Your Loughborough Story

Can you tell us about your memories of Loughborough Grammar School?

I had a wonderful time at LGS.  I enjoyed the lessons, the teachers and was taken through the Remove A streamed route so that I took my GCSEs and A-Levels a year early.  I particularly valued the way we were taught to question, discuss and debate, as well as learn.  I became a prefect, was head of Murray House (later Griffiths House) and head of the CCF.

How has your time at Loughborough Grammar School influenced your life and career?

I think it made me the person I am. It had a profound influence on me and my life. We sent our children to Fairfields, LGS and LHS.  Both enjoyed their time and are leading successful and happy lives.

What do you wish you had known when you were in Sixth Form?

I suppose I wished that I had believed that school days would be some of the happiest and most formative days of my life.  It is true.

Are you still in touch with your school friends or teachers today?

I am still in touch with some of my friends from school.  I stayed in Leicestershire for 30+ years after leaving LGS, so contacts were particularly strong then.  One of my friends from school has been one of my closest friends for more than fifty years.

How are you involved with the school today? E.g., Have you been back to any alumni reunions?

In the 1990s I was active on the OLA Committee. I remember Don Wood asking me to join, to bring some youth to the committee. I was chairman at the time that the OLA adopted its first on-line social media system, which looks incredibly basic and complicated now. My wife and I spent many hours working with the OGA to digitise records to enhance the collaboration between the two organisations which are now merged. We also addressed the finances of the OLA and instituted a new payment regime.

What would you say to encourage alumni who are considering getting involved with the alumni community today?

It is worth it.  It is personally rewarding and it delivers real benefits to the ‘silent majority’.

How would you describe LGS in three words?

Rewarding Educational Transformational

Alumni Career Wisdom

Could you provide an outline of your job role?

I started as a career officer in the RAF and trained to fly jets in the 1970s.  However, I never reached squadron service. I then moved into the healthcare information services company that my father had started a few years before. I headed product and business development for some years. In the 1990s I changed course and started buying and running hotels.  At the same time I started developing new respiratory medical devices. Then I founded and launched a television channel, in partnership with Sky, specifically targeted at GPs. About fifteen years ago I started completely concentrating on developing new medical devices and digital health services through SMEs.  

What are your career highlights?

First jet solo

Successful NASDAQ IPO

Second NASDAQ IPO

Being awarded patents

Completing a clinical study and realising that a medical device works!

Successful sale of a business

What is one piece of advice you would give to current pupils thinking about entering a similar role to yourself?

It is hugely exciting and rewarding, but don’t expect a regular salary!

What advice for success would you give to current pupils and graduates?

Aim high and believe yourself capable of great things. (My mother wrote this in my autograph book when I was about seven years old.)

What job search tips would you give to pupils looking for a career in your industry?

Healthcare information, digital health and MedTech are evolving very rapidly.  The demand is high and the rewards are potentially great, both from personal satisfaction and ultimately financially.

What are employers in your field looking for?

Articulate, educated, capable, thoughtful and positive people with a ‘can do’ attitude.

Final notes

What ambitions would you still like to realise?

My ambitions now tend to revolve around my family, as I am starting to wind down my career.

Anything else you would like to add? Any additional hobbies and/or achievements to note?

In the last few years, I have turned my hand to Second World War history and am about to have my second book published.  My first book, Mosquito Intruder Pilot, was published last year and my second, Mosquito Intruder – Target Burma, will be published later this year.  Both are published by Pen & Sword through its Air World imprint.