Board Member Profiles

Professor John Coyne CBE (Chair of British Canoeing)

Appointment period: March 2021 - March 2025 (second term)

Nominations Committee

With a 40 year career in higher education, Professor John Coyne was Vice Chancellor at the University of Derby for 11 years, before retiring in July 2015.  His contribution to the sector was recognised in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List when he was awarded a CBE for services to higher education.

John is well known in the business sector and sat on the Board of D2N2 - the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, and was a commissioner of the UK Commission on Employment and Skills. He is also currently a non-executive director of CFE Research and Consultancy Ltd.

Richard Boreham (Vice Chair of British Canoeing)

Appointment period: March 2021 - March 2025 (second term)

Governance Committee

Nominations Committee

Richard has been an active paddler for most of his life, with a particular love for white water kayaking.  Richard is also a voluntary coach at his local Canoe Club, Basingstoke Canal, where he is a past Chairman and a current committee member. 

Professionally, Richard is involved in business technology. He began his career in building leading edge software systems for various companies and is now a technology leader with over 25 years experience working with businesses to help them deliver their digital strategies. Richard has worked with senior executives in a wide variety of organisations, helping them to bring new thinking and to apply digital technologies to their business operations.

Kerry Chown (Director nominated by Canoe Wales)

Appointed: March 2022 - March 2026 (first term)

Kerry Chown has over 25 years in senior HR roles, with an MSc in Human Resource Management. 

Having founded Cobalt HR in 2016, she works with organisations to help them raise business performance by implementing robust people management practices. These include employee engagement, recognition and reward and performance management, alongside providing general operational support. 

Kerry works with many sport organisations and other third sector bodies, plus a range of private sector businesses. 

Kerry holds a number of Non-Executive Director roles in sport organisations and in the private sector, including being elected as Chair of Canoe Wales in 2020. 

Clare Dallaway (Director nominated by the English Forum)

Appointment period: March 2021 - March 2025 (second term)

HR, Remunerations and Nominations Committee

Nominations Committee

Clare is a member of Birmingham Canoe Club, and is Chair of British Canoeing’s West Midlands Regional Committee. Clare is also a UKCC Level 2 Coach and 4 Star Leader in both canoe and kayak. 

Clare works within the NHS and is an Associate Director of Organisational Development and Culture. Her portfolio of responsibility includes Leadership Development, Staff Engagement, Health and Well-Being and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Clare has a Masters in Business Administration and holds the Institute of Leadership and Management Executive Coaching and Mentoring Award.

Nick Donald (Independent Director)

Appointment period: March 2022 – March 2026 (first term)

Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee

Nick is a chartered accountant and spent most of his executive career in investment banking where he was Managing Director and Head of UK Equity Capital Markets for HSBC. 

He has a track record of advising boards of major UK PLCs in raising finance and attracting a diverse investor base. He has previous Non-Executive Director experience with Leicester Tigers Rugby Club and England Squash. 

He is currently an independent member of the sports broadcast monitoring committee. 

Martine Kushner (Independent Director)

Appointment period: March 2020 – March 2024 (first term)

Chair of the Governance Committee

Martine is a full time Judge with tickets to sit on cases in Family, Civil and Crime. She is also a qualified mediator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration.  When at the Bar she specialised in Family and Civil work and was ranked as a Leading Junior.  She has excellent problem solving capabilities and a wealth of legal, advisory and governance experience.

Martine has extensive board advisory experience and is currently a member of the Star Club Rowing Board and since 2019, also sits on British Canoeing’s National Disputes and Disciplinary Panel.

Upon becoming Director, Martine will also Chair British Canoeing’s Governance & Risk Committee.

Gareth Mahood, (Director nominated by the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland)

Appointment period: March 2023 – March 2027 (first term)

Ashley Metcalfe (CEO of British Canoeing)

Appointment period: June 2022 - no maximum term (current term)

HR, Remunerations and Nominations Committee

Finance and Audit Committee

Governance Committee

Ashley Metcalfe is an experienced and successful CEO who has most recently lead British Weightlifting through a successful transformation of the national governing body, which has seen growth in membership, diversity, financial security and secured the highest levels of governance and safeguarding.

A former professional cricketer, Ashley also has a wealth of experience in leading a number of businesses which specialise in marketing, events as well as CEO of a natural healthcare company.

James Miller (Director nominated by the Scottish Canoe Association)

James's paddlesport adventures really took off around ten years ago, after moving to Scotland from England. James is regularly involved in most paddlesport disciplines including, SUP, canoeing, kayaking, white water rafting and the off bit of sea kayaking. He brings a wide array of knowledge from the different paddling disciplines and from other adventure sports as well as representing Scotland. 

James has worked in the industry for 10 years, is a director of his own company, carries out some freelance work, and also volunteers for different paddlesports clubs/communities. In his spare time, you are most likely to see James out on a paddleboard or volunteering to further develop the sport and coaches. 

Zoey Rowe (Director nominated by the English Forum)

Appointment period: March 2022 – March 2026 (first term)

Governance Committee

Zoey is an active member of Wombourne Kayak Club and a volunteer Kayak instructor for the Roundhouse Birmingham and recently became a Sessional Instructor for the Sea cadets.  Zoey was a Steering Committee Board Member for West Midlands Manufacturing Club for 5 years.  

Zoey qualified as an accountant before entering her current profession within engineering 20 years ago where she has worked as an employed and freelance consultant working with manufacturing businesses, public sector and private companies. 

She supports women in engineering, annually assisting events giving talks and educational support.

Manpreet Sehmbi – Independent Director 

Appointment period: March 2023 – March 2027 (first term)

Manpreet has 17 years of experience working in a commercial, sponsorship and digital marketing environment. She is currently
Director of Business Development at The BTN Group, a leading B2B information and marketing solutions company serving the sports,
business, and events market. 

Manpreet comes with experience of implementing strategic and innovative initiatives to promote brand awareness, drive commercial growth and generate new revenue pipelines with key commercial partners. 

Prior to this she was Director of Sales with a leading hospitality and events provider and worked in London and New York City.

Manpreet also serves as an independent non-executive director with other sporting organisations. 

Greg Spencer (Director nominated by the English Forum)

Appointment period: March 2022 - March 2026 (first term)

Greg has experience working in many outdoor pursuits including canoeing, caving and gorge walking.  He spent time canyoning at a leading outdoor centre delivering services to a local college serving some of the most deprived communities in the region. 

He has galvanised communities and shaped strategy as a volunteer within areas such as early years care and education, junior tennis, school governance, sport and physical education. 

Greg has coordinated events at every scale from village fetes to international symposia and provided practical support to groups of passionate people to enable them to do great things. 

Greg has plenty of experience working with the staff and volunteers at British Canoeing.