The CUBO Executive Committee is comprised of senior professionals from HE commercial and campus services and the business world. It sets the strategic direction of the association and provides guidance to the CUBO staff team. Each Executive Committee member also leads a specific work area.
Melissa has worked within the student accommodation sector since 2009 and has gained invaluable experience within the Private and HEI sectors. Melissa is the Acting Director of Campus Services at the University of Kent, having been in post since 2022.
She has extensive experience gained in managing both in-house and 3rd party contract staff, with direct strategic and operational management responsibilities, including managing Soft Services Contracts, New Builds, Mobilisation and Refurbishment Projects, Capital Investment works, Third Party Lettings/Commercial Summer Lettings and Outsourced and Inhouse Catering.
Melissa has been a member of various Senior Leadership Teams throughout her career. As a trained life coach Melissa has focused her career on the importance of investing and developing people to create effective, diverse and happy working environments which will allow teams to ‘thrive’ and achieve organisation goals and objectives. She specialises in Leadership development, building training programmes, managing teams through organisational change, promoting Culture and EDI initiatives within organisations whilst meeting commercial objective and targets.
Melissa's vision for her role at CUBO is to create a CUBO L&D framework that supports the goals and ambitions of the CUBO members. Working actively with current and new members to create impactful training and mentoring opportunities for leaders and their teams which will add value to organisations and the people within them.
Sue joined the CUBO Executive in 2019, having chaired the CUBO Marketing Group for 4 years. She has a marketing career spanning nearly 24 years, the last 19 years of which has been focused in higher education.
She is currently Head of Marketing & Communications at the University of Leeds where her portfolio includes the commercial, facilities, campus experience and sustainability areas. Sue plays an active role in the wider marketing industry as a Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and previously as a member of the regional CIM Board.
“I am very passionate about the role that CUBO as an organisation plays in helping to drive forwards commercial and campus service areas of higher education that can often be forgotten, but that have huge strategic importance within each of our institutions. I have been fortunate to witness first-hand the significant changes and growth in CUBO over the last few years, including broadening the remit to reach into soft FM areas and overall campus life experience. Personally, I have gained a huge amount from CUBO including opportunities for networking, knowledge, inspiration and motivation, and I believe that through the ambitious new strategy, CUBO has the potential to widen its reach further, positively impacting greater numbers of colleagues across the sector and providing excellent value for money for the membership base.”
Michelle Christian has spent over 25 years in student housing, starting as a Vacation Assistant to progressing into leadership roles – including her current position as Director of Student Operations at The University of Edinburgh.
Working in a number of roles throughout her career has given Michelle a deep understanding of what truly makes a difference in student accommodation.
Michelle oversees one of the UK’s largest student housing portfolios, leading Residence Life, two campus nurseries and key areas such as portfolio development, soft FM, and safety management. An expert in Scottish housing regulation, legislation and standards, Michelle has played a key role in influencing housing reform and assessing the national impact of major sector-wide issues.
Beyond strategy, Michelle thrives on collaboration and problem-solving, bringing people together to drive meaningful change. She combines strong financial expertise with a proven ability to build networks, influence key decisions and foster partnerships at both an institutional and regional level.
At the core of it all, Michelle believes student housing is more than just a place to live—it plays a crucial role in shaping student experience, wellbeing and success.
Clare has been Head of Conferences at The University of Salford since 2005. Prior to her career in higher education, she built extensive experience in hospitality, conferences and events within the private sector, working across hotels, restaurants, conference centres and theme parks, including six years at Granada Studios in Manchester.
Clare also serves as a Director on the Board of Academic Venue Solutions, where she previously held the role of Chair for six years.
Kirsty joined the University of Leicester in 2010, where she progressed from Deputy Director of Residential and Commercial Services to Director of Campus Services, before taking on her current role as Director of Estates and Campus Services.
At the University of Leicester, Kirsty is the strategic lead for Accommodation; Print Services; Leicester Conferences; Campus Operations, including Portering and Cleaning, Grounds and Gardens, Post, Fleet; and Security. Kirsty is also a Board Director of College Court Conference Centre and Leicester Services Partnership, (the Student Union and University catering partnership) and the University lead on Prevent.
Kirsty joined CUBO Executive Board in March 2019, initially picking up the conference portfolio. Kirsty was CUBO Chair between 2022 & 2025 and has represented CUBO on the Board of the Universities UK Accommodation Code of Practice since October 2018.
