Spotlight Interviews

Click to view the Spotlight Interview video from Alistair Gibb

Name

My name is David Gatehouse

Time at HGS

I attended the Sixth Form from 1978 - 1980

Fondest memories of HGS

It has to be said that I wasn’t tremendously academic, so I enjoyed the many extra curricular activities on offer most. I helped behind the scenes on every theatre production in my two years there and played endless hours of tennis with friends in the summers. We also took full advantage of the gym facilities particularly the indoor football court on Friday evenings!

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I’m a media relations consultant at Definition, which has offices in Leeds and London, as well as a South African operation. Our teams deliver award winning PR and media relations, SEO, content and social media to leading B2B clients internationally. I research and create copy and content and foster and manage relationships with journalists across national and global media outlets.

Route taken to get where you are now

After travelling abroad for a year or two following university, I worked in NHS and civil service press offices and PR departments. There, I learned how to write and present effectively and got to know how broadcasters and print titles work. I engaged with them every day, responding to their queries and persuading them to run our news and opinion. Subsequently, I became a local radio news reporter, then a journalist on lifestyle, entertainment and business magazines, before going into communications agencies. I’ve remained with consultancies ever since, both as a freelancer via my own company and an employee. Occasionally, I still dabble in a bit of journalism, principally gig reviews.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

The usefulness of a higher education qualification for any job should never be dismissed, but having one won’t automatically make you suitable for this role. You must have an innate writing ability and the confidence and vocabulary to talk a good talk. Even then, you’ll need to strengthen and hone all of them on the job constantly: after more than 30 years, I learn something new most days! And shrinking violets and sensitive souls need not apply. They’ll wither away very quickly. Knockbacks from journalists you’re trying to secure a commission from can be brutal, while tight deadlines and the need to navigate complex issues quickly are constant companions.

If you’re resilient, tenacious and can maintain an insatiable enthusiasm for the work, it’s hugely fulfilling and enjoyable, though. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a varied, challenging career where you can go as far and as fast as your ambition and abilities allow.

Top tips for a successful career

I have two:
1) If you believe you’re good enough, go for it. Whatever it is. I always have. I haven’t always succeeded, but have never regretted having a go.
2) Try to find an experienced mentor. They can make all the difference to your career, if you’re lucky enough to have one. I still tap into mine for advice and support.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

"As I said, I was far from a brilliant, or diligent, pupil - probably the worst in the class of 1980! All my teachers were very patient, encouraging and kind, though. They made the best of the inferior academic material they were presented with!"

Name

My name is Gillian Hillier (nee Langford)

Time at HGS

I attended HGS between 1982 and 1988.

Fondest memories of HGS

I have many happy memories of my time at HGS but the strongest are around trips and extra-curricular activities like music and shows.  When we were around 15, we had an outward bound trip to Bewerley Park which I still remember vividly when I hear particular music.  And I remember well playing in the school orchestra for a production of My Fair Lady. 

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I am now the Chief Executive of the Standards and Testing Agency which is the Government Agency responsible for the development of primary assessments (i.e. SATs).  I’ve been in this post for 2½ years.  I’m based in Sheffield in the Department for Education’s offices, but have staff in a number of offices around the country, particularly in Westminster and Coventry.  In my job, I’m responsible for overseeing every aspect of test development and delivery, and for the maintenance of a consistent standard from year to year.  I’m answerable to Ministers and to Parliament, and my job involves me making public statements in support of the tests, as was the case in the summer of 2023 when the content of one of our tests was criticised.

Route taken to get where you are now

After doing politics at Nottingham University I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do but eventually responded to an advert to join the civil service in the Ministry of Justice.  From there, I realised that I enjoyed the policy development side of a civil servant’s work – analysing the issues and advising Ministers on what they should do.  Amongst a range of other jobs, I worked at 10 Downing Street advising the Prime Minister on policy relating to education, childcare and home affairs.  More recently, I’ve been based in the Department for Education and during that time, have had responsibility for school buildings, further education and school workforce.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

There are so many different professions and routes within the civil service and the skills and qualities needed vary depending on the one you follow.  But within the roles that I have done, the skills I use most commonly include the ability to analyse a problem using data/evidence, come up with a solution to that problem, and write clear and concise advice. All of our work is high pressure and timebound so being able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines is essential.  And for most of my career, I have been a leader and a manager of people, so interpersonal skills and the ability to relate to people from different backgrounds and with different ways of working, is essential.

