A property developer or an educationist? Influential academy trust chief executive and chair answers questions over related companies
2 July 2026
A property company, set up to help fund an academy trust CEO's pension, is majority owner of recruitment firm Satis Education, our investigation found. Image: iStock.
Helen Stevenson, who co-founded a company which recruits academy chief executives and other senior leaders, is now leading one trust herself as CEO and another as chair. Education Uncovered investigated the links between her companies, including one which has bought up properties in Liverpool to fund her and her husband’s pension.
The case seems to underline the complex relationship education can have with private business via the academies policy, although Ms Stevenson stresses that any conflicts of interest have been carefully managed.
A property company, set up to help fund an academy trust CEO's pension, is majority owner of recruitment firm Satis Education, our investigation found. Image: iStock.
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