Chapter Appointments
We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new members of Chapter, the trustee body of the Cathedral. Mark Emerton as Senior Non-Executive Member, appointed by the Bishop; Santosh Mathew and David King (also Chair of Finance) as Non-Executive members appointed by Chapter.
Dean Anthony writes: ‘I am delighted to welcome Mark, David and Santosh as Chapter members. They bring with them a wide range of talents and experience and a clear desire to ensure that the Cathedral achieves its Vision and Strategy as we approach our Centenary in 2027. Their contribution will build on the work of both current and those who have come to the end of terms of office: Emma Broome, Mary Makin and David Carpenter, at an exciting and challenging time for the Cathedral. We look forward to welcoming them formally to the Cathedral during Choral Evensong on Sunday 22 September.
Chapter consists of up to 12 members and following this initial round of appointments, we are now looking for other people who are willing to build on the commitment, enthusiasm and energy of members as the Cathedral diversifies its strategic thinking. See more information on our careers page.
About our new trustees
Mark Emerton has lived in Portsmouth since 1996 with his wife, Hannah, and his three daughters were born here. Mark served in the Royal Navy up to the rank of Commander, and qualified in the law whilst serving. He later became a Judge, specialising in employment and discrimination law, and retired in early 2024.
He has held a number of trustee and non-executive roles, which currently include being Vice-Chair of Trustees at the Veterans Outreach Support charity (based in Portsmouth), Governor of the University of Lincoln, and participating in a major international research project in religious and cultural diversity. As a barrister, he is also a Master of the Bench at Gray’s Inn. He has a Masters’ Degree in Business Law from the University of Portsmouth, and another in Canon Law from Cardiff University. Within the Diocese, he is Vice-Chair of his church’s PCC, and has been a longstanding member of Bishop’s Council, also representing the Diocese on General Synod 2015-2021.
David King retired from full time employment in August 2019 having spent 33 years working in a corporate business environment including 20 years at divisional and main board level plus 13 years running his own successful international commercial revenues consultancy businesses.
He enjoyed 21 years working in the pub, restaurant and hotel business operating throughout the UK, six years in the European ferry sector and six years in the international airport, airline and retail services business. His consultancy business specialised in advising and working with shareholders and senior management teams of airports, travel hubs, travel retailers, food and beverage operators and brand owners, both here in the UK and around the world.
He has been a parish councillor since 2015 and was elected to Buckinghamshire Council in 2021. He also supports several voluntary groups including the Christian Charity Restore Hope and is a trustee of United Amersham Charities, the owner of Alms Houses in Amersham.
David is married to Anne, they have 3 grown up children: Sam; Toby and Phoebe. Since 2019, they have spent much of their in Old Portsmouth having previously lived and worked in the city between 1985 and 1988. They worship at the Cathedral and very much enjoy being part of the local community.
Santosh Mathew is a Consultant Interventional Radiologist who has worked for the NHS for the last nine years. He has lived in Portsmouth since 2015 and is an active member of the Cathedral, regularly attending and participating in Sunday worship with his wife Reny and daughters, Rebecca and Sarah.
In his spare time, he enjoys listening to audiobooks on Christian Living, listening to varying genres of music and learning new languages, currently working on Arabic and Russian.