Governance

Elspeth has been a member of the Board since 2014 fulfilling the role of Chairman since December 2022.

Elspeth brings a wealth of marketing, communication, and fundraising experience to the BSM Governor's role. Her husband Giulio Contaldi is an alumnus of the School.  She works as Vice President of Members Services at ASMALLWORLD, a leading international private online club.

A graduate of McGill University, Montreal, Elspeth had a very successful career in the decorative arts, including stints at the National Art Gallery in Dublin and at London's V & A Museum, before moving to Milan. She has two children at the School.

With twenty-five years of international experience in leading companies in the Spirits industry, currently Marco is the CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Gruppo Montenegro.

He sits on the Executive Committee of Federvini - the Italian Federation of Wines and Spirits Manufacturers, and he is a member of the Advisory Board at Nielsen IQ, the global leader in consumer research.

Marco was elected as Governor in 2021 and has two children attending BSM.

John has been a member of the Board since 2013 fulfilling the role of Chairman from December 2018 to December 2022. An alumnus of the British School of Milan - Sir James Henderson, he is father to one recently graduated BSM student, and one currently enrolled in Senior School.

Born in London but raised in Milan, he left the School to study Maths and Economics at the London School of Economics. He first worked as an economist at a management consultancy firm but now is pursuing his passion in the world of ICT. An entrepreneur, he is founding and managing partner at Altamira; a company which specialises in web based applications for human resources.

Bringing great experience in financial and strategic management to the Board, Cesare has worked in finance for the last 30 years in Milan and London, covering the areas of Capital Markets Debts and more recently Private Banking.  He has had stints at UBS, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and is currently employed by Vontobel.

A graduate in Business and Economics from the University of Turin, Cesare now also volunteers to mentor and train others at the bank and plays an active role in development projects and its cultural programme.  He has two children at the BSM.

Chair of the Governance Committee and member of the Nominations Committee, Brian brings a wealth of legal and compliance knowledge from his work on Boards of Directors around the globe. Brian is a partner in the private equity firm Archimede, and formerly General Counsel and Company Secretary of LivaNova PLC. Father of a recently graduated BSM student, and one currently enrolled in Senior School.

Mother of four enrolled children at BSM, Mimosa joined the Board of Governors in 2021 bringing her experience from the law field.

She is a Senior Lawyer at Pedersoli Studio Legale and member of the Litigation and Arbitration department in the Milan office. This involves assisting foreign individuals and companies in litigation matters, focusing on civil, contract and commercial law and dealing with international and domestic arbitration matters.

Mimosa is also specialised in advising companies with regard to contractual and pre-contractual matters and is the founder and vice-president of Fuori Dalla Rete ONLUS - a not-for-profit organisation focused on OCD and eating disorders.

From 14 October 2019 Catriona Graham is the British Consul General in Milan and Director of the UK Department for International Trade in Italy.

Since 2015 Catriona was Commercial Counsellor at the British Embassy in Beijing leading on UK-China trade and investment in the energy sector. She has worked for UK Government since 2010 primarily on trade, investment, energy and climate change. During various secondments from Government Catriona has spent time in Brussels working at the European Commission, and renewable energy companies in London, Copenhagen and Brisbane, Australia.

Role currently covered by the Consul General Mike Nithavrianakis

Steven qualified as an English and Welsh Solicitor in 1985 and was admitted to the Ordine di Milano as an avvocato in 2017, he is also a qualified Mediator.

Steven specialises in advising clients in relation to international development and investment and trade and business.

Steven’s career began in London where he worked in a number of leading international law firms in the City. He has lived and worked professionally in a number of countries and jurisdictions both in the European Union and elsewhere, including the Russian Federation and other former Soviet Union countries.

Steven was formally appointed as President of the Chamber at the 106th Annual General Meeting on 29 June 2021,  taking over from Tom Noad.

Steven is the Chair of the Brexit Committee of The British Chamber of Commerce for Italy.

Headteacher at Mellers Primary School since 2007 and now additionally Executive Headteacher at Bluecoat Academy Primary in Nottingham, Amanda has a great deal of knowledge about the smooth functioning of primary schools. She possesses significant experience in providing the vision and leadership required to ensure a high quality of education for all primary pupils. She serves as Chair of the Education Committee.

A History graduate from the University of Nottingham, Amanda also has a PGCE and achieved the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in 2005.

Neil studied History at Cambridge University before training to be a teacher. He has worked mainly in the UK but also in Japan and Belgium. He even taught English in Rome for a short period after graduating from university.

He spent ten years teaching in London at King´s College School, Wimbledon before being appointed as Deputy Head at Sevenoaks School (where he worked with Chris Greenhalgh). He then became Head of Woodbridge School in Suffolk and is currently Principal of Hastings School, Madrid – an international school of 1200 students.

He is married with two teenage sons.

Chair of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.  John brings over 38 years of management experience in banking, the last 20 of which have been in risk management in Italy.  He was President of the British Chamber of Commerce for Italy from 2010 to 2016, in which role he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2015 Birthday Honours List for services to British trade and investment in Italy.

A graduate in English Language and Literature from the University of Manchester, he is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.  He is married and has two children.