People
John Blake John Blake is the new director of Marlborough College Enterprise Ltd, the commercial arm of Marlborough College whose main responsibility is the running of Marlborough College’s world famous Summer School. He lives in Faringdon with his wife Tory and their three children, Alfred, 10, Bessie, 8, Lilia, 5, and Minnie the Cocker Spaniel. What led to you being the head of enterprise at Marlborough College? Prior to coming here I was the Commercial Director at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners and host of the Chelsea Flower Show, and before that I was the Head of Sales and Marketing at Ascot Racecourse. Both of those involved dealing with activities that were not the primary purpose of the business/institution and provided excellent experience for the role here. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the job at the Royal Hospital, it meant that I was away from my family during the week, and I really missed them. It was a wonderful opportunity to do a job with as much potential as this one, and to be able to go home every night. It’s the shortest commute I’ve ever had.
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So, apart from the Summer School, what does your role involve? Obviously the Summer School is the biggest part of the job as it is a huge undertaking every year, (much as Chelsea Flower Show and Royal Ascot were in my previous jobs), but as well as that I am responsible for generating additional revenue for the College through business activities. This money helps pay for Bursaries at the College, and helps with the upkeep of the estate. Activities include retail through Crosby and Lawrence, events such as Feast of Food and the Marlborough Spring Fair and so on, and I am also looking at Leisure opportunities. In the future we are considering opening the Swimming Pool to the public, and possibly the gym. It’s important that any activities we undertake are not detrimental to the everyday running of the school, so that has to be borne in mind.
How different is it working for Marlborough College? It’s not dissimilar to the role at the Royal Hospital, although that was a military organisation where only myself and one other on the management board were civilians – my boss was a Major-General, and even the Matron was a Colonel! Instead of schoolchildren, there were Chelsea Pensioners who are really a breed apart – what a fantastic group of people. At Ascot, again I was involved in generating income from non-racing activities – we basically repositioned Ascot as a leisure venue. We held events designed to bring non-racegoers racing. These were held at the same time as a race day, so people could see what racing was all about. Events included concerts, a beer festival and racing theme days.
To advertise please call 01793 791104 or email: aj@marlboroughtandc.co.uk