Goodenough College is London’s finest postgraduate residential community, providing award-winning student accommodation in the heart of London. Established over 90 years ago, the College is an educational charity serving the Commonwealth and the wider world. Each year it provides a home to over 700 outstanding students and their families from around 80 countries. Living at Goodenough gives students (known as Members) the opportunity to build global contacts and understanding, to share unique cultural and social experiences, and to benefit from the strength found in mutual support. Goodenough is proud to be a community in which every voice is heard and every contribution is valued.

Each year the College invests around £11 million in the life of the College, focused on its significant estate on Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N. Effective stewardship of resources and relationships is key in delivering the College's charitable purposes. Rents paid by College Members, together with commercial income, are important elements in securing the College’s financial position. These income streams usually provide an annual operating surplus, which (along with the good fortune of owning the freehold of the College estate) enables Goodenough to provide its Members with a quite extraordinary experience while they study in London.

Working through a wholly owned subsidiary company - Goodenough Trading Ltd - the College operates a four-star hotel on the square, ‘The Goodenough Hotel, London’ on a fully commercial basis; provides short stay accommodation within its student buildings; delivers a commercial events and venue hire business; and provides catering services. The catering services are provided through a contract caterer (currently Holroyd Howe). The College has a further property in Scotland, The Burn, managed as a holiday and education centre with the aim of providing unique study and short-break opportunities to student groups, including Goodenough’s own membership. A small value of non-charitable trading activities at the Burn are transacted through the subsidiary company.

Following a recent governance review, the College has resolved to delegate a greater degree of oversight of these commercial activities to the Board of the subsidiary company, in addition to ensuring that trading activities outside of the College’s charitable purpose do not expose the College to a corporation tax charge. The activities currently carried out by Goodenough Club Ltd and Goodenough Ventures Ltd will be combined into a single trading entity and Board - Goodenough Trading Ltd - from 1st September 2023. As it looks to the future, Goodenough Trading Ltd will continue to play a vital role in ensuring the financial sustainability of Goodenough College, such that it is able to fulfil its charitable purpose.

The subsidiary Board is appointed and overseen by the Goodenough College Board of Trustees, but ensures necessary independence from the College. As such, the independent Non-Executive Director (NED) shall hold no formal role within the governance structure of the charity, but will act in support of the Executive Team and the College Board in maximising the commercial return from the commercial activities. The NED shall be registered as a Director of the subsidiary company, Goodenough Trading Ltd, at Companies House. 

The appointed person will challenge and assist the Executive in its operation of the commercial activities, while also assisting the Chair in the proper operation of the subsidiary Board. They shall provide guidance on the commercial development of the operations and challenge the College Board in their resourcing and delivery of them. The NED will work co-operatively with, and in support of, the College Director, the Director of Finance and Resources and the staff business managers. The Directors of the subsidiary company will recognise those responsibilities properly delegated to the Executive. The NEDs will have a knowledge and understanding of diversity issues and have experience of implementing diversity within an analogous environment.

Key responsibilities of the role will be to:

• Attend (currently bi-annual) Board meetings (usually in person at the College) - a third annual meeting may be introduced if this is judged to be necessary
• Attend ad hoc meetings (likely to be online or by correspondence) as exceptionally required.
• Review and provide any necessary challenge to management information provided to the subsidiary Board on at least a quarterly basis
• Support the Director of Finance and Resources and the business managers in their roles in exercising the delegated authority of the Board and in the representation of the operations to the College Board
• Provide commercial insight to the Board and Executive in the management, operation and marketing of the operations in a manner that further develops their commercial performance
• Represent, respect and promote the College’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy

Goodenough College is seeking a new independent Director to join the Board of Goodenough Trading Ltd, the subsidiary company overseeing all of the College's commercial activities. Chaired by Guy Parsons, the Board is an expert group whose focus is to ensure the effective oversight of the company's commercial trading activities, as well as the effective independent operation of the subsidiary Board.

The new Director will have senior, strategic-level experience in the events industry. This could have been gained in an agency, client or event hosting site context. Candidates are welcome from any functional background, however there is particular interest in those who have held broad briefs encompassing finance, commercial, operations and HR. Experience in the charitable sector - and an understanding of the role of a subsidiary company within a charitable organisation - would be desirable, but this is not as important as the commercial experience candidates bring. 

The appointee would be expected to have the confidence, knowledge and skill to constructively challenge senior staff across the College and its trading entities, and to be a source for appropriate mentoring and guidance to the business managers. Provided they have an appropriate level of executive experience, first-time non-executives are encouraged to apply.

The Board is led by Guy Parsons as Chair. The Chair has particular experience in the operation of substantial hotel groups and operations, and is a Trustee of the College. The two new Directors will not be Trustees of the College and will need to be able to demonstrate and maintain independence from the College’s governance and operations. Their experience is expected to complement that of the Chair.

NEDs will be expected to attend two Board meetings, which are usually in person at the College in Central London. A third annual meeting may be introduced if this is judged to be necessary. Thorough preparation ahead of meetings, including close analysis of all Board papers, is a fundamental requirement of the role. Occasional additional ad hoc correspondence or meetings may be required to discuss urgent matters; these will be either online or hybrid in nature. The role is unremunerated, but reasonable domestic expenses will be reimbursed.

Whilst needing to maintain their independence, the NEDs will be invited to engage in the College’s outstanding programme of seminars, conferences, after-dinner talks and visits designed to inspire Members and challenge their thinking on a wide range of subjects. This programme is delivered with the support of the College’s elected Fellows, eminent academics and experts from a wide range of fields who give their time freely to support and encourage the Members. The Fellows help to create the unique intellectual environment for which the College is renowned and allow the College to offer Members a range of unique experiences. There is no requirement for NEDs to engage, but it is hoped they will be similarly inspired by the College.

Applicants must be comfortable travelling to London for in-person meetings and events throughout the year. 

Goodenough College welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. All appointments will be made on merit, taking into account skill and experience relative to the role and following a fair and transparent process.