SPEAKER BIO’S
Phil Baty
Chief Global Affairs Officer
@ Times Higher Education
Phil Baty leads on government partnerships and global affairs at Times Higher Education, the data, insights, and events partner to universities and governments worldwide, and the winner of The King’s Award for Enterprise 2024 in the International Trade category. Phil is also Director General of the Education World Forum, the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers. This unique annual event was acquired by Times Higher Education in May 2024. Additionally, he is the founder of the World Academic Summit.
Helen Bower
Chief Marketing Officer @ Northumbria University
As Chief Marketing Officer at Northumbria University, Helen leads the Global Marketing and Business (GMB) division in driving the long-term financial sustainability of the university. Her team is dedicated to increasing revenue and enhancing the university’s reputation by developing innovative marketing, recruitment, and communication strategies that attract students from local, national, and global markets, as well as generating commercial income. Helen plays a crucial role in shaping the university’s brand, reputation, and strategic partnerships, ensuring value for stakeholders and contributing to Northumbria’s growth and success.
Helen’s leadership and expertise extend across three core strategic ambitions: showcasing Northumbria’s world-leading research, driving student recruitment and retention, and advancing the university’s social mobility goals. Under her guidance, marketing, communications, and recruitment efforts are aligned to create impactful outreach, with a strong focus on widening access to education. With over 22 years of experience in marketing and student recruitment, Helen has held senior leadership roles across several prestigious institutions, including Newcastle University and the University of Cumbria. She has overseen marketing strategies encompassing undergraduate and postgraduate admissions, domestic and international student recruitment, brand management, digital marketing, market insights, and philanthropic engagement.
Kyle Campbell
Founder, Managing Director @ Education Marketer
Kyle Campbell is a higher ed marketing consultant, founder and the managing director of Education Marketer. He’s built a name for himself by publishing The Education Marketer Newsletter, sharing media trends, insight and (sometimes) sharp takes on the state of higher education marketing and student engagement. In 2023, he was made one of The PIE’s top 50 voices in international education and brings over a decade of experience for university professionals looking to build and engage student audiences.
Daryl Fielding
Portfolio Board Director, CEO and
Author of The Brand Book
Daryl’s career spans four decades across charities, major corporations, media, and advertising agencies. She now works as a portfolio director. Frequently described as “refreshing,” boards appreciate her combination of positive energy, seasoned experience, and wisdom.
Her last full-time corporate roles were as Managing Director at Vodafone UK and Mondelez Europe, where she was responsible for brand strategy and marketing. Her current portfolio includes serving as the part-time CEO of The Marketing Academy Foundation, which she co-founded seven years ago, as well as board roles with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Academy of Ancient Music. In January 2024, she was appointed Chair of First Give, a charity that inspires and equips young people to make a social impact. She recently concluded six years as a Trustee of The British Heart Foundation.
In 2022, her definitive guide to brands, The Brand Book, was published, and last year she featured in Channel 4’s documentary Madwomen, which celebrated the women who shaped the advertising industry and highlighted Daryl’s leadership of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” She began her career in the high-stakes world of politics and the British media, working on Tony Blair’s 1997 general election campaign.
Delivering keynote speeches, coaching, and mentoring brings her great fulfilment—as does baking an impressive line of royal-themed cakes.
Deon-Nadine Butler
Director Of Marketing And Communications
@ London Metropolitan University
Deon has spent the last three years leading the London Met uni Marcomms team, inspiring them to deliver award-winning and mission critical campaigns that showcase the impact the university has on students, staff and the wider community. A CIM qualified marketing professional with a sixteen year B2B and B2C career in marketing and comms, on arrival to London Met Deon was tasked with reimagining the marcomms function as one integrated unit, blending two teams and combining their specific disciplines to enhance the service. Over the past three years, she has crafted a compelling brand position, with leading campaigns like The Real London.
