Making a Difference

LWC’s outgoing Chief Operating Officer, Baz Bennett can remember the day of his final interview at LWC vividly.

 

That’s because it fell on the same day that he began his posting as Deputy Chief of Staff for the British Field Army.

“I left LWC at lunchtime,” he explains. “I drove down the road where no one could see me, pulled into a layby, changed out of my suit and back into combats.  I strolled into Army Headquarters and within the hour, I was in the planning process to put a battle group into Mali.”

 

Being at the helm of Lord Wandsworth College seems a world away from Mr Bennett’s previous life in the military. He joined the British Army as a 16-year-old and stayed for 36 years. His career saw him rise through the ranks and lead in some of the most challenging parts of the world.

 

As Commanding Officer of the 40^th Regiment Royal Artillery, he led 600 through three consecutive tours of Afghanistan. He commanded British Forces in the South Atlantic; running the Falklands, Ascension Islands and South Georgia for the Army, Navy and Air Force. His final posting, as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Field Army saw him take the lead of 96,000 regular and reserve troops when it came to logistics and infrastructure.

 

“I loved the army,” he says with a glint in his eye. “I decided to leave about four years earlier than I thought. I adored it, in fact I still do. But it just felt right for a change at that moment in time, for myself and my family. It was a good time to stop, because I was on an absolute high. In September 2020, on day three of my job as Deputy Chief of Staff, I resigned. By January 2021, I was here at LWC.”

 

Long Sutton may be a long way (geographically speaking) from the likes of Helmand Province or the Falkland Islands, but the skillset that Baz had built up over time, seemed a perfect fit. “Around 30 per cent of COO Bursars in the independent schools’ sector are ex-military,” he continues. “But what led me into education was wanting to do what I’d been trying to do my whole life: make a difference. I was a vocationalist and I needed to stay in that line of work. I needed to see that 11-year-old come in to the College and be proud of my part in the 18-year-old they become; standing up on stage at Speech Day. I’m not pupil-facing but that doesn’t matter. I’m used to getting an organisation to eat, sleep and work together. There were 2,000 of us in the Falklands and Ascension Islands. I was used to working on this kind of scale.”

 

“I was allowed to write Strategy 2030, which is really exciting…. These are big projects sitting alongside rising numbers and more boarders. LWC will be a complete jewel around here. I haven’t finished it, but I know the next person will come in and do an even better job. I know my part in it.”

— Baz Bennett, outgoing Chief Operating Officer

   

Whilst there may be more similarities than we realised, between life as COO of a Hampshire boarding school and heading up thousands of British troops, it didn’t necessarily follow that Baz would want to make the switch and leave his beloved military background. But then he met Headmaster, Adam Williams.

 

“I could see LWC had a great governing body and a great Headmaster. This was a school that was already rising. Adam wanted the boys and girls coming here to go out into the world and make a difference. I wanted to be part of that.”

 

But now, just over four years after arriving at LWC, Baz is leaving to take on a new ‘posting’. He is about to become Chief Operating Officer at Sedbergh School in Cumbria. “I leave with a very heavy heart,” he admits. “But that’s brilliant. As far as I’m concerned, leaving and wanting more is absolutely the way you should go. I’ve lived my life doing that, because I moved every two to three years, whether I liked it or not.” Sedbergh offers a move closer to Baz’s wider family and an opportunity to reconnect with a school that his daughter attended from the age of eight.

 

In the time that Baz has been COO at LWC, the College has increased its number of students by more than 13 per cent. It currently has more pupils on roll than at any other time in its history. The College has also entered into a successful partnership with St Neot’s Prep School and has seen the creation of the Flowers Science Centre, Zanetas Sixth Form Centre and the re-imagining of Hendersons into a main campus hub for Junior House.

     

But does Baz feel as though he has made that all-important difference? What are the moments that stand out for him as proof that his leap of faith in 2021 was the right one?

 

“There are so many,” he reflects. “I suppose I feel as though I’ve brought more of a business sense to the school. Adam and I rubbed off on one another and this machine kind of accelerated. We moved from being a cottage industry into a business. We created a Business Leadership Group, created Directors of People, Finance and Estates. Going from one school to two (with the addition of St Neot’s) was a real tangible change and to see the meteoric rise at St Neot’s has been phenomenal. When I arrived, there was a hole in the ground where the Flowers Science Centre now is and that was a project started before I got here. £9 million later and I love going into that building. I love where it sits, combining old and new. I suppose I can take more credit for helping to turn the old library into Zanetas, with the vision of Tom Rimmer (Head of Sixth Form) and then being able to deliver Hendersons. These are all wonderful spaces.”

 

But Baz acknowledges that he leaves, as the College continues to evolve even further. “I was allowed to write Strategy 2030, which is really exciting. That has plans for up to three new boarding houses, an innovative centre housing DT, Art, Computer Science and a 300-seat lecture theatre. A sector-leading fitness, health and wellbeing centre should be ready by September 2026. We also hope there will be another astro pitch, cricket bubble and a golf centre. These are big projects sitting alongside rising numbers and more boarders. LWC will be a complete jewel around here. I haven’t finished it, but I know the next person will come in and do an even better job. I know my part in it.”

 

The ‘next person’ taking up the post as COO at LWC is another former military man. Will Dixon joins the 1200 from Shiplake College, where he has spent more than three years as Bursar. This followed a series of senior banking positions, after leaving the British Army on medical grounds.

 

“My favourite days here,” Baz continues, “are the days we put on Oliver! and Bugsy Malone. “They were amazing shows to go and watch. But it’s about what those productions do for all of the children. Not just the actors, but the tech crew and the stage managers. I saw them just before they did their matinee and evening performances of Bugsy this year and they looked ten feet tall. That’s worth it. Launching the Long Service Awards was also hugely satisfying and rightly recognises the huge dedication our staff have made; resulting in centuries of service.”

 

Baz admits that his departure at the end of spring term will be difficult. “I was worried when I left the Army, that I wouldn’t be able to cope without being in it anymore. I thought I would miss it. But I haven’t missed it and that’s because of the people I’ve worked with here. They have been wonderful. But this is a lovely juncture. We’ve done so many major things in such a short period of time, that it means I can go and give my energy to another place and make a difference there.”