Former headteacher Tom Rees is set to take over the reins of one of the country鈥檚 biggest academy trusts. current chief executive Nick Hudson will retire at the end of the academic year. It was announced today that Rees, currently an executive director of teaching charity the Ambition Institute has been selected to take over. Nick Hudson Hudson, who was previously Ofsted鈥檚 regional director for the north east, Yorkshire and Humber region, has run the 43-school chain since 2017. His successor has led professional development programmes for more than 54,000 teachers and school leaders while with Ambition. And in a statement released this afternoon, Rees said he was “looking forward to taking this experience back into a school trust”. 鈥淧rofessional development is at the heart of a system where teachers and leaders keep getting better, and where every child gets a chance to thrive.鈥� Rees was ‘stand-out candidate’ Rees previously had a stint as the Northampton Primary Academy Trust鈥檚 (NPAT) education director, having first joined the group as a headteacher. An Ormiston spokesperson said Rees supported NPAT鈥檚 鈥済rowth from six to 14 schools and developed a successful educational model with a strong track record of improvement鈥�. The incoming CEO has also served as a member of a NAHT commission as well as a regional headteacher board. Rees described Ormiston 鈥� which has 33,000 pupils across 32 secondaries, six primaries, four AP sites and a special school 鈥� as 鈥渁n organisation with history and a focus on the power of education鈥�. Julius Weinberg, the academy trust鈥檚 chair, said 鈥渨e had a strong field and Tom was the stand-out candidate鈥�. 鈥淗e has made an enormously positive contribution to the sector in 25 years in education,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hanks to Nick鈥檚 work, and that of his colleagues, OAT is very strongly positioned to move forward under Tom鈥檚 leadership.鈥