Ben Hardy

Ben Hardy is a Stakeholder and Engagement Lead in the Schools Commercial Team at the Department for Education. The team’s role is to support the delivery of the Schools’ Buying Strategy.

Before joining the DfE, Ben was part of the leadership team at Schools North East, a school-led regional network for all 1,150 schools in the region. In his role as Relationship Manager, Ben was responsible for developing and implementing effective engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including CEOs, CFOs, Head Teachers, School Business Professionals, Local Authorities, and other charitable organisations. He worked closely with schools, Multi Academy Trusts and clusters to enable the Schools North East to identify and address the key challenges they face. Prior to this, Ben worked with leaders and governors at schools, MATs and LAs across the country for The Key.

Ben is Vice Chair of Governors at a primary school in Newcastle where he is link governor for curriculum and Special Educational Needs. He also has experience as a school governor at a small special school where he chaired the leadership and management committee responsible for overseeing a location move, the recruitment of a new headteacher, the restructure of the governing body and an Ofsted inspection.