Board of Trustees
The Coffin Works / Birmingham Conservation Trust is a charity which is governed by a board of Trustee Directors.
Meet our current trustees below (in alphabetical order).
Annette
Annette joined our Board in 2022, but she’s been a champion of ours for a long time, regularly attending events and helping steer our Museum Accreditation journey a few years back.
As a JQ resident, Annette is invested in ensuring the area thrives and appreciates how heritage is at the core of that. He has always had a passion for heritage and the architectural past, the way it has shaped communities and their stories.
Annette has worked with museums for many years but recently branched out into other areas: creative education, libraries and now in higher education as Accreditations Manager for Birmingham Business School at the University of Birmingham.
In her own words: ‘As the Trust looks ahead to new projects, it’s exciting to reflect on how much has been achieved over the last few years. There’s so much energy and enthusiasm to inspire our ambition of where we go next!’
Benjamin, Chair of Trustees
Benjamin started out in archaeology and worked in the museums’ sector before moving to Heritage Trust Network as their Development Officer for England.
As HTN were tenants of the Coffin Works, Benjamin developed a passion for the site and the work of Birmingham Conservation Trust. In 2019, he moved to Historic England as a Heritage at Risk Officer for the Midlands.
He’s been our champion for many years and is now steering our vision under an exciting chapter for the Trust as we embark on new projects. Benjamin’s perfectly positioned to do this as he brings his experience of working with a host of building preservation trusts as well as his knowledge of the management of National Lottery Heritage Fund projects.
Overall though, we thank him for leading with such positivity and his investment in the Coffin Works’ team and all we do.
Devinder
Devinder joined the Board in the summer of 2024. She has always had a passion for heritage and architecture and having worked with listed buildings and development in conservation areas for a number of years, she decided she wanted a long-term career in the heritage sector and completed a MA in the Conservation of the Historic Environment
Day to Day, Devinder is a full-time Conservation Officer at Walsall Council. Her knowledge is even more invaluable as Birmingham Conservation Trust look to support the restoration of historic buildings in the city.
Devinder is currently working on a number of projects including Willenhall masterplan, the public realm project in Walsall Town Centre, and the heritage strategy for the Borough.
Josie
Josie joined the board in 2024 and has been working in the museums and heritage sector for 10 years, having started as a research volunteer for the Coffin Works during the early stages of her PhD in Archaeology. She then trained as a volunteer tour guide before joining the staff team in 2016. She left in 2019 to become ‘Activities Programme Manager’ for the JQ Cemeteries, then staying on with JQBID doing Marketing and Events.
She did miss cemeteries though, so recently accepted a role with the burial ground charity Caring for God’s Acre and now gets to work with cemeteries and churchyards all over England- teaching people about built heritage and social history.
Joining the BCT board was a way to stay connected to the Jewellery Quarter and offer something back to the museum.
Kerry
Kerry joined our Board in 2022 and brings a wealth of heritage experience and knowledge of education, partnership working and fundraising. And she’s only based down the road at IKON Gallery.
Kerry joined the BCT Board to shape the Trust’s strategic vision and as a former Learning Manager and now a Partnerships Manager, her experience of working with diverse audiences and progressing new relationships will be crucial in helping us do this.
In late 2018 he fulfilled a long-standing ambition to set up shop in the Jewellery Quarter, leading Locus Consulting’s expansion across Birmingham and the West Midlands. The company is proud to call the Coffin Works “home”, as one of its newest tenants.
Tim
Tim has had a lifelong passion for history which started when his father bought him a ‘Kings and Queens of England’ book from Dover Castle in the early 90s. This love for history grew during his childhood with an almost obsessional interest for all things Ancient Egypt. He has a master’s degree in history and specialises in 17th-century history. He has written for several publications and museum reviews, as well as working as a researcher on several heritage projects and as a presenter on a documentary about the First World War. Outside of history and heritage Tim works as a risk manager in the energy and tech sector. He has spent his career working in risk management in both the public and private sectors, and brings this experience to the Board by helping to identify and manage its risk profile. He lives in Birmingham with his husband and their two cats and can usually be found in one of the bars of Stirchley.
