Our trustees

Our trustees are also known as the Council of Management. They are:

Roy Bratby - Chairman

Prior to retirement in 2006 Roy Bratby spent 10 years as Chief Executive of the Institute of Acoustics.He is a Member of the Association of International Accountants and a Member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Married with a son and daughter he lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire and his interests are historic buildings and architecture, listening to music and researching family history. He is a member of the National Trust and English Heritage and serves on the Council of the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society and is currently Chairman of the Programme Development Committee. He is also a member of the St Albans Probus Club- Verulamium.

He was a member of the Council of Management of the British Tinnitus Association from 2002 until 2005

Martyn Fray FCA - Hon. Treasurer

Martyn Fray qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse (now PwC) in Birmingham. After a spell in their London office, Martyn decided his future lay in the world of commerce. He has over 40 years industrial and commercial experience working in industry with both multi-national corporations and owner managed businesses. He has held directorships throughout, either at functional level (Finance Director) or in general management.

Martyn’s career spans automotive components, the UK steel industry, telecoms and electronics, and food manufacture. Now retired from mainstream employment he retains interests in a few UK based SMEs where he can add value.

A keen sailor, Martyn lives in South Devon where he follows his love of the sea and all matters nautical. Married for more years than they like to admit, Martyn and Frances have four adult children and a growing team of grandchildren. There is never a dull moment!

Professor Deborah Hall - Trustee

Professor Hall is currently the Director of the NIHR Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit where she leads research projects on tinnitus and translational neuroscience.

Deborah has a specific interest in the neurophysiological basis in tinnitus and exploring ways to manage it. In 2011, she was awarded the Thomas Simm Littler Prize from the British Society of Audiology for her work in this field.

Prior to that she worked as a research scientist at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research in Nottingham leading a small team of researchers who use functional magnetic resonance imaging as a tool for finding out about auditory brain processing in humans.

In 1993, Deborah was awarded an honours degree in Psychology from the University of West London followed in 1997 by a PhD in Neuropsychology from the University of Birmingham.

Deborah served on the BTA’s Professional Advisers’ Committee between 2003-2010.

Don McFerran - Trustee

Biography to follow

Philip Nash - Trustee

Philip has over 35 years of project experience in the UK, Europe, Russia and worldwide in both the public and private sectors. He has worked in the City and in the energy, health, and legal project management spheres.

As Newcastle Hospital's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Director, he was responsible for a large expansion and amalgamation scheme for the country's second largest NHS Trust, achieving one of the lowest health sector funding costs.

Other projects Philip has worked on include several hospitals; oil and gas developments; power plants; climate change (via energy into waste projects) and infrastructure projects for airports, as well as posts as director and general manager of a power company. Philip has served on a number of industry committees. For 3 years, he has been an elected public governor for the North Hampshire and Basingstoke NHS Foundation Trust, serving on the Audit, Membership and Communication and Remuneration Committees.

Philip's interests include classical music, motor racing and rugby. He has tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Philip is married with a son and a daughter, and lives in Hampshire.

Dr Judith Sutherland - Trustee

Judi has a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Leeds and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Nottingham. In 1987 she joined the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in both large multi-national companies and small biotechnology companies, chiefly in the development of new medicines, both proteins and small molecules, from proof of concept to commercialisation and post-marketing. Her positions have included Fermentation Scientist and Senior Planning Officer at SmithKline Beecham, Contracts Manager at Celltech Biologics (subsequently Lonza Biologics), Project Manager at Antisoma, and Senior Director, Programme Management at Shire Pharmaceuticals, where she led a team of programme management specialists. She also spent some time running her own consulting company, advising small start-up companies on drug development programmes.

Judi took redundancy from Shire in 2011 and since then has concentrated on writing. She is currently a student on the Creative Writing MA at Royal Holloway, University of London, specialising in poetry, and has had some poems published in magazines. She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband, Frank.

Professor Peter Wheeler, PhD - Trustee

Peter Wheeler read physics at Imperial College, subsequently specialising in acoustics and audio signal processing for his doctorate. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics. He was President of the Institute of Acoustics for 1992-94. After working for BBC in broadcast engineering, Peter Wheeler joined ISVR at Southampton University, where he established a successful research group in electroacoustics and audio communications, patenting noise cancellation communication products for UK industry. His work has been featured on four BBC TV 'Tomorrow's World' programmes. After a period as a Director of Racal Acoustics, Peter was appointed Professor of Applied Acoustics at Salford University. He was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 1995.

Peter has been active in standards development in acoustics and noise for more than thirty years. He holds the post of Civil Advisor in acoustics to the Royal Air Force. Since his retirement, he has acted as professional engineering advisor to the Institute of Acoustics. He has been a Parish Councillor in his home village of Penn, serving as Chairman from 2002 until 2007.

Our Vice Presidents

Geoffrey Bates OBE - BTA Vice President

Geoffrey's business career covered 32 years with Shell International, then industrial financing in Saudi Arabia and consultancy work in the UK. From 1996 to 1999, he was Hon. Treasurer and Trustee of the BTA and then Company Secretary until September 2002. He was elected as a Vice-President in February, 2003.

He is also involved with the Cardinal Hume Centre in London for homeless young people.

Stephanie Beacham - BTA Vice President

Stephanie was brought up in Hertfordshire, studied ballet from the age of four and later mime in Paris with Etienne de Creux before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Shortly after birth, she was diagnosed as being completely deaf in her right ear.

Her extensive career, which encompasses film, theatre and television, has earned her much success on both sides of the Atlantic. Stephanie is also a spokesperson for the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association and serves on the Board of Directors for Free Arts for Abused Children.

She has two daughters, Phoebe and Chloe, and a grandson, Jude.

 

Photo: left to right - Philip Nash, Judi Sutherland, Deb Hall, Peter Wheeler, Roy Bratby