David Winstanley
Executive Director – Student Life
@ University of Southampton
David Winstanley is Executive Director of Student Life at the University of Southampton, a UK top 20 and QS World top 100 University on the South coast of England, with campuses in Southampton, Winchester and Malaysia and a new campus in Delhi opening in August 2025. He currently leads a team of 450 colleagues across the whole student lifecycle from initial enquiry through to graduation and beyond, with responsibility for teams including Global Recruitment, Admissions & Marketing; Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise; Widening Participation & Social Mobility; Student Support; and Student Communications and Engagement.
Southampton is the fifth university in David’s career, progressing from a graduate role in student recruitment at the University of Liverpool, following a degree in Geology and Physical Geography. He then held management and leadership roles in student recruitment, admissions and international at Sussex, Goldsmiths and SOAS. Throughout his career he’s been an active member of membership organisations such as HELOA, BUILA, HUMANE and the Association of Higher Education Professionals.
Clare Mackay
Deputy Director of Student Recruitment
and Admissions
@ The University of Edinburgh
Clare Mackay is the Deputy Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Edinburgh, responsible for postgraduate and international student recruitment. The University has one of the largest international student bodies in the UK, so a significant focus for Clare is leading a programme to enhance diversity within the overseas intake. Clare joined the University of Edinburgh in 2007 and has previously overseen undergraduate recruitment, enquiry management, and the student ambassador teams. She continues to be influenced by her early career in school liaison, which she began at Heriot-Watt University in 1998.
Rebecca Best
Head of Marketing
@ Manchester Metropolitan University
Rebecca has 15 years of higher education experience across student recruitment, research, and corporate marketing. She began her career at Sheffield Hallam University, later joining Nottingham Trent University, and is now Head of Marketing (Future Students) at Manchester Metropolitan University. In her current role, Rebecca leads the Campaigns, Subjects, and International marketing teams to develop and deliver innovative attraction and conversion strategies targeting future undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Vicky Hayhurst
CEO @ Hayhurst & Co
Vicky is Hayhurst & Co’s Founder and CEO. An accomplished strategist and company director with 22 years of training and facilitation experience, Vicky is also a skilled and experienced marketing project manager, and a qualified workplace coach. Vicky has worked in the private and public sectors, including 19 years in both the client and supplier sides of Higher Education and has been a senior lead in change management programmes at two universities. Having worked as a supplier with over 110 universities, Vicky is well known and trusted within the sector.
Robbie Turner
Associate @ Hayhurst & Co
Robbie Turner is a Hayhurst & Co Trainer and Coach. He is an experienced executive and non-executive director working across a range of industries building, developing and leading high performing teams. He has significant experience at Board level of complex organisations, marketing to an international audience and driving awareness across a wide range of channels. Robbie is a champion for creating and implementing people centered strategies which engage colleagues and stakeholders across organisational silos ensuring positive engagement and results. He is committed to education and is a Visiting Fellow of a University supporting their revalidation as a provider of professional qualifications.
Helle Hammonds
Associate @ Hayhurst & Co
Helle Hammonds is a Hayhurst & Co Trainer and Coach. She has a solid foundation of over 15 years in health and wellness, she brings a unique perspective to the field of workplace well-being and personal transformation. Helle’s mission is to empower individuals and organisations by creating thriving working environments through effective stress management and burnout prevention strategies. Drawing from her extensive experience in wellness and as an entrepreneur, she understands the fine line between success and personal sacrifice, offering profound insights into burnout and resilience. Helle holds a Master’s degree accredited by the British Psychological Society and a coaching qualification from the Association for Coaching.
Emma Bridge
Director of Marketing (Domestic B2C) @ IDP
Emma joined the IDP Connect family in January 2024 to lead their domestic B2C marketing team. She has worked in the higher education sector for over 20 years, spending most of that time leading marketing and communications teams within universities. More recently she held the role as Director of Higher Education for Springpod. With experience of developing marketing, sales, communication and digital strategies she is passionate about using evidence and data to create campaigns to drive student engagement and support them to make the best decisions when it comes to choosing their higher education path.
Paul Cernicharo-Terol
Commercial Director @ The Student Room
Paul has over fifteen years’ of commercial experience in the higher education sector, working both media and agency side. As part of the senior leadership team at The Student Room, Paul is responsible for the continued commercial success, finding new ways for our university partners to interact with The Student Room’s audience, and helping develop new and innovative products that are underpinned by the rich data and student insight we hold.
