Trust Executive Team

Our Chief Executive, Andy Yarrow, leads on the development and growth of the Trust. Andy has had 20 years' experience of secondary school headship and executive leadership within Multi-Academy Trusts.  Prior to joining The Prospect Trust, he was Chief Executive of Anthem Schools Trust, a national MAT with 16 primary and secondary schools, from 2017 to 2022.  This followed three and a half years at one of the largest MATs, Oasis Community Learning, as Regional Director for the London and South East Region. Prior to joining Oasis in 2013, Andy was Founding Principal of Chelsea Academy and Headteacher at Hornsey School for Girls in Haringey. Both schools achieved outstanding Ofsted judgments under his leadership. Andy is also a registered inspector for SIAMS (the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools). Having studied geography at UCL, followed by a PGCE at Cambridge University, Andy started his career as a secondary school geography teacher in London. Andy has served as a coach for UCL's NPQH programme and has coached over 100 aspiring and serving headteachers over the past 15 years. He also served as a Trustee of a MAT in Tower Hamlets for twelve years until the end of 2024 and is a Governor for a Wellington College International school in China. As an urban social geographer with a keen interest in international education, Andy has travelled extensively and has visited schools and spoken at education conferences in over 20 countries.

Paul Edwards is our Chief Operating Officer.  He has been with us since the Trust's inception in 2017. He is responsible for the effective delivery of most of the Central Support Services, including Finance, HR, Payroll, ICT, Facilities and Estates and is also the Trust's Chief Financial Officer. He has worked in the education sector since 2011, firstly as a Vice Principal at an FE College in Surrey and then a Deputy Principal at a sixth form in mid-Hampshire. Prior to this, Paul worked for the Audit Commission for ten years as the Best Value Performance Manager assessing effective outcomes and value for money of many different council and health services across the country. Paul qualified as a Chartered Public Finance Accountant while working in local government audit and managed a wide portfolio of internal audit contracts within the NHS, police, fire and probation services.