SUMMER 2012 ISSUE No. 150 - Shrewsbury School

L AUNCHING THE NEW CAREERS INITIATIVE
One of the most exciting changes arising from last year’s
governance initiative was placing the provision of careers
assistance at the heart of the Club’s affairs. There has always
been some provision for careers assistance, but the sheer
scale of the new initiative and the resources being dedicated to
it mark this as potentially the most significant transformation
within the restructured Club.
There has been considerable dialogue between the School
and the Club to ensure that the overall approach to careers is
correctly aligned and ‘joined-up’. There is immense goodwill
amongst Old Salopians and parents when it comes to helping
with careers talks and advice. In addition to the many OS
speakers who visit the School, the Club has recently worked
with Careers Master Chris Conway to organise two events for
pupils interested in entering the medical and legal professions.
Both have been very successful. From 2013 the Club plans to
organise an annual careers fair, offering advice to pupils in the
Sixth Form, and possibly extending this to other age groups in
future years. The intention is that these occasions will provide
pupils with up-to-date guidance on the qualifications and
characteristics needed to succeed in different fields, as well as
exposing the breadth of possibilities across the jobs market. In
particular, it is hoped that the fairs will assist pupils in making
informed decisions on subject choices with a view to further
education and career opportunities.
As well as remaining involved in the School’s careers
programme, the Club intends to concentrate its efforts on
those who have left the School, whether they are at university
or beyond. Although these plans are still being defined, they
will certainly build on the existing framework of Old Salopians
C ELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF A SUCCESSFUL
SALOPIAN BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP
For the last ten years, Ed Godrich (I 1988-93) an Interior
Architecture graduate of Nottingham Trent University and
Rupert Hunt (M 1988-93), a Management graduate from
Leeds University, have jointly run a high-end interior design
business as well as an art warehouse and a soft furnishings
business.
After Ed graduated he went on to work for a number of top
design practices, while Rupert forged a successful career in
the banking sector, specialising in corporate finance and
working with large multinationals on share offerings, mergers
and acquisitions both in London and, for two years, in Hong
Kong.
Ed and Rupert always stayed in touch during these years. By
the time Rupert had decided he had ‘done his time’ in the City,
Ed was itching to set up his design business and so
approached Rupert to manage the financial side of operations.
Since then they have built up the business to a very successful
level and have a constantly expanding portfolio of residential
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Old salopian News
and parents who already offer one-to-one professional advice,
work experience, internships and so on. The Club is
approaching the various professional groups, seeking
assistance from those willing to help the careers programme.
To date the responses have been very encouraging indeed. As
this editorial goes to press, a careers sub-committee is being
formed and a prominent OS businessman has been identified
to lead this group. Areas of development are likely to include
engaging with Old Salopians who might need careers
assistance, developing a responsive interface for those
seeking our services, advertising work experience and
internship opportunities and developing our offerings such as
CV advice and practice interviews. We will also be establishing
professional and sector networks for Old Salopians of all ages.
The Club is keen to engage parents and Old Salopians
within the careers initiative, particularly as a large pool of
volunteers is needed to cope with increased demand in a
diminishing jobs market. Many parents are already involved. If
you are able to help, we would love to hear from you.
The following details would be most useful: your sector or
profession, how you might be able to help (e.g. talks in school,
careers fair, advice, work experience and/or internship) and
your address (work or home, and email). The Club can be
contacted by post: The Salopian Club, the Schools,
Shrewsbury, SY3 7BA; by email
oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk or by telephone
01743 280891.
Alex Baxter
Director
Salopian Club
and commercial portfolios both in the UK and abroad. Ed and
Rupert have often found that Old Salopians pop up in every
industry and have forged great relationships with businesses
having this in common.
On a more personal level, Ed and Rupert have both
undertaken major restoration projects on farms near Ludlow
and have also just restored and opened an ancient Inn in
Corvedale (The Tally Ho Inn).
The fact that they remain such good friends as well as
successful entrepreneurs gives the lie to the notion that ‘friends
don’t usually make good business partners’. They believe that
their success, however, comes from a deep-rooted respect for
one another that goes back to their Shrewsbury days, and of
course their defined roles in design and finance respectively.
More information on their joint businesses may be found at
www.godrichinteriors.com, www.signedandoriginal.com and
www.violetandgeorge.com