Claire Bodiguel
Paid Media Specialist @ Prospects
Claire has been working for Prospects as a Paid Media Specialist since early 2024. In this role, she supports clients, employers, and universities alike in crafting advertising campaigns based on powerful insights. She has previously worked across various FMCG industries, with her main experience being as Campaigns & Insights Manager for Arts University Plymouth from 2014 to 2022.
Jo Redfern Evans
Jo Redfern Evans is the founder of Education Cubed. She began her career at The Independent newspaper, joining the advertising department as a graduate trainee. Eight years later she joined the board at the paper and ran a successful department for many years. She then joined UCAS where she ran UCAS Media – their commercial division – as Commercial Director. Her next role was Commercial Director at The Student Room before leaving to launch Education Cubed formally, seven years ago. As the business has grown, she moved into a CEO role in early 2023. Jo is an award-winning CEO, a sector mentor and a passionate advocate for equality in the workplace.
Chris Rogers
Managing Director @ Education Cubed
Chris has a proven track record of success in the digital media and higher education sectors. He has built Education Cubed into what it is today, combining strong strategic and cross-functional team leadership skills with commercial acumen to add significant value to organisations. With over 13 years’ experience in higher education marketing, and having successfully led marketing teams for over eight years, Chris has substantial expertise in delivering complex marketing projects across the public sector, global non-profit professional bodies, and for-profit education institutions.
Chris has questionable taste in football teams and is about to embark on the journey of parenthood.
Marcus Palmer
Chief Operating Officer @ Education Cubed
Marcus began his career at KPMG, where he qualified as an Accountant for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, of which he is now a fellow (FCCA). During his six years there, he gained extensive experience in audit and corporate finance.
He then transitioned into industry, specifically the higher education sector, at The Student Room, where he advanced from Head of Finance to CFO and COO. Marcus went on to lead as CEO at The Student Room.
For the past 1.5 years, Marcus has served as COO at Cubed, assisting in implementing its strategic vision and contributing to its continued expansion. His experience spans building and scaling tech and data-driven products, with deep expertise in strategic leadership and financial management. Marcus’s background equips him with the insights to foster growth and innovation across diverse sectors, making him a versatile leader in driving business success.
Sarah-Jane Spooner
Head of Creative Services & Insight
@ Education Cubed
Sarah-Jane Spooner is Education Cubed’s Head of Creative Services, Insight, and Partnerships. She has eleven years of marketing project management experience on both the client and supplier sides of Higher Education and Further Education. Before joining Education Cubed, Sarah worked for Revolution Viewing, where she led hundreds of video projects for over 60 UK universities, collaborating with students, professional services staff, and academics. Sarah now leads Cubed’s market insight function and regularly engages with prospective students and their influencers to understand what they need from university marketing and communications. Sarah is a lover of stories and an even greater lover of processes, which makes her really fun at parties.
Vivek Evjemo
Head of Account Management
@ Education Cubed
With nearly four years at Education Cubed and over a decade of agency experience, specifically within the higher education sector, he is recognised for his analytical insight, creative thinking, and deep passion for the field. He has successfully guided his team in developing cohesive and innovative solutions for numerous clients. Building client trust and empowering his team are paramount to him, ensuring a meaningful contribution to the higher education sector.
Adam Smith
Head of International @ Education Cubed
Adam Smith is the Head of International at Education Cubed. With over a decade of digital marketing experience, he focuses on international student recruitment. As a former international student, Adam brings valuable insights to his role, helping universities navigate the challenging recruitment landscape. He has worked with more than 40 institutions across the UK and globally, including in the UAE, Italy, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, to enhance their student recruitment strategies. Adam specialises in lead generation and maximising ROI, ensuring measurable success for Education Cubed’s clients. His expertise in data analytics enables institutions to assess brand impact and effectively increase awareness. Passionate about driving results, Adam is committed to advancing innovative recruitment strategies in today’s competitive market.
