and to broker the often complex relationships with partners to make this possible. For the past 20 years she has worked under the auspices of her own organisation, Field Art Projects. This has included curating and producing exemplar programmes in hospitals, student settings and for regeneration programmes across the UK. She is currently developing an ambitious programme of commissions for Bristol’s premier music venue, the Bristol Beacon, which will be launched this autumn. She works part-time for High Speed Two (HS2) as arts, culture and design specialist delivering a legacy focussed programme for Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

CECILY DIXON-BROWN

Cecily is a relationship driven business leader with a specialism in Finance and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW). She has a broad skillset across various areas, including business leadership, Finance Planning & Analysis, Finance Operations, Business Partnering, Stakeholder Management, and Relationship and Contract Management.

She enjoys living near and working in Cirencester, from where she is has long been a regular frequenter of New Brewery Arts, with several of her Christmas presents over the years purchased the gift shop. She has also taken part in courses and enjoys using the vibrant coffee shop. If she won the lottery Cecily would love to learn to be a “maker” of violins or wedding dresses.

Paul Styles

Paul has been involved in working with charities for forty years, including several years as Chair of National Star College. He is actively involved with a wide range of charitable cultural organisations across Cirencester.

CLARE Hannah

Clare moved to Cirencester in 2023 and is a keen student at New Brewery Arts. Now retired from corporate life she brings over 25 years’ experience in senior management where she specialised in international organisational and individual learning and development. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and a qualified organisational coach.

Joanna Noles

Joanna has worked in the charitable and non-profit sectors for over thirty years with a particular focus on grant-making but also including governance, strategic direction, widening participation and community engagement. She is now semi-retired and works on a part-time basis managing the Woodroffe Benton Foundation, a medium-sized grant-making trust. Having relocated to a village near Cirencester in 2003, Joanna has strong links with the local community and has volunteered for a number of local charities over the years. She is currently Vice-Chair of Trustees at another arts-focused, Cirencester-based charity, the Daniel Bingham Foundation.

Anita Longley

Anita is a sustainability professional with over thirty years experience at the heart of corporate and public sector decision making across the UK, Europe and India. A passionate advocate for collaboration and transparency she is currently Chair of the Scottish Power Foundation, a business advisor to the New Zealand Trade Enterprise and a mentor to sustainability professionals. She was formerly the Chair of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. A keen gardener and rambler, Anita is also a regular student at New Brewery Arts which she describes as 'a special place'.

JESS YARROW

Jess has lived in Cirencester for fifteen years and runs the new Cirencester History Festival. Previously she worked in book publishing. Jess believes creativity has an important role to play in positive social change. She loves walking, history, theatre, architecture, gardens and the visual arts.
She is a keen, if unreliable, sewer and knitter.

Our Trustees and Senior Management Team, 2025

OUR TEAM

New Brewery Arts’ small staff team have a wealth of experience and all share a passion for craft and making. This team is supported by our Trustees, and works together with our on-site makers and tutors.