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Kevin J. McNeany | |
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| Born | 1943 (age 81–82) |
| Education | Bachelor of Arts,Postgraduate Certificate in Education andPostgraduate diploma |
| Occupation(s) | Businessperson, education investor |
| Years active | 1970s-present |
| Employer | Orbital Education |
Kevin McNeany (born 1943Keady,Northern Ireland), is a Northern Irish entrepreneur in theeducation andinternational education sectors.[1] He foundedNord Anglia Education (1972) andOrbital Education (2008).[1] He is the executive chairman of Orbital Education.[2] He was described inThe Guardian in 2003 as "probably the country's richest teacher, worth an estimated £15 million".[3]
Kevin McNeany was born circa 1943[4] inKeady,Northern Ireland.[1] He is originally fromCounty Armagh.[5]
He started his career as a teacher in 1964,[1] teaching English in Northern Ireland, and then moved toLeeds. He began working in further education, and in 1972 moved toSouthport. There, he started a business providing English-language courses for foreign students, expanding also intoBlackpool,Chester, andManchester.[5] He was running theNord Anglia business full-time by 1976, when it had 11 centers. By the early 1980s, he was serving as chairman, and purchased a prep school inManchester. He then boughtHull Grammar School andGramercy inTorbay.[5]
He led the IPO of Nord Anglia Education PLC in 1997[6][1] as the first and still the only education company to gain a full listing in theLondon Stock Exchange.[1] He retired as chairman of Nord Anglia Education in December 2004, after being part of the company for 32 years.[7]
In 2005,[8] founded Acorn Care and Education,[9] serving as chairman of Acorn Education in 2010.[4] He sold Acorn to a Canadian pension fund in early 2013[9] for £150 million.[8]
He foundedOrbital Education in 2008,[1] and by 2013 was chairman. Orbital focuses on running international schools and colleges, mainly in the British tradition, to expatriate students and host families.[10]
In April 2012, he sold all but a 2.5% stake of his share in Nord Anglia, shortly after retiring from the company. The year prior, it had become Britain's largest nursery group.[11]
At the start of 2013, McNeany owned the Manchester Academy of English, after first investing in 2008. He sold the stake in 2013 for £3 million, retiring as chairman.[9] In 2014, he owned 14 nurseries linked to existing independent schools.[5] Kevin received the "Outstanding individual contribution" accolade at the Education Investor awards on November 13, 2014, for contributions to the education sector.[12]
In 2019, he remained chairman of Orbital Education.[6] In 2023, he was present at the opening of United School International on The Pearl Island. At the time, he remained Orbital chair and vice chairman ofUnited Schools International, a school opened in 2022 as a partnership between Orbital andUnited Development Company (UDC).[13]
Orbital Education British owned and managed schools | |
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 Spain |
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 Hungary |
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 China |
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 Slovenia |
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 Qatar | |
 Ecuador |
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