About Thames British Schools
We protect and grow exceptional schools.
We partner with exceptional independent schools to protect their identity, strengthen their operations, and secure their future.
Our conviction
“Great schools don't fail for educational reasons. They fail for operational ones.”
With increasing regulation, more onerous inspection requirements, and growing financial complexity, many Heads and SLTs have become corporate administrators — detached from the work that drew them to education. Thames frees up that leadership time so that school management teams can focus on what matters: educating children.
For many school founders and governing bodies, the decision to seek outside support is not taken lightly. Some recognise it is time to pass on the stewardship of their school to an experienced operator. For others — particularly not-for-profit schools — the reality is that operating a school today is a full-time commercial enterprise, one that requires professional governance by people who have done it before.
Schools in portfolio
Students served
Countries
Years of operating expertise
What we believe
Four principles that shape every partnership.
Schools are built over generations.
Reputations are slow to build and easy to lose. We invest on the timescale that schools actually run on — decades, not quarters.
Operations enable education.
Teaching cannot thrive on top of broken systems. Strong governance, finance, and admissions exist so that classrooms can be calm.
Identity is non-negotiable.
Each school keeps its name, its crest, its head, and its culture. We do not standardise what makes a school distinctive.
Capital supports the school. It does not become the school.
Investors are stewards, not operators. The head leads the school; we sit behind them with capital, expertise, and patience.
How we work
Helping exceptional schools across Europe be the best they can be.
Our approach is bespoke. We invest time, expertise and capital to best suit each school's unique situation, while delivering the operational scale that only a group can offer.
Collaboration
We work in genuine partnership with our schools. Our central team acts as a toolbox of support for Heads and SLTs. We agree on strategy upfront so that we are fully aligned before any partnership is made.
Speed
Once a path is agreed, we act decisively and efficiently. Schools do not wait months for decisions that should take days.
Dexterity
This is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We recognise that every school is unique and requires a tailored approach — not a template imposed from above.
Respect
We are transparent, honest, direct, patient and polite. We say difficult things clearly and we listen carefully in return.
Authenticity
We do what we say we will. We do not overpromise or mislead. Where we cannot predict an outcome, we say so.
Grounded
We are pragmatists who adapt to circumstances. Good judgement in education is earned through experience, not prescribed from a strategy document.
Astute
Everything we do is underpinned by sound commercial principles and careful stewardship of capital. We treat every school's resources as if they were our own.
Our schools
Continue to grow.
Our aim is to create inspiring schools that put the child at the centre of all we do — that teach self-belief and deliver academic excellence.
Perrott Hill School
An award-winning independent preparatory school in Somerset — Nursery through Year 8, with an exceptional scholarship record and a rich boarding tradition.
Somerset →
Thames British School
An independent British international school in Madrid running Early Years through A Level, with a holistic programme and a strong co-curricular tradition.
Madrid →
Meridiano Licėjus
A Vilnius gymnasium pairing the Cambridge International programme with the Lithuanian national curriculum, known for olympiads, character education, and Duke of Edinburgh.
Vilnius →
Perrott Hill British School Prague
A British international school in Prague delivering the English National Curriculum from Early Years through High School, with native English-speaking teachers and a wellbeing-led ethos.
Prague →
What we bring
Six things that don't change.
Every Thames partnership begins with the same commitments.
01
Identity preserved
01
Identity preserved
Your name stays on the gate. Your ethos stays in the staffroom. We have never asked a school to share a uniform, a crest, or a brand — and we never will.
02
A platform, not a parent
02
A platform, not a parent
Admissions, finance, marketing, HR, and legal are handled centrally. Your head is freed to spend their time on what only they can do: leading the school.
03
Patient capital
03
Patient capital
We invest upfront in people, facilities, and curriculum. We measure returns in decades, not quarters. A school asked to produce short-term returns is a school under strain.
04
Staff who see a future
04
Staff who see a future
Leadership pathways, professional development, and access to the wider Thames network. The best teachers stay because they see somewhere to grow — not just a role to fill.
05
Governance that protects
05
Governance that protects
Professional governance handles regulatory complexity and financial stewardship. The board handles the institution. The head handles education.
06
A network, not a hierarchy
06
A network, not a hierarchy
Thames heads meet, share practice, and collaborate across the group. Ideas travel between schools. No mandates — just genuine collegiality.
Our strategy
Building exceptional schools for the long term.
Our team of operational experts support schools with deep knowledge gained across international education markets. Every member of the Thames central team has worked within schools — not just above them. Our approach is multi-faceted and includes:
- Achieving and maintaining educational excellence across every school in the group
- Creating a clear 3–5 year masterplan for each school; three years planned in detail with a five-year vision
- Investing in staff through training, career pathways and access to the wider Thames network — opportunities no single school could replicate
- Specialist expertise in academics, pastoral care, IT, admissions, marketing, HR and legal
- Upfront investment in facilities and digital infrastructure to raise every school to the Thames standard
No function is shared between schools at brand level. The platform is the infrastructure. The school is the product.
Our team
Operators first. Investors second.
A small group of educators, operators, and investors. We have run schools, scaled them, and stewarded their capital before — and we do that work alongside every head we partner with.
Founder & Chief Executive
Group strategy · Capital · Heads
Leads group strategy, capital partnerships, and the personal relationship with each school's head. Two decades operating and investing in regulated services across the UK and Europe.
Partner, Operations
Central platform · Heads · Bursars
Runs the central platform — admissions, finance, marketing, curriculum, and estate — so every head can spend their day on what only they can do.
Partner, Investments
Sourcing · Diligence · Structuring
Twenty years in mid-market M&A across regulated sectors; oversees sourcing, diligence, and the capital structure of every Thames acquisition.
School Heads
Students · Parents · Staff
Local educational leadership remains closest to students, parents, and staff. The Thames model keeps heads in their schools — not in the boardroom.
Names and full biographies are shared in writing once a school's head is part of the conversation. Discretion is the first thing we owe a partnership.
Partnership
Considering a future for your school?
Whether you are planning succession, exploring partnership, or simply considering what comes next — we can have a confidential conversation.
Our schools
- Perrott Hill School · Somerset
- Thames British School · Madrid
- Meridiano Licėjus · Vilnius
- Perrott Hill British School · Prague