Bryanston School is delighted to announce the formation of its new Entrepreneurship & Innovation (E&I) Advisory Board, an exciting addition to its existing Sports and Creative & Performing Arts advisory boards. This group of professionals from across the Bryanston family, will help prepare the next generation of pupils to thrive and succeed, whether they are starting up or starting out.
Bryanston’s educational approach is built on four core pillars – Sports, Creative & Performing Arts, Digital World, and E&I, which champion pioneering ideas. The school has a longstanding tradition of challenging convention and driving innovation, exemplified by many notable alumni such as Dr Frederick Sanger who is the only Briton to have won two Nobel Prizes, and the only scientist to have been awarded the prize for Chemistry twice. His groundbreaking scientific work reflects his entrepreneurial mindset. And he, like many pioneering OBs, benefitted from the Bryanston Method and the Dalton Plan, both of which promote individuality and originality.
“Entrepreneurial endeavours are part of Bryanston’s DNA,” says Head of EIE, Caroline de Mowbray. “What makes the school unique is how our culture and tutorial system nurture the very qualities that successful entrepreneurs embody – creativity, curiosity, commitment and the confidence to challenge the status quo.”
In support of these aspirations, the newly formed E&I Advisory Board brings extensive expertise across different fields of entrepreneurship, including ideation, new venture creation, funding strategies, and technological innovation. In addition to advising the school on how best to integrate entrepreneurial principles throughout the curriculum, the Board will mentor pupils who are pursuing an entrepreneurial future beyond Bryanston.
Board Members
- Flinty Bane (Harthan 13): Founder of SKIN, a price-comparison beauty app that secured investment from “dragon” Sara Davies on BBC’s Dragons’ Den.
- Prof. Sebastian Conran (Salisbury 74): Chair of Conran and Partners, founding trustee of the Design Museum, Chair of the Conran Foundation and Industrial Professor at Warwick University (creating an MSc/MA Design Management course for the Successful Implementation of Innovation to encourage more effective collaboration between British engineers and designers.) Sebastian is an esteemed designer with extensive industry experience.
- Dr Leo Evans (Portman 03): CEO and Founder of The Profs Group; previously Vice President in JP Morgan’s fixed income trading division. Former lecturer at Imperial College with multiple education technology ventures.
- Angela Henderson (current parent): An experienced non-executive director in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, Angela began her career as a corporate solicitor before moving into the markets divisions at Deutsche Bank and Barclays. She currently sits on several boards, including Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited and Wells Fargo Securities International Limited and has recently served on the board of a UK venture capital fund.
- Leonora Ross Skinner (Harthan 14): Neuroscience from UCL, strategic in Darktrace’s IPO; named in ‘Forbes Top 30 Under 30 – 2024’ for leading visionaries in Europe. Former investment manager at Molten, a leading venture capital fund, on the boards of several pioneering tech startups and now one of the youngest female VC partners globally.
- Tom Woollard (Connaught 12): CEO and Co-Founder of Bunk, a property technology company transforming landlord engagement. Having raised millions in venture funding and partnered with the UK’s largest landlord associations, Tom is now focused on redefining property and financial management for landlords through agentive AI solutions.
Commenting on his appointment, OB Sebastian Conran, Designer, Entrepreneur and Inventor, said, “Bryanston’s culture is nurtured by imagination. As a child, I wanted to be an inventor and a lot of what I learnt at Bryanston, I found useful all my life. Anyone can acquire knowledge, but you need imagination. You don’t get a Nobel Prize unless you’re imaginative and you don’t get one with typical thinking. Bryanston is a school that recognises that atypical thinking is something to be encouraged and nurtured.
“Innovation is the implementation of invention – it is the engine of growth, but design will create emotional value within that innovation. Having the idea is 5% of the work, making it happen is 95%.”
OB Flinty Bane added, “Bryanston helped me to embrace the unconventional. It nurtured my strengths and supported me where I struggled. That gave me the confidence and skills to start my own business. More than a decade on, I still feel connected to the school, and I’m excited to help future generations seize opportunities, take risks, and transform their creative ideas into commercial enterprises.”
Entrepreneurship at Bryanston transcends all subjects and age groups, with pupils engaging in practical, real-world projects from Art to Science that link classroom learning to commercial applications while also developing resilience through an understanding of failure as part of success. Increasingly, pupils are exploring unconventional paths beyond Bryanston, founding or joining diverse businesses and reinforcing their entrepreneurial mindset, which is supported by the school’s academic provision and future pathway guidance. Parents value this ethos in preparing pupils for an evolving world, whether launching startups or pursuing professional, creative, or scientific careers. The E&I Advisory Board’s diverse perspectives further support Bryanston’s mission to equip pupils with the skills, adaptability, and innovative thinking necessary to thrive and succeed in our rapidly evolving and increasingly uncertain world.
Categories: Bryanston School School News
