Thomas Sheppard – Chairman of BPT
Thomas Sheppard became Chairman of BPT in February 2016.
Thomas joined as a Trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust in 2000 under the chairmanship of Michael Briggs and he remained a trustee until 2012. During his first time with BPT, he chaired the Architecture & Planning Committee (now the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee) and was closely involved with the acquisition and development of Number 1a Royal Crescent. After an absence he re-joined as the Chair-Elect in January 2016 to follow Edward Bayntun-Coward. Thomas is a Solicitor in private practice with regional solicitors Thrings and he specialises in land and property and he has been connected – usually as a trustee and often as chair – with many well-loved local organisations as well as time as a parish councillor. He lives in Bath and was educated at King Edward’s School in Broad Street (as were his father and grandfather before him) and so can properly claim to be a long-standing Bath resident.
Alex Sherman – Chief Executive Officer
Attends Trustee, Finance, Architecture, Planning & Place and Advocacy & Campaigning committee meetings.
Before joining BPT in 2021 Alex was Head of Business for the South West Heritage Trust in Somerset and Devon. Alex’s previous role focused on strategy, charity governance, financial management and HR. With a background in project and programme management in the public and charity sectors, he has led multi-agency partnerships to successfully deliver environmental and community grant giving programmes. Alex developed and implemented the award-winning Avalon Marshes Scheme, working with environmental and heritage partners to provide landscape scale restoration as well as community, heritage, and learning projects. He has been a trustee of two charities, in youth work and community transport.
Claire Dixon – Director of Museums and Deputy Chief Executive
Attends Trustee, Finance and Museums & Education committee meetings.
Before joining BPT in 2014, Claire’s career has been largely within the public or non-profit sector, working with cultural organisations particularly to develop visitor experiences, implement change management and deliver business plans. She started her career working on a large capital project at The Tank Museum in Bovington, before working at Hampshire Cultural Trust to curate and install exhibitions across ten museums and art galleries around the county. Before joining BPT Claire worked for the National Trust at property level, managing the visitor experience on Brownsea Island before taking responsibility for the house, collections and wider visitor services at Kingston Lacy. She has an MA from Leicester University in Museum Studies. She is currently also Chair of the South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries.