PRS Foundation’s Board of Trustees

Following a long career in Broadcasting and the Arts, Susannah Simons is currently Director of Content for Marquee TV the Global streaming platform for the Arts. Prior to that, she was Director of Partnerships for Canvas, the Arts Council England funded multi-channel network for the arts and Head of Policy and Outreach for BBC Radio and Music . She has been a trustee of PRS Foundation since 2018 and is also a trustee of One Dance UK and on the Honorary Council of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Alex Kassner has been responsible for legal and business affairs at the Kassner Music group since 2009.

His working career began as a solicitor with city firm CMS Cameron McKenna. Alex practised banking law there for three years post-qualification with clients including Amazon.com, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, before realising his heart lay in music and joining the family publishing business.

Key achievements to date while at Kassner Music include leading deals to secure the representation of the music of highly acclaimed songwriters such as Junior Giscombe, the Jungle Brothers, Leon Haywood, Charlie Simpson, Robin Taylor-Firth, Reef and Joe Smooth. He has also overseen the relaunch of the company’s frontline A&R roster, which now includes up-and-coming songwriters such as Charlotte Haining and Joe Wander, former beneficiaries of the PRS Foundation through, respectively, its Writer Producer Fund and Hitmaker Fund.

In addition to Alex’s work at Kassner Music, he undertakes a number of roles within the UK music industry. He was elected to the PRS Members Council in 2020 and has held the position of Deputy Chair since the start of 2023. Alex has served as a director at PPL-PRS Ltd and MCPS since 2022 and has also been a member of the MPA Public Affairs and Governance Committee since 2016.

Caroline Norbury, OBE is the founding Chief Executive of Creative UK.  Dedicated to championing the creative industries, Creative UK invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses, harnessing the power of the creative sector to build a fairer, more prosperous world.  Creative UK uses its extensive membership and networks in the creative industries to advocate for change, building the right environment for the future of the sector.

Caroline began her career working in community arts before becoming a film and TV producer, focusing on supporting new talent and those whose voices had traditionally been absent from mainstream media.

A member of BAFTA and the Royal Society of Arts, Caroline is also Chairwoman of The Music Works, a young people’s music education charity and a trustee for the PRS Foundation, an organisation supporting new music and talent.  She sits on the Creative Industries Council which is co-chaired by Sir Peter Bazalgette and the Secretary of State for DCMS, and co-chairs the Growth working group of the Council.  Caroline is a founding board member of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Agency, (CIISA) and Chairwoman of the cross-industry “Roundtable” group focused on reducing bullying, harassment, and discrimination in the Creative Sector.   She has two honorary doctorates from the University of Essex and Arts University Bournemouth.

Caroline has been married forever to Ed and has two children.

Chris Butler has worked in the music publishing industry since leaving Durham University with a music degree in 1984. He held a succession of positions at Chappell Music (later Warner Chappell), before joining Novello in 1989. Four years at the classical independent ended when Novello was acquired by the Music Sales Group in 1993. Over the past 25 years the Music Sales Group has become one of the world’s largest independent music publishers with offices in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Berlin, Copenhagen, Sydney and Tokyo.

In tandem with being the leading player in the business of printed music, Music Sales owns and administers an extensive portfolio of copyrights through a network of wholly owned companies throughout the world. In addition to Novello these include J & W Chester, G. Schirmer, Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Union Musicales Ediciones, Editions Alphonse Leduc, Bosworth & Co, Sparta Florida and Campbell Connelly. The Music Sales Group currently has an active roster of over one hundred living composers creating new music in all genres.

Christine joined PPL in 2008 as Head of Public Performance Operations. In January 2012 she was appointed to the newly created role of Operations Director, responsible for PPL’s Public Performance Operations, Marketing and Member Services team. In 2018, Christine became Chief Operating Officer for PPL and was appointed to the Board of PPL PRS Ltd.

Christine has many years of experience as a leader and came to PPL following senior roles at Harrods, GE Capital and TWG (formerly Aon Warranty Group).

Crispin Hunt is a multi-platinum-selling songwriter and record producer. He has written or worked with or for Tom Grennan, Jake Bugg, Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Ellie Goulding, Maverick Sabre, Newton Faulkner, Natalie Imbruglia, Bat For Lashes, Rod Stewart and many more. He advocates internationally for Copyright & Creator Rights. He is an elected Director of PRS. Formerly Chair of The Ivor’s Academy, Director of PPL, UK Music & Co-CEO of the Featured Artist Coalition, Crispin was the lead singer of Longpigs and worked in Westminster as a Parliamentary Researcher and Campaign Coordinator.

John Minch is President of Concord Music Publishing International and CEO of Boosey & Hawkes (B&H) Music Publishers and brings a range of business experiences to PRS: business simplification, acquisition, management of people. All developed over the course of 20 years in music publishing. B&H remains the leading publisher of contemporary classical music worldwide. John is also a board member of ICMP and MCPS.

Jonathan Aitken is General Counsel and Company Secretary at PRS for Music.  As a senior lawyer and business executive responsible for directing PRS for Music’s legal strategy, Jonathan has significant copyright and industry experience with a deep understanding of digital music markets and rights issues.  He has guided the company through various antitrust investigations, regulatory decisions and litigation before the EU General Court.  More recently he has overseen the corporate strategy for PRS joint ventures and broader governance initiatives, as well as the company’s privacy and data protection compliance.  Jonathan has worked in private practice in both London and Brussels and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over thirty five years of financial and commercial experience. He acts as a corporate adviser and was previously a non-executive director on a number of companies including PRS for Music. He previously worked for the Virgin Group for over 20 years (with ten years as Group Finance Director) where he was responsible for financial strategy including corporate finance, tax, treasury, accounting and financial reporting. Mark has gained significant experience in most aspects of finance and taxation in a dynamic, large, complex, diverse and multinational commercial organisation. He served as a non-executive director and committee member of numerous operating and holding companies including amongst others the Virgin Group main board, Virgin Atlantic (airline) and Virgin Active (gymnasiums).
Mark also previously served as a Board Governor and Treasurer at the International School of Geneva comprising three large campuses with over 4,400 students.

Multi hyphenate, Ivor Novello Award winning professional singer-songwriter of 28 years, Michelle Escoffery has consistently amassed accolades as one of the UK’s most respected songwriters.

Signed with both major and independent labels and recognised for her creative ability, Michelle is intimately acquainted with the pressures of the music business, and the endurance it takes to face the hardships, conflicts and work/life/spirit balance. In response, and as a gifted spiritual guide, she has developed the discipline of getting results through the art of self care and sacred ritual, building towards equilibrium and maintaining presence.

Michelle has always advocated for emerging talent, founding and pioneering live music and spoken word event ‘Kindred Spirit’ between 2000 – 2009 and sharing over 12 years lecturing experience in higher education. Currently module leader for MA commercial songwriting & Production Programme at Tileyard Education and also SCQF qualified in the Professional Development Award for Practice Based Learning for Creative and Cultural Industries.

She currently sits on the Board of Directors for PRS for Music as a Writer Director.

Suzanne Hughes has held the position of Chief People and Transformation Officer at PRS for Music since April 2020, leading the Human Resources, Internal Communications, Facilities and Transformation teams. These teams share a common goal in supporting the creation of a high-performing culture at PRS, alongside delivering an ambitious portfolio of business, technology, and data transformation programmes. Suzanne has been a trustee for the Bank Workers Charity for six years, serving on their People Committee. She also served five years as a member of the Business in the Community Wellbeing Leadership team.

Previously, Suzanne had a fifteen-year career at Santander where she held several senior Transformation and HR roles including leading Learning / Talent and then as Director of Organisation Effectiveness and Culture. Her achievements including spearheading the programme to define a global set of values for the entire group and developing, and implementing, critical company-wide culture change plans for the bank following the worldwide financial crisis. Earlier in her career, Suzanne had seven years at Accenture where she worked as a Change Management Senior Manager across a variety of sectors and technology programmes. Her career started at a software development company in support and sales roles following a BSc degree from Aston University in Business and Management.

A champion for the importance of music education, YolanDa is Chancellor of the University of Kent and on the Honours Committee for Arts and Media, Chair of the BPI and an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and London Music Fund. She graduated with a first class degree in Operations management from the University of Kent, has 2 Masters Degrees, a PhD, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of East London and sits on the advisory board for the UK Government and Department for Education’s National Plan for Music Education.

In 2018 along with philanthropist James JP Drake, she launched the “Drake YolanDa Award” offering grants for emerging musicians. November 2020 saw YolanDa roll out her bespoke online music lesson plans for teachers, parents and pupils nationwide as she continues to promote music education in primary schools. Together with Sony Music UK’s Magic Star, kids creative-media agency SUPER and one of the world’s largest provider of online education resources, Twinkl. Launched on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, an estimated 30 000 children have now used the resources.

She is a broadcaster working across TV and Radio, including her Royal Television Society Award winning series for CBeebies, “YolanDa’s Band Jam”. On BBC Radio 4, she co presents Loose Ends with Clive Anderson and covers for Trevor Nelson and Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio 2 and presents “YolanDa Brown on Saturday” on Jazz FM.  YolanDa also released “The ABC’s of music” book with Hal Leonard as well as four play along books showcasing black composers with Faber Music in 2021.