Top tips for a successful career

My top tips for a successful career are: 1. Be positive (or try to appear positive even if you don’t feel it).  Everyone would prefer to work with or for someone who is positive about what they do, so being positive will get you a long way in life and your career.  2.  Be prepared.  Whatever you are doing, make sure you prepare well.  This has been crucial in my career as I have often had to sit in front of a Government Minister or the Prime Minister and defend my viewpoint or advise them on what to do – it feels really bad if you don’t know the answer so I have always aimed at being overprepared.   3. Be willing to go the extra mile.  In the early part of my career, I volunteered for everything and as a result, got valuable extra experience of organising events and working outside my comfort zone.  This also meant I was visible to my senior colleagues in a way that I wouldn’t have been otherwise and ultimately, going the extra mile was one of the reasons I was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2017.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

All of the teachers who were around when I was at HGS will have retired by now but my favourite two teachers were Miss Wood who taught French and Ms Hibbert who taught history.  Both were very strict and, when I was at school, I probably wouldn’t have said they were my favourites as I was on the receiving end of their criticism on many occasions.  But I know that I learned more from them as a result of the challenges they gave us – my knowledge of obscure French vocabulary and historical facts are a testament to their influence on me.

If you are interested in a career in the civil service, you can find more details at Home | Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk).

Name

Jack Emmett

Time at HGS

2005 - 2012

Fondest memories of HGS

School wasn’t always my favourite place, but I have good memories of playing basketball every lunchtime and winning a handful of trophies with the school football team.

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I worked as a Professional Footballer at Harrogate Town FC from 2014 until 2020, initially playing on the wing and then in central midfield. Over 7 seasons I made 229 appearances for the club and won promotion to the National League in 2018 and promotion to League 2 in 2020, winning the play off final at Wembley.

Route taken to get where you are now

After completing my A Levels I studied Accounting & Financial Management at Loughborough University. I spent a year working as an audit and accounts trainee and the reality of spending my life in excel spreadsheets sent me in a different direction. I played for Loughborough Football 1 st team at University and then signed for Harrogate Town during my 3 rd year at Uni in 2014. I had to retire from Professional Football after being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in December 2020.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

The skills needed to play Professional Football are mental, physical and technical. It is an incredibly competitive industry and most guys who make it have a real drive to improve and constantly work on their weaknesses. Having worked in an office and other environments, the pressure and cut throat nature of competitive sport is unparalleled. The mental strength needed to perform at a high level, consistently, under pressure, is often underestimated and that skill transfers to any industry.

Top tips for a successful career

School shouldn’t be about constantly trying to achieve more, comparing yourself to your peers and being successful as soon as you leave education. It creates a definition of success that is coupled with achievement, doing better than others and earning money and prestige. The best thing I have learnt since school is that I have a choice between listening to thoughts or dismissing them, the peace of mind this brings allows me to enjoy day to day life, and that enjoyment permeates any career. Being successful starts with being happy rather than happiness being a consequence of success.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

It is hard to choose just one… I’ll never forget Mr Horne inspiring our Sixth Form football team into the last 16 in the national championships, Miss Wood and Mr McDonald were both excellent teachers and Mrs Guinness provided invaluable
support through Sixth Form.

Name

Captain James Taylor

Time at HGS

2001 - 2009

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

Machine Gun Platoon Commander, Second Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment (2YORKS). We are a Light Infantry unit, which means we are a mobile, adaptable, force, trained to fight on foot to defeat an enemy through close combat. We are currently based in Cyprus. Since Joining 2YORKS I have had a wide range of experiences. The highlights would have to be having the privilege of leading Yorkshire soldiers deployed on operations in Afghanistan, and developing the future leaders of the Infantry while running a soldiers promotion course. Since joining the Machine Gun Platoon I have also planned and run a five week course to regenerate the Battalion’s specialist weapons competency. 2YORKS have been given the unique role of the Army's only Enhanced Light Force Battalion, experimenting with new equipment and integrating it into the way in which we fight, shaping the future of Light Infantry tactics. Recently, I have also been deployed to the Middle East in support of the much publicised Op PITTING, (evacuation of civilians from Kabul).

Route taken to get where you are now

After leaving HGS I completed a Geography degree and trained as a secondary school teacher. I soon realised I didn’t love what I was doing and needed to at least attempt the selection process to become an Army Officer, an ambition I had long harboured. After being successful on the Army Officers Selection Board, I attended the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst for 10 Months of Officer training, receiving the Queen’s Commission at the end of the course. I was lucky enough to be selected to commission into the Infantry, specifically the Yorkshire Regiment. As a result of being selected to join the Infantry I continued my training on the Platoon Commanders Battle Course at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon, Wales, before joining my Battalion. After around a year as a Platoon Commander, attended the Machine Gun Platoon Commanders Course at the School of Specialist Weapons to qualify me to command the Machine Gun Platoon.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

The key to success in the Army is flexibility and adaptability. Both are essential skills on a minute by minute basis. Aside from that, success in the Army is built on trust, teamwork, and mutual respect; this comes from listening to and acting on the advice of others, when appropriate, but balancing that with conviction and belief in your own ability to make the right decision. Lastly the job requires the courage and humility to admit when you have made a mistake and an ability to learn from that experience to ensure it’s not repeated.

Top tips for a successful career

Be bold and do something different if things aren’t working out the way you would like, it’s never too late to make a change! Also whenever times are hard, focus on what makes a job worthwhile; for me that is all the fun and the occasional challenges that come from working with Yorkshire Soldiers.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

Thank you to any teaching staff who gave up their own time to take sports teams to fixtures and to run training. It was a hugely valuable part of my time at school and I don’t think I thanked you enough at the time. Individually I would probably have to say Mr Mason in Geography, he had started teaching after a previous career and that gave me confidence when I came to change career, I also valued the way he treated me as an adult and that is something I have tried to emulate in my working life

Name

John F Bailey

Time at HGS

1951 - 1956

Fondest memories of HGS

The school trip to Denmark in 1953 is best, but also the introduction to Physics.

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I am currently retired. My last job title was Vice President and Regional Manager for Bechtel in sub Saharan Africa, working from Johannesburg. In that position I was responsible for the coordination and marketing of any projects in the region. Later, working with a Business Line Regional Manager, I helped establish and implement a new telecoms business line in London for Europe and The Middle East regions.

Route taken to where you are now

I left HGS with 4 Ordinary Levels. I joined ICI as a student apprentice where I obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Following this I worked with BICC (cables) for a while and then joined Bechtel where I stayed for my entire career, earning a MBA equivalent. I started off as project estimator/cost engineer. I then progressed through positions as a project controls manager, project manager, department manager and finally as Vice President. I lived and worked in 12 countries. I worked on projects in 54 countries. The projects included petrochemical, refinery, foods, steel mills, pipelines, world fairs and the Olympics. My highlights were building a new city for 250,000 people and the industry to support them in the desert, along with working on the Channel Tunnel. After I retired in 1998, I became a consultant to Bechtel and was assigned to an automated meter reading (gas meters) start up business in England where I served as Director of Deployment. (Unfortunately, the project did not move forward after initial test runs. The start up was purchased by another company).

Skills/qualities needed for current job

Complete commitment to the company and the current job, self starter, positive attitude, good teaching and mentoring skills, good leadership skills, and the ability to manage widely diverse peoples and projects. Honesty and good ethics.

Top tips for a successful career

Open mind and good attitude, always be honest and ethical and remain positive.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

There were two, but I am horrified to learn that I cannot remember their names! They taught Physics and Mathematics (my two favourite subjects).

Name

Lesley Richards, although during my seven years at HGS I was Lesley Mitchelmore

Time at HGS

September 1961 - June 1967

Fondest memories of HGS

I have a multitude of memories of my time there and it is difficult to name a fondest memory, although maybe it was winning the biology prize in my final year.

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I am now retired, but I was a senior biology and junior science teacher for my whole career.

Route taken to get where you are now

My form was unusual in that we were selected to take our O Levels in four years instead of five. I believe this was to give as many pupils as possible the chance to do Oxbridge entrance and thus earn more prestige for the school. We had a restricted choice of seven subjects, five of which were compulsory. As a form I don’t think we responded very well to this “special” treatment and there was no great increase in Oxbridge entrance. I did my degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and then did my PGCE, also in Leicester. After four and half years teaching in Yorkshire, my husband and I went on what was intended to be a two year teaching experience in Queensland; 45 years later, we are still here. Teaching in Australia was not very different from teaching in Yorkshire, children are much the same everywhere.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

Teachers need to enjoy the company of young people and want to inspire them to find learning fun and satisfying . It has been a pleasure to see enthusiastic young teachers, at the beginning of their careers, motivating yet another generation of children

Top tips for a successful career

My advice to today’s young people would be to find something in which you are really interested and work hard to achieve your goals.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

My choice of career was almost entirely due to my biology teacher, Miss Reddyhoff , later to become Mrs Laycock. She was one of the few teachers who really gripped my interest in a subject and challenged me to do my best.

