PERSONALIA NEWS
Tom Jameson (95-03) was recently made
partner at law firm CMS, specialising in Mergers &
Acquisitions and investments. He studied Law at
Newcastle University after leaving Pocklington and
trained with City-based law firm Penningtons. It has
been a busy year on the whole as Tom and his wife
also adopted two children at the same time – Riley
(4) and Isabella (2).
James Sweeting (81-88) is co-founder of Lincoln
& York, the leading coffee sourcing, roasting and
packing specialist, which topped the Sunday Times
International Track 200 awards last summer, having
achieved a staggering 265% increase in sales. James
attended the 9th annual awards ceremony last
September at the London Hilton Park Lane to
collect the award which recognises Britain’s private
companies with the fastest-growing international
sales.
Andrew Moll (92-99) hosted a group of
Pocklington Prep Pre-School children when they
visited him at work at Wicstun Veterinary Group to
learn all about the work of a vet.
Ed Pettifer (86-93), a vet at Wicstun Veterinary
Group in Pocklington and 2017 winner of Vet of
the Year, successfully completed a postgraduate
qualification in small animal surgery. The BSAVA
Post Graduate Certificate in Small Animal Surgery
is achieved only through several years of challenging
study, written exams, numerous case reports and a
final oral exam, whereby candidates are intensely
examined by a Board. Congratulations to Ed!
2000 - 2009
Billy Chan (03-08) studied Pharmacy at Bath
University after A levels at Pocklington. He is now a
pharmacist and store manager for Boots.
Hannah Dawes (01-08) is a teacher of religious
studies and Head of Learning for Life at Oundle
School.
Mark Taylor (79-86) lives in the USA with his wife
April. He was a boarder at Pocklington and studied
three sciences and maths at A level. After his degree
at Southampton University, he went onto the Marks
and Spencer’s graduate scheme and then worked for
Deloitte & Touche before starting his own business
extremeaerialproductions.com, a professional aerial
drone video and photography company based in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
Graham Usher (81-89) has been appointed
Bishop of Norwich. Prior to this he was Bishop of
Dudley.
1990 - 1999
Victoria Carver (née Sweeting, 88-90) and
her husband Christian’s visitor attraction William’s
Den near North Cave in East Yorkshire won the
Outstanding Rural Diversification Project of the Year
award at the northern regional heats of the UK-wide
Rural Business Awards. The award was presented to
them in October 2018.
Michael Gilbertson (86-96) is a vet and owner of
Birchwood Veterinary Practice, which he opened in
Stamford Bridge in October 2018. In December, he
was nominated as Vet of the Year and the practice
was nominated as Practice of the Year in the
Veterinary Awards 2019.
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and Moorside Juniors whilst leading a project
to build onto the junior site and amalgamate the
two schools into one primary school, Moorside
Primary School, from September 2019. The vacated
Infants building will become a satellite special needs
provision run by another head.
Edward Gough-Olaya (né Smith, 90-01), after
5 years in Beijing as a housemaster at Harrow
International School, moved to Garden International
School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2019.
Jodie Hill (00-06), the Leeds-based lawyer and
founder of Thrive Law, continues her campaign for
mental health first aiders to be made compulsory
in workplaces in the UK. She organised a major
conference, Thriving Minds, in October 2018 and
again in September 2019 to raise awareness of the
problems caused by mental ill health which costs UK
employers up to £42bn a year.
Charlie Horncastle (02-09) studied Fashion
Design at the Manchester School of Art specialising
in menswear. He has worked for River Island and
Boden and is currently a menswear designer at
Tommy Hilfiger.
Joshua Overington (01-04), chef patron of Le
Cochon Aveugle restaurant in York, took part in
cooking’s War of the Roses when he went head
to head with Steven Smith chef owner of The
Freemasons at Wiswell in Lancashire. The annual
event sees Steven pitch himself against an invited
chef from Yorkshire with diners deciding who is
triumphant. On this occasion, Josh was the runner
up but thoroughly enjoyed the competition.
Claire Rowett (née Russell, 96-03) has been
appointed Headteacher of a primary school in Ripon
from September 2019. She was the Acting Executive
Headteacher across two schools, Moorside Infants
Lucy Scarah (née Seddon, 00-07) hosted lower
sixth BTEC Information and Communications
Technology students from Pocklington School during
a visit to her store in Spark, York. Lucy is the owner
of Helson Street a shop which offers a unique
take on rustic pieces and floristry. She assisted the
ICT students with their social media BTEC unit, by
explaining how the power of social media can raise
the profile of a business.
Emily Soanes (04-09) completed an Art
Foundation at York College followed by a degree
in Fashion Marketing at Northumbria University.
As part of her degree, she spent a year out in
industry working for John Lewis, WGSN and a
fashion magazine called Fabulous. One of her final
year design projects for the fashion brand Hollister,
helped her to secure a one-year graduate design
position at their head office in Ohio, America. After
this, she went to Sydney, Australia for three years
where she worked as a production assistant for
Sheridan, a homeware company, before moving back
into fashion as a childrenswear graphic and textile
designer. She is now based in London and working
as a childrenswear designer for John Lewis.
David Stanton (Former staff, 69-01) is still
playing golf in his retirement. He was part of the
winning team at an annual charity golf competition
for the Garland Trophy held at Pocklington’s KP Club
and organised by the Rotary Club.
2010 - PRESENT
Laura Arnott (06-13) graduated in December
2018 with an MA in Film Studies (Distinction) from
the University of Manchester. She was awarded
the prize for Outstanding Performance in Film
Studies as she averaged the highest grade in her
class. After completing her MA, she worked as PA
to the Technical Director of Manchester
Metropolitan University. In September, she started
her PhD research in cross-cultural translation