Birmingham City University appoint five new members to its Board of Governors

Birmingham City University (BCU) is an institution with a rich heritage and an ambitious vision for the future. Established in 1843 to meet the evolving needs of industry, BCU is now actively shaping the society and economy of tomorrow. As an anchor institution in Birmingham, it is committed to delivering a transformative, practice-led education that emphasises professional relevance, broadens participation, and engages deeply with local communities.

Society was tasked with conducting a nationwide search to identify candidates for BCU’s Board from a wide variety of backgrounds, seeking individuals whose experience and insight can support the University in achieving its strategic goals. The ideal candidates were to bring valuable external networks that could benefit both the institution and its students. The field of candidates was organised by Society into five categories corresponding to each of the Governor seats BCU seeks to fill. These categories are Education, Property Law, Tech-forward Commercial, Finance, and Co-opted Audit Candidates.

Iftkhar Ahmed is a long-standing partner at Eversheds Sutherland, having led the firm’s largest corporate real estate team and served on both its international and US boards. With over two decades of experience advising major corporate clients, he brings deep expertise in using property strategy to support business delivery. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, where he contributed to a £45m redevelopment project. Passionate about social mobility and aligned with BCU’s mission, he is keen to support the University in a governance capacity.

Gurminder Kaur Nijjar is Partner and Group General Counsel at Irwin Mitchell, one of the UK's leading law firms. She completed her LPC at BCU in 2005/06. With a background in risk, compliance, and regulatory law, she transitioned into General Counsel roles across Irwin Mitchell and Coventry Building Society, bringing strategic insight and a focus on managing organisational risk. She has governance experience as a former trustee of a Bristol-based social enterprise supporting disadvantaged youth and is now keen to contribute to BCU in a co-opted role.

Stuart Tym is a planning lawyer and partner at Knights in Birmingham, he began his legal career in local government before moving into private practice in 2017. Stuart has planning experience from both the public and private sectors, with particular expertise in development projects for housing and commercial clients, as well as in enabling development and enforcement matters. He has comprehensive experience across the planning spectrum, including strategic site promotion, navigating the development process, and supporting judicial review proceedings when required. Stuart is passionate about supporting the city where his career took off.

Professor Alistair Fitt is the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and a leading figure in applied mathematics. With a background in industrial mathematics, he has published extensively and worked globally on real-world problems with industry. Before joining Oxford Brookes in 2011, he held senior academic roles at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on complex fluid dynamics and biomechanics of the eye. Alistair holds numerous external roles, including serving on the UUK Board, chairing its Health Education & Research Policy Network, and holding directorships with OxLEP, the OIA, and several innovation-focused organisations.

Angelina Weybourne more recently served as Portfolio Director for GSK. She was responsible for building Digital Agility for GSK’s Global Supply Chain through prioritised continuous improvements across Technology and Enterprise functions. Her key achievements include the creation of a unified Global Supply Chain Data & Tech function by integrating the pharma and vaccines divisions, and implementing a new operating model built on industry best practices. She also developed and launched an AI-driven capability and strategic partnership framework, introduced a data- and metrics-led performance culture, and established an annual planning process with senior stakeholders to align priorities across business, technology, and enterprise teams.

When asked for comment Angelina shared “James and the team at Society have been outstanding through the recruitment process from initial contact to final appointment; their insight, professionalism, and personal support were instrumental in my successful NED appointment. Time was taken to understand my career and extract the very best of my experience to ensure a strong and thoughtful match with BCU.  I’m truly grateful for their guidance throughout the process and would highly recommend them to others exploring senior leadership roles.”

Society is thrilled to have once again assisted Birmingham City University with these appointments and wishes Iftar, Gurminder, Stuart, Angelina and Alistair all the best in their posts.