News

Brighton College goes global

18/03

One of the largest property developers in the Middle East, which announced plans late last year to develop a $10 billion dollar property portfolio, has chosen Brighton College as its educational partner to establish a dozen schools across the world.

The Abu Dhabi property giants Bloom Properties, jointly owned by National Holding of Abu Dhabi and Emirates International Properties with royal backing, will link up with Brighton College to establish a series of Brighton Colleges across the globe. The first two schools will be in Abu Dhabi itself with plans to establish further branches as far afield as Oman, Jordan, Romania, Vietnam and India, all leading emerging markets. A number of UK private schools have entered the international market in recent years but they have done so on a piecemeal basis. This is the first multi-school deal of its kind anywhere involving a leading British private school. The Brighton College-Bloom deal is on a wholly different scale, with aspirations to set up a chain of schools across the globe.

Each of the schools will be part of a much larger mixed-use project, cumulatively costing £7 billion. The first school will be established in the new Bloom Gardens development in the heart of Abu Dhabi.

While the economy of Dubai has suffered as a result of the credit crunch, Abu Dhabi has remained largely immune because of its vast sovereign funds and its control of 94% of the oil of the UAE.

Richard Cairns, the Headmaster of Brighton College: "We were determined to get involved in a country with sound fundamentals, providing us with a strong platform for international expansion. We have never been interested in just one school because we felt that a single satellite school would generate insufficient income for Brighton College to justify the additional focus and time that such a venture requires. That is why I am so delighted with this multi-site, multi-national deal. It has allowed us to set up our own company with its own Directors and staff so that we can manage the relationship professionally and effectively without detracting in any way from the work at hand in Brighton College UK."

Hani Rayden, the head of Bloom education, the property giant's new education arm explains the link-up: "We were looking for a school that was highly successful academically and with a genuine commitment to developing the whole child. We were also very impressed with the school's international outlook, exemplified by its decision in 2006 to make Mandarin Chinese a core part of the curriculum. We are linking up with one of the great secondary schools in the world and one that we feel shares our ambitions".

The exact terms of the financial deal are confidential but the Headmaster of Brighton College was happy to go on record as saying that "potentially, this is the most significant development at Brighton College since our foundation in 1845. It will provide new funds for Brighton College UK for buildings, bursaries and endowments to help enable children from less advantaged backgrounds to attend our schools in Brighton".

Brighton College will appoint the senior staff of the school and provide the blueprint for the academic and pastoral set-up.