Prior to joining Leicester, Kirsty was a Senior Project Manager at the Russell Partnership. In this role, Kirsty worked with well-known organisations such as the BBC and Goldman Sachs to improve their catering offer. She also worked with a number of universities, including Leicester. It was while working for Leicester as a consultant that Kirsty began the journey of transforming the University’s catering service, which led to her being offered a permanent role at the institution.
Her early career was spent in hotels including a spell as a Hotel Manager working for Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries. She also spent ten years at the University of Warwick, firstly as Catering Manager and then as Head of Catering Services.
Kirsty is a former winner of a Caterer and Hotelkeeper Acorn Award and was named Cost Sector Caterer of the Year in 2001. She received her MBA from the University of Leicester in January 2017, having combined her studies with a very busy job.
Joanne, recently appointed as Deputy Director of Facilities, Residential and Commercial Services at The University of Liverpool, brings a wealth of experience to her new role.
Her responsibilities include providing leadership and management of a diverse portfolio of business operations across the FRCS group of services, aligning them with the faculty and central professional services in support of the University’s newly developed vision and strategy, Liverpool 2031.
As a CIMA qualified accountant within the Higher Education sector, Joanne has dedicated over two decades to the University of Liverpool, with a significant focus on Facilities and Residential services. Her deep institutional knowledge and expertise position her well to drive sustainable long-term growth and support the University's strategic objectives.
Despite the demands of her new role and familial responsibilities, Joanne recognises the importance of engaging with external professional networks. Joanne's decision to join CUBO reflects her dedication to remaining abreast of industry trends and contributing to the broader professional community. She is enthusiastic about connecting with like-minded professionals, exchanging experiences, and collectively advancing the growth and development of the field.
I am the Associate Director of Campus Services at De Montfort University in Leicester, with responsibility for a broad portfolio of staff- and student-facing services across our campuses. My remit includes, but is not limited to, sustainability, cleaning provision, and post and portering services. I also lead several Estates Directorate strategic groups and oversee service efficiency planning.
I am an active member of ISEP and am currently working towards chartership. Additionally, I sit on the AUDE Strategic FM Group, where I am committed to strengthening synergies across PHES teams and enhancing the integration of our collective work.
I hold a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Biology from Newcastle University (2008) and an MSc in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technologies from Keele University (2013). Although originally from the Midlands, my career has taken me across the UK and internationally, and I am now settled just outside Burton upon Trent. Outside of work, I am a keen netballer—recently returning to the sport after more than a decade away through the Back to Netball Programme, which I highly recommend—and I have also taken up road running.
Throughout my career, I have worked within various government bodies and higher education institutions in environmental and sustainability roles. This experience has provided me with first-hand insight into the evolving landscape of environmental stewardship, both in terms of local impact and global significance.
As a member of the CUBO Board, my aim is to help cultivate a supportive and collaborative community that harnesses the excellent sustainability work already happening across the sector. I am particularly focused on capturing best practice and developing a forward-looking sustainability strategy that prioritises students, drives behaviour change, and delivers measurable benefits for both our institutions and the local environment. While the need for environmental change is widely recognised, it is essential that we make it easier for people to choose the right actions over maintaining the status quo.
Adrian has worked within Facilities Management for over 24 years, holding a variety of roles from a Duty Manager, to an Area Manager, through to Director level. Adrian has worked within the University Sector since 2012, and is currently employed as the Director of Facilities Management at Edge Hill University.
He is responsible for providing strategic leadership to wider FM team, and is accountable for overseeing the operational delivery of a range of hard and soft services which includes catering, conferencing, residential accommodation, and sport and recreation services. He has extensive contract management experience across a variety of sectors, and has operated on both the contractor and client side.
Adrian believes that everything starts with a conversation, and he is keen to have more member conversations across the CUBO network, to gain a greater insight to how CUBO can add more value to its members. Adrian will be focused on ensuring that members continue to engage with and benefit from all of the excellent CUBO activities, including special and regional group events, learning and development, round table discussions, online resources, discussion forums, conferences and of course our best practice awards!
I have worked at Lancaster University for 30 years in a wide range of commercial, research and marketing roles and this has helped me to get under the skin of the widest possible elements of HE life - during the pandemic this has really helped to understand the range of challenges and solutions that we need to address to make our campus flourish.
I value the ability to beg, borrow and steal ideas from others via CUBO, but also to meet people who can challenge my view of the world.
I got involved in the Board as I could see an organisation that wanted to lead and help set the agenda for commercial services in the University sector. CUBO wants to make sure that staff across the range of activities are acknowledged for the important work they do to make Universities great places to live, work and study, and I wanted to help develop this.
