Shiplake College

The Rt Hon Tim Eggar was educated at Winchester College, the University of Cambridge and the College of Law. He is currently Chairman of Nitol Solar Ltd and the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. Tim has been a Governor of Shiplake College for 3 years and was appointed Chairman in September 2009. He has considerable business and banking experience. His previous roles include: Chief Executive of Monument Oil & Gas plc, Chairman of AGIP UK and Global Head of ABN Amro Integrated Energy. Tim was the Member of Parliament for Enfield North for 18 years and a UK Government Minister between 1985 and 1996, which included a period as Minister of State at the then Department of Education and Science between 1989 and 1992. Tim has two grown up children and lives near Henley with his wife. His father was Headmaster of Shiplake College.

Andrew Ashton was educated at Newcastle Royal Grammar School and at University College Oxford, where he gained a first class degree in chemistry. He went on to join Barclays Bank, where he worked for fifteen years in a number of general management positions. Andrew then spent three and a half years as a management consultant within the financial services sector. During this time he worked on a number of project and interim management roles for several banks and insurance companies, including LloydsTSB, RBS, Barclays Wealth, Dresdner, Bank Tokyo Mitsubishi, Resolution and Zurich Financial Services, focusing on operational change management across different market segments. Formerly living in Wimbledon, Andrew moved to Radley in August 2008 following his appointment as Bursar at Radley College. A keen follower of cricket, an occasionally active runner, and an enthusiastic real tennis player, Andrew is married to Jillian and has one son, Philip.

Simon Cromack was  educated at Shiplake College, at the Westminster College Hotel School, and finally completed the Savoy Group Trainee Management Course, Simon is highly qualified in all aspects of hotel and catering management. Furthermore, he has extensive experience in service and operations both in the UK and internationally.  In February 2003 Simon founded Eventuate,  based in Henley-on-Thames. Eventuate was bought by Rhubarb Food Design in 2011 and Simon has joined the company as Commercial and Operations Director. Simon lectures regularly on Leisure and Tourism at The Henley College and sits on the committee of The Henley Food Festival which was launched as an annual event in April 2006. He lives in Henley with his wife and children..

David Dalzell was born in 1955 and was educated at Shiplake College, followed by Bath University where he read Electronic Engineering and Imperial College London where he gained a doctorate. He is a Director and founder of ONELAN Limited, a local developer and manufacturer of computer related equipment. He was previously a Group Technical Director of ML Integration and a Board Director of a London Stock Exchange listed company - Sintrom plc. Dr Dalzell chairs the Education and Welfare Committee, is a committee member of the Shiplake College Old Viking Society and a member of the Squash and Rowing clubs run from the College. Dr Dalzell lives in Shiplake with his wife and two children - one of whom is also an ex-Shiplake boy.

John Dunston studied Modern Foreign Languages at Cambridge University before completing his teacher training at the University of York. He taught in Germany and in both the maintained and independent sectors in England before being appointed Head of Sibford School, Oxfordshire, in 1990. From 1996 to 2010 he was Head of Leighton Park School, Reading. John has been a Reporting Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in England since 1999, and a Trainer of Inspectors for ISI since 2009. He was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1990 to train choirs in schools and universities in China. In 1994, John was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has been an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Linguists since 1977. John's interests include music, Paris, religious dialogue and Reading FC, and above all, his family. He is married to Susie, a teacher, with two children, Matthew  and Naomi.

Jimmy Gordon is a director of the Inspirational Development Group (IDG), a leadership and management performance company which amongst other activities has a joint venture partnership with the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was educated at Gordonstoun and graduated in law at Edinburgh University. Jimmy worked in account management for two international advertising agencies before setting up the fundraising, publicity and political lobbying arm of a national charity. He was then appointed as the first Youth Director of the Conservative Party. He ran a small training and development business for over twenty years before joining IDG in 2002. Jimmy has been a next-door neighbour of Shiplake College for almost fifteen years and more recently became a Governor. He is keen to provide his professional experience to support the Head and his team. Jimmy is also active locally as a member of the PCC and trustee of the Berkshire Community Foundation. Jimmy has five sons and he and his wife Jane have nine children and an ever-increasing number of grandchildren between them. When time permits, they are enthusiastic travellers and frustrated golfers!

Jonathan Hobbs was born in 1971 in Henley-on Thames, and was educated at The Oratory School and The University of Kent at Canterbury, where he studied History. He is a Director of Hobbs of Henley Ltd, the family run Boating Business of which he is the fifth generation. Jonathan is The Chairman of The Henley River Connections Group and also The Henley Tourism Group. He co-founded and is a Director of The Henley Food Festival and helped found The Henley Literary Festival in his role as a Director of The Henley Partnership. He is also Vice Chairman of The Passenger Boat Association, which is a national organisation with circa 100 members. Jonathan is a Trustee of The Henley Festival of Music and Arts and of a new Charity, The Rivertime Boat Trust, which provides a boating facility for disabled and disadvantaged children. Jonathan chairs the Marketing Advisory Group. He lives in Henley with his wife Suzy, and has three daughters. His interests include rugby, rowing, football, cricket, food and music.

Ian Howell studied at Manchester University and has a strong background in sales training and as a 'performance developer' having led consultancy teams within both Abbey National and Lloyds Bank, where he successfully developed radical strategies to create performance improvement, improve sales and facilitate organisational change. Ian has worked with a host of major brand names including GE, Aon, Halifax Cetelem, Pinnacle Insurance, Abbey National, First National, Octagon, O2 and Thus. Ian has worked across the UK and the world to develop high performance in both large and small organisations. Ian coaches the Ross-on-Wye rowing club and is the West Midlands Junior Rowing representative for British Rowing.

