Grahame Millwater (1974-1981).

Grahame is Vice Chairman of Acrisure Group, one of the largest global insurance companies. One of the reasons that Grahame’s parents moved to Sandwich was that they wanted their sons to come to Manwood’s – which was then an all-boys’ school (it went co-educational in 1982).

Grahame has led the rapid growth of Acrisure’s business, which has recently been valued at $30bn and he has three guiding principles for success: “Everybody needs a map, because if you don’t have a map, you tend to get lost – that’s the importance of strategy. But in terms of actually arriving at that destination, there’re two things that are even more critical than the direction you’ve set yourself. One is the culture of your organisation, to enable you to get there, and engage with your people to get there. And the second one is great execution - fundamentally, you have to change things well. So I think culture and execution eat strategy for breakfast.”

Sarah Philpott (1991-1995)

Things are impossible until they are not. Sarah Philpott is a shining example of this.

“I was a decent athlete but not elite,” she acknowledged. “Somehow, I was able to make a life-changing pivot in my forties, deciding to train for and then swim the English Channel in 2020 when I was 42. Now I’ve become the third woman and seventh person to ever swim the Original Triple Crown of Open-Water Swimming (the English, Bristol, and North Channels) and I want to swim more of the world's most dangerous channels and all with a good purpose, to raise awareness of ocean conservation and climate change, which is a seemingly impossible task, but one I have to take on!”

Prior to swimming the English Channel, Philpott had not swum for 15 years, and nor did she grow up as a competitive swimmer. But living as she always has in the shadow of the iconic White Cliffs of Dover — the starting point of all English Channel Swim attempts — she says she always knew that one day she wanted to try and one of the first places that she regularly swam was in the Manwood’s school pool.

Fast forward to the first COVID lockdown of 2020 and things were about to change for Sarah, big time!

“The government allowed us outdoors for an hour a day of exercise,” she shared. “So, I slipped into the sea knowing that I wouldn’t get caught if I was outdoors for more than an hour. And I just swam for longer and longer each time I went. Within three months I completed a six-hour swim in water that was 59°F (15°C), and so the Channel Swim coaches on the beach spotted me and encouraged me to take up the challenge.”

Simon Knowles (1972-1979)

Simon Knowles is a silicon engineer, entrepreneur and graduate of Churchill College, Cambridge.  His work is in designing processors, most recently for supercomputing and artificial intelligence. Simon has co-founded three silicon companies in England – you are probably benefiting from some of his designs his processors bring broadband internet to homes over old copper telephone lines.  He co-founded Graphcore, his current company, in 2014. Graphcore produces AI supercomputers based on its Colossus intelligence processor.

In 2024, Simon was recognised for his invaluable contribution to science and elected to become a Fellow of the Royal Society. Fellows are leaders in their scientific fields and becoming a Fellow is one of the greatest honours for a scientist and currently there are just 1,800 Fellows.

Simon’s was asked to reflect on his time at Manwood’s and this is what he told us “There's always a revolution starting in some technology.  I was at school when the nascent revolution was the microprocessor - a computer on a silicon chip.  Malcolm Main (maths) started a programming club, Lyndon Johns (physics) started an electronics club, I joined both and we all learned together.  Later in life I founded chip companies and designed microprocessors for all sorts of things, including the new revolution of AI. Those two fine teachers thought about what we youngsters would need for the future, beyond their formal teaching in maths and physics.  They helped us to join a revolution.”

Michelle Westwood (1992-1999)

Michelle Westwood spent 20 years in the Royal Navy and her route through the Navy shows the variety of roles that there are in the forces and how they can lead to great careers afterwards, as employers really value the skills and culture of those who have served in the armed forces.  As an example, her final role in the Royal Navy was as the Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy People and Training Directorate Transformation team where she was responsible for transforming the training for naval staff when they were onshore (not on ships).  Since leaving the Navy, Michelle has taken on the role of Chief People Officer within a NHS Foundation Trust and is now the Human Resources Director at a major London law firm.  

Away from work, Michelle enjoys the beauty and freedoms of the outdoors.  An ideal day would include a dog walk in the countryside, a pub lunch and a competitive family game of UNO or Dobble.

 

Zoe Laughlin (1992-1999)

From a young age Zoe loved making things and has forged a career around this passion.  On the one hand she’s an artist and holds an MA from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design – she has staged a number of large events with galleries like the Tate Modern.  On the other hand she is an engineer and holds a PhD in Materials from the Division of Engineering at King's College London and she has gone on to be the co-founder and Director of the Institute of Making at University College London.

Zoe also presents on TV – she created a wonderful documentary for the BBC on what happens to our sewage! And she also presented regularly on ITV’s This Morning, celebrating all aspects of materials and processes of making.  You get an insight into the way her mind works from her Q&A on the This Morning website.

If I wasn’t featuring on This Morning, I’d be: Back at the day job coming up with plans for the world's greatest crazy golf course

My favourite breakfast is: Avocado and marmite on granary toast. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

Michael Escudier (1972 – 1980)

Professor Michael Escudier is the Executive Dean at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences. Michael therefore has a leading role in shaping dentistry and oral health in this country.  He also supports campaigns to improve the health of our mouths – not all of which would be popular with students. In 2022 the Faculty of Dental Surgery urged schools to go sugar free for their dinners to combat high tooth decay amongst school children.  At the time Micheal said “It is incredibly worrying that levels of tooth decay among children in England remain so high, especially when you consider that it’s almost entirely preventable“.  The Faculty produced 12 recommendations to reduce tooth decay prevalence including:

• All schools in England to introduce supervised teeth-brushing schemes
• All schools to become ‘sugar free’
• Limiting advertising and promotions for high-sugar products

When asked about his time at Manwood’s there were many positive aspects that could describe the school today.  He said “My time at "Manwood's was marked by a strong sense of belonging.  This coupled with the broad-based educational, sporting and cultural opportunities and support for the students created a feeling that I could and should strive to achieve - something which has been with me ever since”.

