Co-Opted Committee Members

Co-opted Board Committee members bring specialist knowledge and experience from elsewhere to the work of their Committee, and are also expected to develop a working understanding of the University and its operating context. They work alongside the Chair of the Committee and are full voting members of the Committee with the same decision-making rights and responsibilities as other committee members, but are not members of the Board of Governors and do not have the same individual and collective corporate and charitable obligations as required of the Board of Governors as the body unambiguously and collectively responsible for institutional activities.

Graeme Hudson

Remuneration Committee - Co-Opted Committee Member

Graeme joined the Remuneration Committee in January 2018.  

Outside of Northumbria University, Graeme is a Director at Baillie Gifford, a global investment management firm.  He oversees the Remuneration, HR Technology, Global Mobility, Employee Experience, and Employment Law and Policy teams.  Graeme was previously Chief of Staff of Salesforce in the UK & Ireland.  He has worked in a range of commercial and HR roles within Financial Services firms.  His HR background includes time within Deloitte's global executive remuneration practice in London.  Until recently he was Chair of JET, a local charity focused on the relief of unemployment specifically for ethnic minority groups in the North East of England.  Graeme graduated MA (Hons) in Management from St Andrews University.  

John Hudson

Audit Committee - Co-Opted Committee Member

Adam Parker

Strategic Performance Committee - Co-Opted Committee Member

Adam is the Chief Performance Officer at Civica, the GovTech business that provides software to over 5,000 public bodies, many of which are in the UK. Civica’s software is used by local and central government, education and health and care bodies to help them serve citizens. In his current role, Adam is accountable for orchestrating and measuring Civica’s performance against its strategic and related transformational objectives. Prior to Civica, Adam held various roles over a five-year period at Sage Group plc, the North-East headquartered FTSE100 accounting, HR and payroll software company. These roles included positions in a variety of functions within the business including finance, product, performance and pricing. His last role was as Sage’s Chief Data Officer, as which he was accountable for ensuring the success of Sage’s data strategy, including championing a data-led culture. 

His first role after university was with PwC, working in audit and corporate finance for over six years, and later in his career subsequently spent another three years working in consulting, with particular focus on public sector procurement. The remainder of his career has been spent founding and running businesses of his own in IT services, digital public relations and social media analytics, all of which he successfully exited.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick.

Outside work Adam enjoys keeping fit, watching sports, including being a Newcastle United season ticket holder of thirty years, and playing the drums. 

Phil Turnbull

Audit Committee - Co-opted Committee Member

Philip Turnbull is the Chief Executive of the Association of International Accountants (AIA), an organisation established in 1928 that offers a recognised professional qualification in accountancy and auditing. With extensive experience in the development and management of professional qualifications, Philip has played a pivotal role in advancing accounting education and promoting sustainability, equality, diversity, and inclusion within the profession.

Philip’s expertise spans strategic planning, financial sustainability, compliance, and stakeholder engagement. He has been instrumental in developing internationally recognised syllabi, assessments, and qualifications. He also has additional experience in internal auditing roles at publicly listed companies, where he developed expertise in audit planning, risk assessment, internal control evaluation, and financial reporting across diverse industries and international jurisdictions.

Beyond his role at AIA, Philip serves as Treasurer of the Commonwealth Fashion Council, a board member of the NPH Ethnic Minority Business & Policy Forum, and a contributor to Northumbria University’s Accounting and Finance Advisory Panel. 

Philip is an alumnus of the University of Northumbria and is a fellow member of multiple prestigious accounting bodies, including the Association of International Accountants (AIA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).