Trustees
Dr Graham Coley — Chairman
Graham is a retired Company Executive, who originally worked as a research scientist, with a wide experience of the management of Science, Engineering and Technology businesses in both the Public and the Private sectors. He is a dedicated fly-fisher, passionately concerned about ensuring a future for wild brown trout, grayling and Atlantic salmon. He is a member of the Piscatorial Society, and the Flyfisher’s Club, and involved with the Upper Oykel in Sutherland. In his role as Trustee, he has a focus on advising about strategy, operational management and compliance. He aims to help the organisation to grow effectively and succeed in its mission whilst keeping its overhead costs to an absolutely essential minimum.
Dr David Fraser
David Fraser is the Chief Executive of the River Thame Conservation Trust. David’s ecological roots lie in salmonid ecology gained in particular via his PhD, which focussed on the ecologically distinct co-occurring races of Arctic charr present in Lochs Rannoch, Ericht and Tay in Scotland and the interactions of charr and trout in these waters. David has wide ranging experience in the fisheries and freshwater ecology sector, having worked for English Nature (now Natural England) as National Freshwater Fisheries Advisor, then as a consultant with Royal Haskoning and Apem Ltd, followed by a move to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. David is a keen, although due to family commitments, currently infrequent angler of both rivers and lakes, with a penchant for waters where the choice of fly is less important than possession of a compass, map and walking boots.
Dr Gary Mantle MBE
Gary is long-term friend and supporter of the Wild Trout Trust and now a Trustee. He has a degree in ecology and his doctorate involved the impacts of fish farming. He was awarded an MBE in 2000 for his services to conservation. Gary retired as Director of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in 2023 and founded the Sensory Trust which champions equal environmental opportunities for people with a disability. Gary brings to the Board of Trustees a broad understanding of, and influence in, the world of conservation and sustainability. He is also an angler, as happy fishing for barbel as for trout.
Chris Watson
Chris Watson is Partner and European Head of Telecommunications at CMS Cameron McKenna, a City law firm. He uses his legal skills to good effect as a Trustee, and when not working hard as a lawyer, endeavours to grow the best wines in Chablis and Irancy and squeeze in some fishing in the UK and around the world.
Martin Jacobs
Martin spent most of his career in banking and latterly was a Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He provided corporate finance advice to both public and private sector clients and in particular he brought commercial skills to various government departments including a number of the scientific agencies. Martin is a Non Executive Director of UCLH NHS Foundation Trust. He is a devoted fly fisherman and has cast his rod far and wide (and quite often in the bushes). He is also a keen painter and occasionally has been known to exhibit his work.
Dr Jenny Mant
Jenny joined the WTT as a Trustee in June 2016, but was already well known to the Trust as a judge of the WTT Conservation Awards for six years, using her wide knowledge of all elements of river management to assess some really fantastic initiatives.
Following a degree in Geography, she completed a PhD on sediment and vegetation in ‘dryland’ rivers in Spain. She worked at the River Restoration Centre for 14 years as head of the technical team and now works as a principal consultant for Ricardo-AEA, in their water sector team. In her ‘spare’ time, Jenny enjoys walking, cycling, traveling, and tennis. She seems to always end up being involved with projects within her local community. Jenny is never averse to spending time along a river and is happy to get stuck in with the practical side of restoration. Ultimately, anything outdoors and she is happiest.
David Lloyd
David has almost 40 years of experience in communications and marketing. Originally a journalist, he worked as managing director of Financial Dynamics, a leading international public relations consultancy, for 15 years before retiring in 2010. Since then, he has been a volunteer for a number of community-based organisations, including six years as a Trustee of Street League, a charity that uses football to help disadvantaged, unemployed young people get their lives back on track. David’s life-long passion for fishing began at the age of eight, float fishing for roach and dace in the Thames. These days, he coarse fishes in the winter and fishes the fly the rest of the time, with the brown trout, sea trout and salmon of the Frome in Dorset, where he has a home, a particular focus.
George Seligman
George practised for many years as a corporate lawyer, retiring in late 2012 from the City law firm, Slaughter and May. He divides his time between London and his farm in the Test valley. He has a strong interest in education, chairing the governors of Winchester House School in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and being a trustee of Countryside Learning, a charity that educates inner city children about the countryside. He is also the Chairman of the Wessex Rivers Trust. He is a keen fly fisherman for trout and salmon.
Andrew Harvey
With a degree in business studies, Andrew spent the early years of his career working in Marketing and Communications, within the financial services sector. This early career path led Andrew to his current position, as CEO, of an international recruitment and executive search firm, focused on providing Marketing and Communications consultancy and talent management advice to organisations across the UK and mainland Europe. Andrew is also a Non-Executive Director of the ‘Institute of Internal Communication’, a professional membership body, dedicated to promoting business communications of the highest standard. Living in Gloucestershire, Andrew is a long-term member of the Cotswold Flyfishers and spends many happy (and occasionally successful) hours, casting a dry fly for wild trout and grayling, across the rivers and streams that crisscross the Cotswold countryside.