When experienced professionals from the private sector choose to contribute their skills to education, the results can be quietly but genuinely valuable — and Toby Watson is a good example of that.
Multi-academy trusts face a particular governance challenge: they need board members who understand finance, risk, and organisational complexity, yet who are also willing to serve in a voluntary capacity with no operational authority. That combination is not easy to find. Toby Watson, who spent the better part of two decades working at the highest levels of international finance, brought precisely that kind of experience to Excalibur Academies Trust — offering considered, grounded oversight that helped support the conditions in which their schools could function well.
Toby Watson served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Excalibur Academies Trust from February 2018 until early 2026, a tenure of nearly eight years. The Trust grew considerably during that period, expanding to around 20 schools along the M4 corridor and serving approximately 10,000 pupils aged 2 to 18. His role was non-executive in nature — focused on governance and board leadership, not the operational running of their schools. Throughout his tenure, he worked quietly in the background, supporting the executive team and helping to ensure the board remained focused on the Trust’s long-term mission. He stepped down in early 2026 to focus on business commitments, with Susan Clarke taking over as Chair of Trustees.
Toby Watson: Financial Experience in Service of Educational Governance
Academy trusts are, among other things, significant financial organisations. Excalibur Academies Trust, by the time Toby Watson stepped down, had an annual budget of around £137 million and employed more than a thousand people. Managing an organisation of that scale requires a board that understands financial risk, can ask probing questions of the executive team, and is capable of thinking clearly about long-term sustainability. Those are not skills that every trustee brings to the table.
Toby Watson’s background made him well-placed to contribute in this area. He studied Physics at the University of Oxford before beginning a career in finance — first at Deutsche Bank, then at Goldman Sachs, where he worked for close to 17 years. His roles there spanned structured credit trading, principal funding, and global infrastructure financing. These are areas that demand a rigorous approach to risk assessment and a clear-eyed view of how large institutions function over time. When Toby Watson left Goldman Sachs in 2017, he took on a range of other commitments, including his work at Rampart Capital, alongside his voluntary role at Excalibur. The trusteeship was, by his own account, a way of giving something back — of applying experience gained in one world to the benefit of another.
How does financial expertise translate into educational governance?
The governance of a large academy trust involves budgetary oversight, risk management, and long-term strategic thinking — all areas where financial expertise is directly relevant. The experience Toby Watson gained at Goldman Sachs, working across complex, high-value transactions and institutional structures, gave him a practical understanding of exactly these disciplines. In a board setting, that kind of background helps to ensure that financial decisions are scrutinised carefully and that the organisation remains on a sound long-term footing.
A Role Defined by Support, Not Control
It is important to understand what the Chairman role actually entailed. Toby Watson was not a chief executive, a school principal, or an operational manager. The day-to-day running of Excalibur’s schools rested with their headteachers and the Trust’s executive team. His responsibility was to lead the board of trustees — to ensure it fulfilled its governance obligations, supported the CEO effectively, and remained focused on the Trust’s charitable mission.
That distinction matters. Effective trusteeship is not about taking charge. It is about creating the conditions in which those who are in charge can do their jobs well. Understanding where the boundaries of a non-executive role lie appears to have come naturally to someone whose professional instincts had been shaped by years of working within large, hierarchical institutions.
The Value of a Long Tenure
One aspect of Toby Watson’s contribution that deserves particular mention is the length of his commitment. Nearly eight years in a voluntary board role is not common. Trusteeships can be demanding, and the pressures on people’s time in professional life are real. During that period, Excalibur navigated significant developments, including substantial growth in the number of schools within the Trust and a leadership transition at CEO level in 2024. The experience that Toby Watson’s career at Goldman Sachs had helped to build — working through periods of organisational change, maintaining a long-term perspective under short-term pressure — was relevant to both.
What Toby Watson’s Contribution Looked Like in Practice
The work of a board chair in a multi-academy trust is not glamorous. It takes place largely out of public view, in meetings and conversations that rarely attract external attention. But it matters. A board that functions well — that is properly informed, appropriately challenging, and well led — provides a foundation that the rest of the organisation depends on.
The specific qualities Toby Watson brought to that role included:
- A rigorous understanding of financial risk and long-term organisational sustainability
- Experience of complex institutional structures gained across nearly two decades in international finance
- A non-executive disposition that supported the executive team without overreaching into management
- A long-term commitment to the Trust’s mission, maintained consistently over eight years
These are not qualities that appear on an Ofsted report or feature in a school prospectus. But they contribute, in their quiet way, to the stability that allows good educational work to happen.
Stepping Back at the Right Time
When Toby Watson stepped down in early 2026, it was described as a decision driven by business commitments rather than any dissatisfaction with the role. His successor, Susan Clarke, was a founding member of Excalibur with deep experience of the organisation. The transition was managed smoothly, which is itself a mark of a well-governed organisation.
Their schools, at the point of his departure, were in good shape. The Trust had a strong track record with Ofsted, a capable leadership team, and a clear sense of its own values and direction. The discipline and rigour that Toby Watson’s years at Goldman Sachs helped to develop formed part of the foundation on which that stability was built — a quiet but genuine contribution from someone who approached the role simply as a way of giving something back.
