Beyond King’s

Our former pupil this week is Neil Lonergan (S 91-02) who was a keen sportsman while at King’s, playing rugby and captaining the First V basketball team. In addition to this, Neil also helped coach the junior basketball team and acted as a mentor for Lower Fourth pupils. Neil continues to use these interpersonal skills as he now works in the telecommunications industry. After working for BT as a consultant for eight years, Neil decided to start his own company, Linimex Ltd, in 2012.

In the five years since it was launched, the company has grown to become the largest in its specialism in the UK telecommunications industry, delivering services to businesses in more than twenty-eight countries across four continents and winning multiple industry awards along the way. Neil is one of King’s Bursary Ambassadors and he features as part of our new Bursary Appeal. Neil says, ‘King’s gave me an educational foundation coupled with the confidence and belief in myself to dream bigger, which is something that I have found invaluable in both my personal and professional life.’

This week was a busy week for girls’ sports with several hockey fixtures and a netball tournament. Our former pupil this week is Nicky Wilkinson (K 03-08) who was captain of both the First VII and First XI teams while here and led the hockey team to become County Champions for the first time. After leaving King’s Nicky went to Loughborough University and studied Information Management and Business Studies. During her course Nicky did an industrial placement working at National Grid; from that placement year she gained sponsorship, in the form of a financial bursary, from National Grid for her final year of university and a place on their graduate scheme. Nicky joined National Grid in September 2012 and since then has worked in various roles.

In 2017, National Grid sold their gas distribution business which was bought and renamed Cadent Gas; Nicky moved with the separation and was promoted to her current role, London Emergency Network Manager. In this new role, Nicky manages a team of twenty staff and two hundred and fifty engineers and is responsible for the emergency gas service for North London. Nicky says, ‘I am the first female to ever take on this role but it’s one I’m really enjoying, and am certainly learning from all the challenges that come with working in what is known as a very male-dominated industry.’

We are staying close to home this week with our very own King’s Estates Manager Adam Winter (Cl 84-94) as this week’s former pupil. Adam was involved in lots of activities while a pupil here including D of E, The 3 Peaks Challenge and CCF. After King’s, Adam studied Land Management and Development at The University of Reading before working for 12 years at The Leadership Trust where he was Operations Director. He then co-founded White Orca Information Management where he was a Director for 4 years before joining the King’s School in 2015 managing the estates and buildings at all three schools in the Foundation. Adam lives locally with his partner Lisa and their daughter Molly who is a pupil at King’s Hawford School.

This week we were treated to a fantastic Dance Showcase by pupils from the Senior School and King’s St Alban’s. This week’s former pupil, Jackie Stevenson (née Mills) (Co 84-86) has always been a keen dancer, still competes and is currently UK Pro-Am Ballroom Champion. At King’s Jackie was a very active member of the English and Drama departments and she went on to read English at Exeter University.

Jackie’s career includes her role as Managing Director of Craik Jones – one of the UK’s most lauded direct and digital agencies – for thirteen years, as well as being a Director of advertising agency Collett Dickenson Pearce. Jackie’s career has led her to advise people as varied as David Cameron, the Earl of Wessex and the Archbishop of Westminster on a number of different communication projects. Jackie is now Global Managing Director of The Brooklyn Brothers, a creative agency which she founded in London with three partners in 2008 and which has since grown to employ over one hundred and eighty-five staff worldwide.

On Monday, the Lower Removes took part in The Big Physics Quiz in Birmingham and our former pupil this week is no stranger to the world of physics. Stephanie Grant (née Taylor) threw herself into many school activities during her time at King’s, especially in the music department, being involved with both the orchestra and choir.

On leaving King’s, Stephanie read Physics at Merton College, Oxford and whilst trying to avoid labs she stumbled across a teaching course and completed her PGCE at Oxford. This was followed by an MSc in Learning and Teaching. She has taught Physics ever since and is now Assistant Director of Studies at Norwich School, which is set in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral.  Stephanie says “The best bit has been winning a bid for a local school to host a live radio link with Tim Peake while he was on the International Space Station. He answered questions from local pupils representing over 20 primary and secondary schools that got involved in the project”.

There have been some wonderful events in school this week including the Advent Service held in the Cathedral and the fantastic production of South Pacific in the John Moore Theatre. It is very fitting then, that our former pupil this week is Lorcan Lynch (S 99-06) who has recently started his own event production and project management company, All In Events.

While at King’s Lorcan was a keen first team rugby and football player. He developed a passion for business during his time in the Sixth Form and went on to study Business Management at Leeds Metropolitan University. After graduating, Lorcan has worked in various events roles with companies including TED Conferences and Coca-Cola European Partners. Lorcan spends much of his spare time involved in various charities; he has volunteered for Crisis for the last three Christmases, recently raised over £2,500 for Alzheimer’s UK and Cancer Research and is also a patron for bereaved children’s charity, Winston’s Wish.

It has been an exciting sporting week at King’s, with pupils participating in various activities including Cross Country and Netball. We also had a wonderful OV Basketball reunion last weekend. Our former pupil this week is Alice Hershman (Os 00-07) who was very actively involved in sport at school, playing for the First netball team as well as tennis and rounders.

After King’s, Alice went to Oxford Brookes University to study Real Estate Management. Alice is now a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a surveyor working on shopping centre leasing, high street landlord consultancy and tenant representation across the South of England. She joined Cushman & Wakefield in February 2015 and worked in global occupier services on behalf of The Royal Bank of Scotland before moving to the South Agency Team. She also has experience working with a number of corporate clients including Vodafone and The Co-operative, advising on acquisitions and disposals and occupational strategy.

This week we are looking forward to welcoming back to school some of our ten year leavers for a lively reunion. Amongst those on the guest list is Dr Stephen Poole (Ch 00-07) who is also coming to school this week to speak to a group of our Biology and Geography students about his career in medicine. While at King’s, Stephen played for the First XI football and cricket teams and was also a monitor.

Stephen then went on to study Medicine at the University of Nottingham. Stephen has been a doctor for five years and is now an Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialist Registrar at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he looks after patients with a range of infectious diseases, including TB, HIV and unusual illnesses in returned travellers. He also works in a microbiology laboratory doing various different tests to look for infectious agents and disease, and advising on complex cases of infection in hospital.

This Thursday King’s L4-U6 performed in the School Concert in College Hall and our former pupil this week also knows a thing or two about performing. Jolyon Loy (Br 02-08) is now a baritone and is currently performing as Bobinot in The Storm: Coenen-Rowe at Lillian Baylis House in Hampstead, London. While at King’s Jolyon was involved in Drama and Theatre and was also a chorister at Worcester Cathedral where he later became a choral scholar and lay clerk.

Jolyon went onto study Modern & Medieval Languages at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was also a choral scholar in the Magdalen College Choir. Following this, in 2016 he graduated with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London with an MA in Vocal Performance. He has sung in many operatic productions and concerts from The Magic Flute at Hampstead Garden Opera to the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and in 2018 he will appear as Valens in Handel’s Theodora.