Name

Lucy Ireland​

Time at HGS

2009 - 2016​

Fondest memories of HGS​

My favourite memories from HGS have to be doing the ​school musical every two years, I used to look forward to it for months! Any concerts or musical school trips, such as Myddleton Grange, were a real highlight too.​

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job?​

I’m an actor musician, currently I’m performing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham, as Snow White. It’s a rollercoaster but I couldn’t wish for a better job!​

Route taken to get where you are now​

Once I left HGS I went to the Guildford School of Acting and did the BA Actor Musician course (2016-2019), which was 3 years of training. We learnt how to dance, act, sing, and play music, and then we learnt how to combine it all together on stage! In third year we had a showcase and from that I signed with an agent, who now find me auditions and support me in all my creative endeavours. I booked the UK tour of Footloose the musical (my first job) in November 2019 through my agent. I gained a lot of insight from my first job as I was a swing (I covered multiple roles in the show) and often had to go onstage last minute or do split tracks of two different characters! From that I felt I gained a huge amount of confidence in myself as a performer and how everything on the stage and behind the scenes works. I booked Panto this August just as we were finishing touring.

Skills/qualities needed for current job​

I would say the biggest qualities needed as an actor are self belief and ambition. You have to believe in yourself and your talents otherwise who will? Alongside that, it requires hard work, dedication, being able to work well under pressure and to learn and adapt, especially when you go from job to job within a matter of months and work with completely different people. ​

It’s a very hard industry and it often looks glamorous, but honestly there are really tough times - for example when you have to find other work if you haven’t booked a job, amidst auditioning and the rejection that comes with it. It requires a lot of perseverance and constant practise of your skills to better yourself.​

Top tips for a successful career​

I believe that you should do something that makes you happy, and make sure it’s a job that is going to be fulfilling and diverse in opportunities. You want to be happy, so make sure you can find the fun in what you do. For me I can’t believe I get to do what I love and get paid for it, it’s a dream come true.​

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?​

There were many teachers that I found to be inspiring and I believe helped me get to where I am now. Some who have unfortunately left HGS but I felt I should mention - Emily Segal & Paul Dutton who taught me music across the years and encouraged and helped me apply to drama schools across the country, and of course Lucy Vincent who directed the school musicals, supporting me throughout the years and still does to this day!

Click to view the Spotlight Interview video from Philippa Carson

Name/Time at HGS 

Hello my name is Stuart Wright and I was a pupil at Harrogate Grammar in the Sixth Form from 1997 to 1999 studying Maths, Chemistry and Physics.

Fondest memories of HGS

One of my fondest memories of Harrogate Grammar School was the Sixth Form review evening which gave students the opportunity to showcase their talents and, in my case, gave me the opportunity to play some 90's rock classics at full volume with a band who continue to be close friends to this day.

Job title, where you work & what you do for your job

I'm currently regional managing partner at Evelyn Partners, a large national firm of accountants and tax advisors who also provide financial advisory and investment management services.  My role is to oversee the firm's overall strategy in the North of the UK.  As well as having overall responsibility for the operation and financial performance of the business I am also responsible for client relationships, business development (i.e. winning new clients) and ensuring the firm complies with relevant regulations. 

Route taken to get where you are now

I took a somewhat circuitous route to my current role, firstly studying mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds and then getting jobs in product development at both Land Rover and Jaguar before moving to London to train as a chartered accountant.

Skills/qualities needed for current job

There is a common misconception with what is needed to be an accountant.  Everyone automatically thinks that maths and numbers is the core of the role whereas in reality communication, problem-solving and organisation are the key skills required.

Top tips for a successful career

My top tip for a successful career is to gain a broad range of experience early on in your career if possible.  The broad experience will help you to understand what you enjoy doing, and that should be the core of what your career entails.  I'd also recommend travel early in your career.

Is there a particular teacher that stood out during your time at HGS that you would like to recognise?

One of the teachers that stood out to me at the time was Mr Weston, who was the Assistant Head of Sixth Form.  In particular his assistance in helping me settle back in to the UK school system having spent the previous year in school in America.

If you're interested in a career in accountancy or financial advisory please do head to the Evelyn Partners careers website. Careers | Evelyn Partners