The Budapest Times
Britannica expands from bottom up
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Top Manager in Discussion: Kevin McNeany, director of Orbital Education, owner of Britannica International School
While much of the Hungarian economy appears to be marking time according to GDP figures, a British entrepreneur is returning to Budapest in order to take advantage of a new opportunity. Kevin McNeany, best known as the talent behind Nord Anglia, the firm which built up the British School here in Budapest and others around the world has bought back into the market. He aims to take Britannica International School from the ranks of the handful of smaller international schools in and around Budapest to the top of the table; from District XI to District XII. This week he announced significant changes in the school. Britannica will move to new premises in District XII in September. McNeany has acquired a lease on the premises which up to recently were occupied by the American International School of Budapest in Kakkuk.
As the one-time owner of the British International School, Budapest through Nord Anglia, an interest which you sold out in 2005, you are very familiar with the international education scene here. Why did you choose to come back to Budapest by purchasing Britannica two years back? Didn't you originally take over the British School?
It was called the Magyar-British School and it was just about to fail, it was on the point of perdition actually when we saved it. We invested in it, kept it going. That was around about 2000. This was when I was chairman of my former company Nord Anglia, which I founded. We found new premises for the British International School, where they are now located and moved the school there. Subsequently I left Nord Anglia, as I was coming up to retirement age, but I was keen to continue in business, the business I know well, which is international schools. So this company that now runs Britannica School, Orbital, was founded five years ago together with a couple of other education companies in the UK. But this, to me, is the most important one because it has schools in a number of countries. We have schools in Spain, Russia, South Korea and here.
So how is it that you are able to return to Budapest? Was there no kind of non-competition clause?
No, it was some years after I left when I acquired this school two years ago. The fact is that I knew this school. I knew that it was quite a good little school, but in desperate need of development. What I am good at actually, is finding ways to develop schools. I saw this as an opportunity to develop another school in a city that I have come to know very well and in an environment where there are good students available and where you can develop a quality institution.
So where is the school at now and where do you plan to take it?
Well, we are in the second year after taking over. The numbers have increased. The quality and performance and experience of staff improves with time. The thing that has been holding the school back is the limitation in the premises that we now occupy here (District XI, Aga utca 10). We actually share the building with another school called Rogers.
OK, so the premises are limiting...
That is the delimiting factor of this particular school; it is essentially a senior school at the moment. The youngest children are nine as we have introduced a couple of primary classes over the last year. An international school really works from the bottom up in the sense that you need to have all the primary and elementary school classes: they are the engine room that drives the school forward. It is only when it is K 1-12 or, in the British system, up to 18 years, that you have a fully functioning international school worthy of the name. And of course we have not been able to do that, but with the acquisition of this building we will of course be able to do so now.
Why do you think Budapest needs another international school? You have been in markets all over the world. What is different here, or how is it not fully serviced?
There is actually a demand for quality international education, primarily from the host community. There is great demand for quality affordable education from aspiring Hungarian families.
And what makes a school 'affordable' in your mind?
At the moment the schools fees here at Britannica are not much more than 50% of those of the British School. Clearly they will have to rise when we move to a new and more expensive building but there will still be an appreciable gap between the two. My philosophy has always been to produce schools with fees that are as affordable as possible. I own the business. This business is not in the hands of financial institutions or private equity pushing for profit all the time. I am in a position to make decisions - especially decisions about the length of time for the repayment of investment and for the ability to reinvest in the business.
So does it come down to the old adage of location, location, location?
I am delighted to say that the new building puts us in a completely different standing in the sense that we now have an excellent location; possibly the prime location in the city. It has got all the facilities that a major school requires: a swimming pool, a full-sized gymnasium, an auditorium, excellent exterior space for sports and transport links. With these facilities and the backing of my company Orbital, where we have the resources available to increase the number of quality teachers and provide the academic and mentoring support for them, we expect the school to go from strength to strength from here on.
What are your student numbers now and where do you perceive them going?
We have on roll about 140 at the moment with some classes being full. The primary classes have got some space in them but these are classes that we only opened at a very late stage. A year ago we thought we had done a deal with the local council to get another, bigger building and we started whetting the appetite of people. Unfortunately that building was then given to a church school. It fell through at the last minute. So even in our present location we have already begun extending through additional primary classes and we have had a lot of interest and people have moved here from other schools during the course of the year. We expect that now that we have the new facilities and we have got the message out clearly that we are a full British international school, the process will continue.
So better facilities, location and a full age range will do that for you, even in times of crisis?
We must emphasise the fact that we are British and that we are taking the British approach to education throughout. Since December British A-levels now officially represent an entré Hungarian university entrance. What this means is that the Ministry of Education is giving very clear guidance to universities in terms of the recognition of A-level grades and points conversion into the Hungarian system. Many of our students have of course entered Hungarian universities - but it was on an individual, ad-hoc basis.
But do students still require a language exam to enter the Hungarian system?
They all speak Hungarian, so they have been more concerned with getting their UK qualifications officially recognised. The interesting point about this school is that it may be small, but it punches above its weight in the sense that we have sent students to some of the best universities in Europe. Imperial College for instance... I was astonished when I saw the list of academic achievements and marvelled at the quality of the universities to which Britannica students had progressed. And this year we have three students in contention for places Cambridge and Oxford, they have had interviews there. So we have already proven ourselves academically.
Where do you think you are going to draw your students from, primarily?
I think the students will come from the host community and from other international communities where they see the fees from the other international schools as too difficult to manage. I believe also that families who might perhaps have considered schools with fewer facilities like Greater Grace, the International Christian School, the International School of Budapest or, even, the British School, because of that big disparity in fees, may now look favourably on a Britannica, British school with greatly enhanced facilities and the high quality of education which Orbital Education demands from all the schools under its control. It is quite important to note that we will not actually compete with American education. We're British.
Where is international education going now? And I am thinking short term with regard to the financial crisis and parents being able to afford tuition fees.
Well I think that private education always suffers less during a recession. You can take the view that of all the things that families are willing to spend money on, education is one that they want to continue to support, if they can possibly do so. The received wisdom is that during tough economic times the very last thing that you want.