Update from Lady Wilcox (CDMT Chair) and Glyndwr Jones (CDMT Director) on 8 September 2025

Dear Colleague,

I hope you have had a good summer and were able to rest during the break.

I write to share some important news with you. Glyndwr Jones, Director of CDET since 2012, now CDMT (from 2018) has let me know it is his intention to move on after 13 years at the helm, in order to pursue more deeply his interests in advocacy, politics and leadership. He will be leaving us in March 2026.

I am sure you will join me in expressing our deep gratitude to Glyn. In his time he has transformed and extended the company and its remit, with stakeholder support, successfully adjusting the organisation’s name and moving office to the City. He successfully steered CDMT and our membership through the pandemic and on founding an All-Party Parliamentary Group at Westminster in 2021 he instigated three annual industry events at the Houses of Parliament to mark the release of a series of persuasive publications, which he co-authored on behalf of the sector. As you know, the most recent is a Manifesto (2024) backed by Andrew Lloyd Webber KG and Sir Cameron Mackintosh, which includes endorsements from five prominent Parliamentarians, stirring interest from European Embassies.

Importantly, a third publication is in preparation for release in early 2026 titled A Roadmap to Building Creative Futures, which will include a number of parliamentary op-eds, coinciding with the Government’s preparations to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education. You may recall that CDMT’s report Securing Access to Performing Arts Education for All (2023) suggested such a convening body as a model to better bring the sector together.

In 2022 Glyn, secured myself as Chair of the Trustees, for which I am delighted, and together we went on to modernise the company’s Articles of Association and Board structure. He can be very persuasive! A second peer, Lord Clancarty, joined us in October 2024.

Of course, as many of you know, prior to CDMT, Glyn was Head/Director of Qualifications and Standards at Trinity College London where he was a key member of a team which delivered a significant increase in turnover over 12 years. However, what some of you may not be aware is that he is also known in political and academic circles for his writings on the constitution where he has collaborated, for instance, with members of the House of Lords and well-known Professors over time. Interestingly, he has had a request to author a more substantial work in 2026, which he is considering.

Thanks to the above journey this is an exciting time for the CDMT, which now involves preparations towards Government initiatives including the development of a joint consortium for delivering the Department for Education’s National Centre for Arts and Music Education. This takes us to March 2026 during which a successor to the position of Director will start in role.

Glyn and I share this news now so that CDMT may, in ample time, publicly begin the advertising process for recruitment to the role in October 2025. He will be a hard act to follow but having established the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre in March 2018, Glyn will always be a pivotal part of the company’s story. We also have an inspirational Business Plan securely in place for 2025 to 2028. CDMT has certainly been fortunate to have him as Director for so long. His warmth, insightfulness and talents in bringing people together with energy and good humour are exceptional and we wish him all the very best with his future endeavours when the time comes.

In the meantime, he, Emily and the team are enthused and energised by current projects both ongoing and on the horizon and look forward to serving you, our members, and the sector this academic year. Together our core commitments progress with drive, passion and expertise and Glyn and I, as always, continue to have the enduring successes and development of CDMT foremost in our minds.

With good wishes,

Baroness Wilcox of Newport

Chair of the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre (CDMT)