Phil Baty
Chief Global Affairs Officer
@ Times Higher Education
Phil Baty leads on government partnerships and global affairs at Times Higher Education, the data, insights, and events partner to universities and governments worldwide, and the winner of The King’s Award for Enterprise 2024 in the International Trade category. Phil is also Director General of the Education World Forum, the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers. This unique annual event was acquired by Times Higher Education in May 2024. Additionally, he is the founder of the World Academic Summit.
Helen Bower
Chief Marketing Officer
@ Northumbria University
As Chief Marketing Officer at Northumbria University, Helen leads the Global Marketing and Business (GMB) division in driving the long-term financial sustainability of the university. Her team is dedicated to increasing revenue and enhancing the university’s reputation by developing innovative marketing, recruitment, and communication strategies that attract students from local, national, and global markets, as well as generating commercial income. Helen plays a crucial role in shaping the university’s brand, reputation, and strategic partnerships, ensuring value for stakeholders and contributing to Northumbria’s growth and success.
Helen’s leadership and expertise extend across three core strategic ambitions: showcasing Northumbria’s world-leading research, driving student recruitment and retention, and advancing the university’s social mobility goals. Under her guidance, marketing, communications, and recruitment efforts are aligned to create impactful outreach, with a strong focus on widening access to education. With over 22 years of experience in marketing and student recruitment, Helen has held senior leadership roles across several prestigious institutions, including Newcastle University and the University of Cumbria. She has overseen marketing strategies encompassing undergraduate and postgraduate admissions, domestic and international student recruitment, brand management, digital marketing, market insights, and philanthropic engagement.
Kyle Campbell
Founder, Managing Director
@ Education Marketer
Kyle Campbell is a higher ed marketing consultant, founder and the managing director of Education Marketer. He’s built a name for himself by publishing The Education Marketer Newsletter, sharing media trends, insight and (sometimes) sharp takes on the state of higher education marketing and student engagement. In 2023, he was made one of The PIE’s top 50 voices in international education and brings over a decade of experience for university professionals looking to build and engage student audiences.
Daryl Fielding
Portfolio Board Director, CEO and Author of The Brand Book
Daryl’s career spans four decades across charities, major corporations, media, and advertising agencies. She now works as a portfolio director. Frequently described as “refreshing,” boards appreciate her combination of positive energy, seasoned experience, and wisdom.
Her last full-time corporate roles were as Managing Director at Vodafone UK and Mondelez Europe, where she was responsible for brand strategy and marketing. Her current portfolio includes serving as the part-time CEO of The Marketing Academy Foundation, which she co-founded seven years ago, as well as board roles with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Academy of Ancient Music. In January 2024, she was appointed Chair of First Give, a charity that inspires and equips young people to make a social impact. She recently concluded six years as a Trustee of The British Heart Foundation.
In 2022, her definitive guide to brands, The Brand Book, was published, and last year she featured in Channel 4’s documentary Madwomen, which celebrated the women who shaped the advertising industry and highlighted Daryl’s leadership of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” She began her career in the high-stakes world of politics and the British media, working on Tony Blair’s 1997 general election campaign.
Delivering keynote speeches, coaching, and mentoring brings her great fulfilment—as does baking an impressive line of royal-themed cakes.
Deon-Nadine Butler
Director Of Marketing And Communications
@ London Metropolitan University
Deon has spent the last three years leading the London Met uni Marcomms team, inspiring them to deliver award-winning and mission critical campaigns that showcase the impact the university has on students, staff and the wider community. A CIM qualified marketing professional with a sixteen year B2B and B2C career in marketing and comms, on arrival to London Met Deon was tasked with reimagining the marcomms function as one integrated unit, blending two teams and combining their specific disciplines to enhance the service. Over the past three years, she has crafted a compelling brand position, with leading campaigns like The Real London.
