1944-2004: Early life and Nord Anglia
Kevin McNeany was born circa 1943 [3] in Keady, Northern Ireland. [1] He is originally from County Armagh. [4]
He started his career as a teacher in 1964, [1] teaching English in Northern Ireland, and then moved to Leeds. He began working in further education, and in 1972 moved to Southport. There, he started a business providing English-language courses for foreign students, expanding also into Blackpool, Chester, and Manchester. [4] He was running the Nord 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 in Manchester. He then bought Hull Grammar School and Gramercy in Torbay. [4]
He led the IPO of Nord Anglia Education PLC in 1997 [5] [1] as the first and still the only education company to gain a full listing in the London Stock Exchange. [1] He retired as chairman of Nord Anglia Education in December 2004, after being part of the company for 32 years. [6]
2005-2014: Founding Acorn and Orbital
In 2005, [7] founded Acorn Care and Education, [8] serving as chairman of Acorn Education in 2010. [3] He sold Acorn to a Canadian pension fund in early 2013 [8] for £150 million. [7]
He founded Orbital 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. [9]
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. [10]
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. [8] In 2014, he owned 14 nurseries linked to existing independent schools. [4] Kevin received the "Outstanding individual contribution" accolade at the Education Investor awards on November 13, 2014, for contributions to the education sector. [11]