Laura Westcott (1991-1998). Singer, journalist and humanitarian

Laura is a classically trained musician with first-hand experience of stage fright and
anxiety. She shied away from a career as an opera singer and retrained as a journalist
instead. She joined the London Philharmonic Choir as a Soprano and worked for The
Times newspaper as a tech reviewer and PR manager. She overcame her fear of public
singing /speaking with mental health coaching and founded non-profit Music for Mental
Wealth to help improve mental health in the music industry. She organises concerts with
performers sharing the personal meaning behind their music to open conversations
around mental health, build communities and help musicians connect with record labels
and managers in attendance. Laura is also a professional singer and storyteller under the
guise Aura and her fans include Stephen Fry: "Beautifully somniferous!" and Joanna
Lumley: "Aura is literally hypnotic. I emerged fresher and calmer than ever before".

Richard Taylor-Jones (1990-1993). Wildlife filmmaker, cameraman, presenter and
photographer

Richard has spent his whole career with a camera, telling stories about the natural world.
He is one of the UK’s best known BBC wildlife cameramen having presented for BBC
Springwatch, Countryfile and The One Show. For the last 10 years he has also been
photographing the sea obsessively from his home on the Kent coast in the UK. The fine
art photographs he produces have sold to collectors around the world. In recent years he
has taken his expert knowledge of British wildlife and started to work with house builders
to make their developments more wildlife friendly though his Nature Box scheme.

Tammy Beaumont (2002-2009). Cricketer

Tammy is a world class cricketer who currently plays for Kent, Lightning, Welsh Fire,
Sydney Thunder and England. In 2017 Tammy was a Women’s Cricket World Cup winner
and was consequently awarded the MBE that year. She plays primarily as an opening bat
and occasional wicket-keeper. She has previously played for Surrey Stars, Adelaide
Strikers, Southern Vipers, Melbourne Renegades and London Spirit. On 23 June 2023,
she scored her first Test century in the only Test of the 2023 Women’s Ashes series. She
broke several records, including becoming just the second woman in history and the 25th
player overall to score a century in all three international formats. The following day, in the
same innings, she finished with a score of 208, setting the highest ever score by an
English female cricketer in Test history and becoming the first to score a double century.
This eclipsed Betty Snowball’s 189, a record that had stood since 1935.Her score of 208
became the fifth highest score in Women's Tests.

Fiona Galbraith (1984-1991). Army

Fiona served as a military intelligence officer in the British Army for 25 years attaining the
rank of Lt Col, moving from regular to reserve service in 2018. She served in many
operational campaigns around the globe, leading the military intelligence campaign in
several. Fiona joined Buckinghamshire New University in 2020. She holds a BA (Hons) in
Contemporary East European Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European
Studies, University of London and an MA in Defence Studies from Kings College London.
She studied land management, gaining an MSc from the Royal Agricultural University.
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and was awarded a Churchill
Fellowship in 2020 to undertake an international research project, which was delayed by
the global pandemic.

Jonathon Akeroyd (1979-1984). Business

Jonathan is an experienced leader with a strong track record of building luxury brands
and driving profitable growth. He has extensive experience across the fashion and luxury
goods sector, with a focus on brand and product elevation, strategic development and
global expansion. Prior to joining Burberry as Chief Executive Officer in March 2022,
Jonathan was Chief Executive of Gianni Versace SpA where he reorganised and
accelerated growth at the Italian fashion house, building on the brand’s rich heritage to
elevate product, communications and the customer experience. As President and Chief
Executive Officer of Alexander McQueen between 2004 and 2016, he led a turnaround of
the British luxury brand, successfully steering the company’s growth and strategic
development into a luxury powerhouse. Jonathan’s earlier career included a number of
senior roles at London-based luxury department store Harrods. Outside of work Jonathan
lives in South West London with his wife, Julie, and two daughters. In his spare time, he
enjoys playing golf and watching cricket at Lords. He is also a food enthusiast and has
interests in some restaurants in London.

Nick Wilton (1970-1975). Actor and Script Writer

Nick made his first professional appearance in 1979 as a blue coat entertainer at Pontins.
After Manwoods Nick read Drama & English at Kent University. He then spent two years
working in Stage Management before making his professional acting debut in the 1980
revival of the Whitehall farce Simple Spymen, directed by Brian Rix, and later went on to
play opposite Brian in Dry Rot in the West End. In 1982 he won the Perrier award at
Edinburgh with the revue group, Writers Inc. He has appeared in numerous West End and
provincial stage productions. He has also appeared in television and film productions
including Mr Lister in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as a recurring character; and
Carrott’s Live and Jackanory. He is also widely remembered for his Specsavers advert
and has been a pantomime dame every Christmas since 2000. In 2023 Nick can be seen
in Sky’s new comedy/drama Dreamland and the film Samaria, part of the Hakkan Nesser
Intrigo trilogy. On Radio Nick has made hundreds of recordings and was in three series of
Son of Clliche and In One Ear, which both won Sony awards for best comedy. His wife,
Lynette, sadly had a stroke in 2008 so he needed to stay at home for a while to look after
her (she has now fully recovered) so he wasn’t able to take acting work away from home.
As a result he started selling ice cream (scooped) from a bike. He loved it so much that he
kept doing it and now has the concession along the prom at Tankerton (Whitstable) where
you’ll find him every Summer.