David Winstanley
Executive Director – Student Life
@ University of Southampton
David Winstanley is Executive Director of Student Life at the University of Southampton, a UK top 20 and QS World top 100 University on the South coast of England, with campuses in Southampton, Winchester and Malaysia and a new campus in Delhi opening in August 2025. He currently leads a team of 450 colleagues across the whole student lifecycle from initial enquiry through to graduation and beyond, with responsibility for teams including Global Recruitment, Admissions & Marketing; Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise; Widening Participation & Social Mobility; Student Support; and Student Communications and Engagement.
Southampton is the fifth university in David’s career, progressing from a graduate role in student recruitment at the University of Liverpool, following a degree in Geology and Physical Geography. He then held management and leadership roles in student recruitment, admissions and international at Sussex, Goldsmiths and SOAS. Throughout his career he’s been an active member of membership organisations such as HELOA, BUILA, HUMANE and the Association of Higher Education Professionals.
Clare Mackay
Deputy Director of Student
Recruitmentand Admissions
@ The University of Edinburgh
Clare Mackay is the Deputy Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Edinburgh, responsible for postgraduate and international student recruitment. The University has one of the largest international student bodies in the UK, so a significant focus for Clare is leading a programme to enhance diversity within the overseas intake. Clare joined the University of Edinburgh in 2007 and has previously overseen undergraduate recruitment, enquiry management, and the student ambassador teams. She continues to be influenced by her early career in school liaison, which she began at Heriot-Watt University in 1998.
Rebecca Best
Head of Marketing
@ Manchester Metropolitan University
Rebecca has 15 years of higher education experience across student recruitment, research, and corporate marketing. She began her career at Sheffield Hallam University, later joining Nottingham Trent University, and is now Head of Marketing (Future Students) at Manchester Metropolitan University. In her current role, Rebecca leads the Campaigns, Subjects, and International marketing teams to develop and deliver innovative attraction and conversion strategies targeting future undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Vicky Hayhurst
CEO @ Hayhurst & Co
Vicky is Hayhurst & Co’s Founder and CEO. An accomplished strategist and company director with 22 years of training and facilitation experience, Vicky is also a skilled and experienced marketing project manager, and a qualified workplace coach. Vicky has worked in the private and public sectors, including 19 years in both the client and supplier sides of Higher Education and has been a senior lead in change management programmes at two universities. Having worked as a supplier with over 110 universities, Vicky is well known and trusted within the sector.
Robbie Turner
Associate @ Hayhurst & Co
Robbie Turner is a Hayhurst & Co Trainer and Coach. He is an experienced executive and non-executive director working across a range of industries building, developing and leading high performing teams. He has significant experience at Board level of complex organisations, marketing to an international audience and driving awareness across a wide range of channels. Robbie is a champion for creating and implementing people centered strategies which engage colleagues and stakeholders across organisational silos ensuring positive engagement and results. He is committed to education and is a Visiting Fellow of a University supporting their revalidation as a provider of professional qualifications.
Helle Hammonds
Associate @ Hayhurst & Co
Helle Hammonds is a Hayhurst & Co Trainer and Coach. She has a solid foundation of over 15 years in health and wellness, she brings a unique perspective to the field of workplace well-being and personal transformation. Helle’s mission is to empower individuals and organisations by creating thriving working environments through effective stress management and burnout prevention strategies. Drawing from her extensive experience in wellness and as an entrepreneur, she understands the fine line between success and personal sacrifice, offering profound insights into burnout and resilience. Helle holds a Master’s degree accredited by the British Psychological Society and a coaching qualification from the Association for Coaching.
Emma Bridge
Director of Marketing (Domestic B2C)
@ IDP
Emma joined the IDP Connect family in January 2024 to lead their domestic B2C marketing team. She has worked in the higher education sector for over 20 years, spending most of that time leading marketing and communications teams within universities. More recently she held the role as Director of Higher Education for Springpod. With experience of developing marketing, sales, communication and digital strategies she is passionate about using evidence and data to create campaigns to drive student engagement and support them to make the best decisions when it comes to choosing their higher education path.
Paul Cernicharo-Terol
Commercial Director @ The Student Room
Paul has over fifteen years’ of commercial experience in the higher education sector, working both media and agency side. As part of the senior leadership team at The Student Room, Paul is responsible for the continued commercial success, finding new ways for our university partners to interact with The Student Room’s audience, and helping develop new and innovative products that are underpinned by the rich data and student insight we hold.
