Julie Gaskell and Simon Patterson have been appointed as Trustees to the National Gallery Board. These appointments were made by the previous Prime Minister
Julie Gaskell has been appointed for a four year term from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2030. Simon Patterson has been appointed for a four year term from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030.
Julie Gaskell
Julie Gaskell is a sponsorship strategist with extensive senior experience across the public, private and cultural sectors. She advises rights holders, charities and cultural organisations on partnership development, strategic sponsorship and stakeholder engagement.
As Head of Partnerships at Wild in Art, Julie contributes to mass appeal public art initiatives. Julie has held senior leadership roles with United Utilities, Widnes Viking RLFC and Stobart Group, where she led corporate communications, sponsorship, stakeholder engagement and organisational strategy.
Throughout her career, she has contributed to initiatives including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Liverpool’s 2008 European Capital of Culture, the International Festival for Business (2014 and 2016) and, more recently, We Invented the Weekend 2026 in Salford.
Simon Patterson
Simon Patterson is Chair of the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, where he has served as a Trustee for 10 years, helping to design, build, fundraise and scale Their Royal Highnesses’ major social and environmental programmes, including The Earthshot Prize, The Centre for Early Childhood, Heads Together (mental health), and Homewards (homelessness). Simon is a Senior Partner of Silver Lake, the technology investment firm, where he has worked on many of the firm’s landmark investments over 20 years, including the successful transformation of Dell, collaborating closely with Michael Dell and serving as a board member for 10 years.
He has also led Silver Lake investments in sports, including New Zealand Rugby and SailGP, and is personally a co-owner of MCC’s London Spirit cricket team in the Hundred tournament.
He is a Senior Advisor at Chatham House and a Fellow of King’s College Cambridge. Prior roles include Non-Executive Director of Tesco plc and Trustee of the Natural History Museum, where he helped build and fundraise for the museum’s large-scale AI and digital programmes, and its ambitious garden redevelopment.
Remuneration and Governance Code
National Gallery Trustees are not remunerated and do not attract a pension or any other gratuity.
This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election.
Julie Gaskell and Simon Patterson have declared no such political activity.