Our people

Jeff Fergus joined the international advertising agency Leo Burnett, where he then spent the majority of his career. He was Chief Executive of the London office from 1986 until 1993 when he moved to Hong Kong to oversee the network’s Asia Pacific operations. Since retiring from the advertising industry, Jeff has worked as a marketing consultant for the Unipart Group and has also been a member of the board of governors of the University of Strathclyde. He continues to advise the University on fundraising and is also a Board member of the Scottish Ensemble orchestra.

Anu became a Trustee of the Charity in 2011. She is a Consultant in Paediatrics with plenty of experience in both inpatient as well as outpatient care for children. She is currently employed by a Clinical Research Organisation as a Medical Director specialising in clinical trials in children and infectious diseases. In addition, she attends a paediatric outpatient clinic regularly. Anu is a keen supporter of the charity as she witnesses the need for parent accommodation for families whose children are hospitalised in her role as a paediatrician.

Simon is retired from General Practice in Nottingham and London having trained at Westminster Hospital, where he met his wife. She was responsible for the neonatal ward with some very long stay patients. There was however no parental accommodation and the rate of marital breakdowns was enormous. In his career Simon was only too aware of the family problems and pressures of having a child in hospital. Simon believes the ambition of Ronald McDonald House Charities UK should be to have family accommodation included in the statutory specifications for hospitals that have a paediatric unit.

Simon has been an independent Trustee since 2008 and has been particularly involved in the development of strategic planning of the charity. He was closely involved with the merger and creation of the new Evelina London House at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust, and the re-organisation of fund raising for all of the RMHC Houses. He was formerly Director of Marketing at British Gas and a Managing Director of Centrica.

Sydney has extensive knowledge and expertise in finance, operations, and the commercial sector at a global level. She has spent her entire career in the advertising and marketing industry, holding C level positions at DDB (Omnicom Group), Razorfish and, most recently, at Vivaki (Publicis Groupe), where she was the Chief Financial Officer acting as the lead commercial and operational partner for all Publicis media and digital agencies throughout EMEA. She was previously involved with RMHC in the US for over 10 years where she held the position of President of the Board of Governors for Ronald McDonald House Charities – Western Washington & Alaska. Sydney is Principal of SKH Consultants and has two grown children living in the Seattle area. She enjoys hiking, tennis, kayaking and sailing.

Henry Trickey joined McDonald’s UK in July 2008 as Vice President for Development. Henry is responsible for the asset management of McDonald’s property portfolio, leading the deployment of construction-based rollout projects and increasing restaurant openings. Henry joined the Board of Trustees at Ronald McDonald House Charities UK in 2015. Henry is married with four children. He enjoys skiing, water sports, golf and cricket.

In a previous life, Ron worked as a Dairy Farmer but after visiting a Franchising Fair in 1998, he became interested in venturing out as a McDonald’s Franchisee. Ron has always been interested in supporting his local communities and so it’s with great excitement that he has decided to join our Board of Trustees in 2016 at Ronald McDonald House Charities UK. In his spare time Ron is an avid season ticket holding Manchester United fan, cyclist and a keen sports watcher. He is also a bit of a petrol head.

Smita is Senior Partner of Forsters LLP a leading law firm based in Mayfair, which focuses principally upon the real estate and private client sectors.  She is a real estate lawyer and has many years of experience in acting for clients with diverse property interests, ranging from developers, investors, funders and occupiers.  Smita was one of the founding partners of the firm and was Head of the Commercial Real Estate group from 1998 until 2003.  She became Senior Partner of the firm in 2014.

Karl is the Director of Digital Marketing for McDonald’s in the UK & ROI and has a long track record of success working with various companies in the digital arena.  We believe he will bring new insights and direction to our marketing strategy.

Karl was a beneficiary of our Charity when he stayed for 3 months at our Birmingham House, seven years ago, when his daughter was born with a serious heart defect.  Although Evie is recovered and doing well, Karl has remained a passionate advocate and supporter of RMHC, and brings a family perspective to our discussions.

Anne is a McDonald’s Franchisee after purchasing her first restaurant in Ripon in 2008. She now runs seven restaurants in Yorkshire.

Anne has an IT background of working in both sales and Operational Management and was the Sales Director at Fujitsu for over 10 years.

Jon has a degree from Leeds University in Linguistics and the Study of Communication. He comes from a business background, having previously worked with McDonald’s restaurants for 22 years where he led a business consultancy team. In 2007, Jon was appointed to the post of Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House Charities UK at a time when the Charity needed a clearer business focus in order to grow. Over time he has overseen the near trebling of the Charity’s income. One of his key objectives has been to drive forward the essential building of further Houses. Jon’s vision is that every child in hospital should have the right to have their family nearby.

Anne is now semi-retired, but continues to manage the Charity’s relationships with current and potential partners.  These include our current and future NHS partners and other Charities that might wish to join and support any part of our mission. In her spare time, Anne is an enthusiastic runner and enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Lauren has responsibility for raising awareness of the Charity and oversees the Marketing and Communications department. Whether it’s planning campaigns or conducting research into target audiences, Lauren develops strategies to reach existing and new supporters. In her spare time, Lauren likes playing the piano, watching films and discovering new restaurants.

Tony is our Head of Income Generation, meaning he covers all aspects of fundraising including regional, community and corporate, event teams, national challenge events, and individual giving. He also manages the McDonalds relationship team who look after our major corporate support, McDonald’s Restaurants. Tony admits to not having much free time, but always seeming to find some when Manchester City are playing! He can also be found swinging a golf club now and then.

Nicola is responsible for overseeing national fundraising plans to grow income across various challenges. This involves supporting teams in the development and delivery of their strategy and vision to engage new and existing donors. In her spare time Nicola enjoys spending time with family, in particular introducing her daughter to swimming and the great outdoors!

Sonya is the Charity’s Director of People and UK Operations and has responsibility for the operational and financial running of existing Ronald McDonald Houses. Sonya works with Anne Ward establishing and building new Ronald McDonald Houses, working closely with National Health Trusts to identify new sites for accommodation projects. In her spare time Sonya is an active netball player. She is also a keen cook and enjoys spending time with her family.

Isabel has responsibility for the financial health of the Charity. Through managing the Finance Team there are robust financial controls and reporting in place to provide financial security. Additionally, with the growing importance of data and insights, Isabel manages the Information and Data team to provide further vital support to the Charity. In her spare time, Isabel is becoming well acquainted with gymnastics, through her daughter’s aspiring gymnastics career!

Richard is the Director of Estates and Development.

He has extensive experience in managing building projects, facilities, and estates both national and internationally.

Since joining the Charity in 2021, Richard’s mission has been to make sure that the 12 Ronald McDonald Houses across the UK all have rooms and amenities available for families whenever they need them and that the opportunities for new Houses are explored to support even more families.