My Story
I’m Executive Headmaster and CEO of Hereford Cathedral School, a historian by training, and someone who believes deeply that the institutions we build for children help shape the country we become.
I read History at King’s College London, graduating with a First, before completing my PGCE, an MA with Distinction and a PhD at UCL’s Institute of Education. My doctoral research focused on how young people learn about, and understand, some of history’s darkest chapters. That grounding in evidence, and in what actually changes outcomes for children, has stayed with me throughout my career.
I've always believed that hard work and determination change lives - mine included. My first job was in McDonald's aged 16, which was succeeded by working in a camera shop for three years while at university, funding my education, before becoming a teacher.
I spent the best part of a decade at Harrow School, rising from Head of Politics to Director of Studies – effectively Deputy Head Academic – where I led an eighteen-month curriculum review, developed substantial online provision during the pandemic and oversaw academic strategy for one of the country’s leading independent schools.
Since 2021, I’ve led Hereford Cathedral School as Headmaster and CEO: a 650-pupil, co-educational school with almost 200 staff and a £14m turnover. During that time, I’ve overseen international expansion, including the school’s first campus in Rwanda, alongside digital transformation and a wider strategy of growth and diversification. I’ve also helped establish the Three Choirs Schools Group with the King’s School, Gloucester and the King’s School, Worcester.
Education has never felt like a narrow professional lane to me. It is where family life, social mobility, child safety and national competitiveness all meet. That’s why, alongside my school leadership, I’ve spent recent years contributing to public debate: writing for publications including ConservativeHome and other national outlets on issues ranging from independent education policy to social media regulation for under-16s, and corresponding with The Times and The Telegraph on public policy. I’ve also chaired governing bodies, served on national consultation committees and become a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Beyond education, my long-standing connection to Rwanda has shaped how I think about resilience, reconciliation and what good governance can achieve after catastrophe. I’ve addressed MPs in the House of Commons on the subject, worked with the First Lady of Rwanda's Foundation on girls’ education, spoken at official commemoration events and serve as a Patron of A Partner in Education, an educational NGO based in Kigali.
Closer to home, I’ve given a good deal of my own time to public and political life, serving as Chairman of the Hereford & South Herefordshire Conservative Association and as Area Deputy Chair (Political) for Shropshire & Herefordshire, and previously standing as a local council candidate. I do this because I believe that the people who lead our schools, hospitals and local institutions should also be willing to stand up and take part in shaping the policies that govern them.
Outside work and public life, my wife is an NHS doctor, and we enjoy walking and travelling. I support Leeds United and my favourite band is The Corrs.