Claire Bodiguel
Paid Media Specialist @ Prospects
Claire has been working for Prospects as a Paid Media Specialist since early 2024. In this role, she supports clients, employers, and universities alike in crafting advertising campaigns based on powerful insights. She has previously worked across various FMCG industries, with her main experience being as Campaigns & Insights Manager for Arts University Plymouth from 2014 to 2022.
Jo Redfern Evans
Jo Redfern Evans is the founder of Education Cubed. She began her career at The Independent newspaper, joining the advertising department as a graduate trainee. Eight years later she joined the board at the paper and ran a successful department for many years. She then joined UCAS where she ran UCAS Media – their commercial division – as Commercial Director. Her next role was Commercial Director at The Student Room before leaving to launch Education Cubed formally, seven years ago. As the business has grown, she moved into a CEO role in early 2023. Jo is an award-winning CEO, a sector mentor and a passionate advocate for equality in the workplace.
Chris Rogers
Managing Director @ Education Cubed
Chris has a proven track record of success in the digital media and higher education sectors. He has built Education Cubed into what it is today, combining strong strategic and cross-functional team leadership skills with commercial acumen to add significant value to organisations. With over 13 years’ experience in higher education marketing, and having successfully led marketing teams for over eight years, Chris has substantial expertise in delivering complex marketing projects across the public sector, global non-profit professional bodies, and for-profit education institutions.
Chris has questionable taste in football teams and is about to embark on the journey of parenthood.
Marcus Palmer
Chief Operating Officer
@ Education Cubed
Marcus began his career at KPMG, where he qualified as an Accountant for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, of which he is now a fellow (FCCA). During his six years there, he gained extensive experience in audit and corporate finance.
He then transitioned into industry, specifically the higher education sector, at The Student Room, where he advanced from Head of Finance to CFO and COO. Marcus went on to lead as CEO at The Student Room.
For the past 1.5 years, Marcus has served as COO at Cubed, assisting in implementing its strategic vision and contributing to its continued expansion. His experience spans building and scaling tech and data-driven products, with deep expertise in strategic leadership and financial management. Marcus’s background equips him with the insights to foster growth and innovation across diverse sectors, making him a versatile leader in driving business success.
Sarah-Jane Spooner
Head of Creative Services & Insight
@ Education Cubed
Sarah-Jane Spooner is Education Cubed’s Head of Creative Services, Insight, and Partnerships. She has eleven years of marketing project management experience on both the client and supplier sides of Higher Education and Further Education. Before joining Education Cubed, Sarah worked for Revolution Viewing, where she led hundreds of video projects for over 60 UK universities, collaborating with students, professional services staff, and academics. Sarah now leads Cubed’s market insight function and regularly engages with prospective students and their influencers to understand what they need from university marketing and communications. Sarah is a lover of stories and an even greater lover of processes, which makes her really fun at parties.
Vivek Evjemo
Head of Account Management @ Education Cubed
With nearly four years at Education Cubed and over a decade of agency experience, specifically within the higher education sector, he is recognised for his analytical insight, creative thinking, and deep passion for the field. He has successfully guided his team in developing cohesive and innovative solutions for numerous clients. Building client trust and empowering his team are paramount to him, ensuring a meaningful contribution to the higher education sector.
Adam Smith
Head of International @ Education Cubed
Adam Smith is the Head of International at Education Cubed. With over a decade of digital marketing experience, he focuses on international student recruitment. As a former international student, Adam brings valuable insights to his role, helping universities navigate the challenging recruitment landscape. He has worked with more than 40 institutions across the UK and globally, including in the UAE, Italy, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, to enhance their student recruitment strategies. Adam specialises in lead generation and maximising ROI, ensuring measurable success for Education Cubed’s clients. His expertise in data analytics enables institutions to assess brand impact and effectively increase awareness. Passionate about driving results, Adam is committed to advancing innovative recruitment strategies in today’s competitive market.
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