Richard Lester was born in 1949 and attended Shiplake Court, as it then was, between 1962 and 1967. He qualified as a solicitor and specialises in commercial property for a law firm in Central London where he was managing partner and is currently a consultant. He also advises various sporting organisations. Richard represented Great Britain in the 1976 Montreal Olympics at rowing, winning a silver medal. A Steward of Henley Royal Regatta for nearly 30 years and currently on the Committee of Management. Richard is married with 2 daughters and lives in Goring on Thames. He plays golf and skis, both badly, but lives in hope!

Mark MacKenzie-Charrington was educated at Shiplake College and was much involved in the early days of rowing. He spent most of his career in property and estate agency  including 34 years at W.A.Ellis LLP,  where he was an equity partner from 1984, working almost exclusively on large scale residential developments in prime Central London. Clients included the major landed estates, quoted house builders and many other UK & overseas organisations and individuals. Mark retired from W.A.Ellis at Christmas 2009 and now runs a consultancy practice from his home in the Cotswolds. Mark was a Council member of the Westminster Property Association and a founder member of Central London Estate Agents Ltd (CLEA), publisher of the London Magazine & owners of Primelocation web site, now owned by the Mail Group. Mark was a founding governor of Finton House School, Tooting, in 1987 and watched the school grow to some 350 pupils aged from 4-11 including children of Special Needs who are fully integrated into all aspects of the school. His wife Diana is a governor of Lambrook School, Winkfield Row for children up to 11. Mark and Diana have two children, Sophie who is married with one child and Patrick. His  interests include travel, food and fine wine, improving his golf, shooting, betting on the right horse and trying to catch salmon! 

The Hon Sir William McAlpine, Bt, FRSE, FCIT, FRSA was born in 1936. He inherited the Baronetcy, as the eldest son, from his father the Lord McAlpine of Moffat in January 1990. Educated at Charterhouse between 1949 and 1952, he entered the civil engineering and building company of Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd., which was founded in 1869 by his great-grandfather the 1st Baronet. After military service in the Life Guards between1954-1956, he returned to the family company and was soon after appointed to the Board of Directors. Sir William has been President of Fairbridge for five years and is now stepping down to become Vice-Chairman. He sponsored the Campaign for Drawing in 2006. He has served two terms on the council of London Zoological Society, and has recently been re-elected to the council. Over the past two decades Sir William has become increasingly involved with animals, both indigenous and rare varieties, and keeps an upwardly mobile collection in the park adjoining his home frequently housing animals that zoos would otherwise have to kill. He is Chairman of the Railway Heritage Trust and Chairman of Flying Scotsman Enterprises Ltd. He owned and operated the locomotive Flying Scotsman for 23 years while also operating a Rail Charter company. He now has a private standard gauge steam railway and a railway museum at his home. He is Chairman of The Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Light Railway Company; President of the Transport Trust; Chairman of the Dart Valley Railway Plc; his Presidencies, Chairmanships and Trusteeships are too many to list but they cover many preserved Railway Societies and other conservation organisations and he is also Chairman of the Sir Walter Scot Steamship Ltd., and of the Appeal Committee for the Victory Services Club.

Lady Phillimore lives in London and Oxfordshire with her husband, Lord Phillimore. They have three grown-up children. Lady Phillimore’s interests include opera and the arts.

Jurek Piasecki. After graduating in 1967 Jurek joined the Leyland Motor Corporation. In 1973 he was sponsored to Manchester Business School. After completion he joined the(then) Burton Group rising to Finance Director of one of their divisions - Jackson the Tailor, a retail company with 170 shops and 5 factories. In 1978 he went into consulting and left to become a main board director of the Comet Group PLC. Jurek then built up a stake in a small jewellery chain - Northern Goldsmiths plc and launched a tender offer in 1983 and built up the second largest jewellery chain in the UK, increasing turnover from £3m to £350m and an EBITDA from a loss to £15m. Jurek is now involved in various private investments including an increasing interest in the British Film Industry. He is married with 3 children, one of whom attends Shiplake College, and lives nearby. 

Susan Ryan was educated at Windermere St Anne's and Bath University where she read Sociology. She has worked as a journalist on several national newspapers including the Daily Mail and Observer and was managing editor of the Daily Telegraph from 1999 until 2006. She is currently working as a media consultant to the new national newspaper in Abu Dhabi and for the Daily Mail's graduate training scheme. Mrs Ryan is a trustee of Merlin, Beacon and the Journalists Charity. She also founded the Henley Literary Festival with a team of local professionals and is its director.

David Tanner CBE has been the GB Rowing's Performance Director since 1996 and is responsible for leading Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic Rowing Programmes. Before that he had a successful career in education and was the headmaster of a large community comprehensive school in West London for ten years until he moved full time into sport in 1996. He regards himself as privileged to have been a member of the British Team at no less than seven Olympic Games - early on this was as a medal winning coach and since he has been Team Leader for rowing since the Barcelona Games in 1992. David was appointed an OBE for services to rowing in the Queen's Birthday honours in 2003 and a CBE for services to sport in the New Year Honours in 2009. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Historian and enjoys theatre, music and good food and wine in his spare time.

John Turner was born in 1946 and was educated at Shiplake (starting in the school’s second term in September 1959) and Dundee University, where he read Biochemistry. He is a Chartered Accountant and worked for Arthur Andersen and then for Burmah Castrol where he had a number of finance roles, including Treasurer and Head of Corporate Finance, where he was responsible for tax, treasury, insurance, financial planning and the technical aspects of mergers and acquisitions. He has been a governor since 1978 and is Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. He lives in Bath and is married with two sons.