Governors

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. Tim is a member of the Finance Committee and chairs the Marketing and Education Committee.

Simon Cromack was educated at Shiplake College before studying Hotel and Catering Management at Westminster College. After leaving Westminster he commenced a trainee management position at The Lancaster Hotel in Paris (part of the Savoy Group), concentrating mainly in food and beverage departments but also in Food and Beverage Control. In February 2003 Simon founded Eventuate, Event Caterers and Party Planners based in Henley-on-Thames. 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 is a member of the Marketing Committee at Shiplake and 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 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. At Shiplake he sits on the Finance Committee and is the governor responsible for ICT.

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. He lives in Henley with his wife Suzy, and has three daughters. His interests include rugby, rowing, football, cricket, food and music. Jonathan sits on the Education and Marketing Committee and is the governor responsible for marketing Shiplake's Sporting Facilities and Achievements.

John Holmes was born in 1944. He has spent his entire career in international marketing and communications, managing businesses in the USA, UK, Holland and Spain and has worked with clients in various market sectors including food and drink, pharmaceuticals, packaging and retailing.
Previously a Director of Thames Valley Enterprise Board, since 2005 he has been Non Executive Divisional Chairman of a private bank specialising in wealth management. John lives near Henley with his wife Lisa and two sons. At Shiplake he sits on the Marketing and Education Committee with a special interest in the continuing development and improvement of College catering. He plays golf, enjoys most sports and painting when time permits!

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, one of whom attends Shiplake College, and lives in Goring on Thames. He plays golf and skis, both badly, but lives in hope!

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.

Stewart Roberts was educated at Birkenhead School and St Peter's College, Oxford. He started his teaching career back at Birkenhead School before moving on to Shrewsbury where he became first a Day and then a Boarding Housemaster. After fifteen years at Shrewsbury he left for Lahore, Pakistan to help found the Chand Bagh School. On his return he was briefly Second Master at Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire before being appointed Head Master in 1997. He is married with two children, both at Dauntsey's. Stewart is a member of the Education and Marketing Committee.

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 sits on the Education and Marketing Committee of Shiplake College, where her daughter was in the sixth form, and 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.

Nigel Starmer-Smith, born on Christmas day, 1944, was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and University College, Oxford. After 4 years as a master at Epsom College, teaching geography, he joined the BBC as a producer in Radio Outside Broadcasts before switching to television as their principal rugby commentator for 28 years, including 15 years as presenter of Rugby Special. During that time he was for 10 years publisher and editor of Rugby World magazine and has written several books on the sport. Additionally he has commentated for the BBC on many different sports, from water-skiing and squash to tennis and hockey, and attended five Olympic Games. In 2002 he joined the International Rugby Board, and continues to be a consultant and their staff TV commentator for all major world tournaments, for men and women, whilst still working as a freelance for a variety of TV channels. Nigel is married to Rosamund and they live in the village of Skirmett, just outside Henley-on-Thames. They have had three children but tragically lost both a teenage daughter and a teenage son through rare illnesses. Nigel is a Trustee of the Reading and District Hospitals Charity, a member of Leander and of Huntercombe Golf Club and played rugby for Oxford, Harlequins and England a long time ago! He sits on the Education and Marketing Committee of Shiplake College.

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 CBE 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 Committee. He lives in Bath and is married with two sons.

David Williamson was educated at Bryanston School and the University of Warwick. He graduated in 1968 with BA Honours degree in History. He was Assistant Registrar, then Senior Assistant Registrar at the University of East Anglia then Bursar and Clerk to the Governors at Hurstpierpoint College, West Sussex (1988-94). Since April 1994 he has been Bursar of Marlborough College, Wiltshire (co-educational boarding – 13-18 years, 870 pupils). David is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association (1995-2001) and was Chairman from 1999-2001. He has been Governor of Shiplake College since 1997 and is also Governor of Pinewood School, Bourton. Interests include wine appreciation, golf, collecting English Watercolours. He is married with a son and daughter.