international engagement; with Brigadier Johnny Walker, among a succession of presidents of the Alleyn Club (now the Old Alleynian Association); with successive Chairs of the Friends of Dulwich College; with Aidan Potter, our master planner from John McAslan, and Jolyon Brewis, our lead architect from Grimshaw; with Fraser White, Founding Chairman of Dulwich International; John Major, CEO at the Dulwich Estate; and – not least – with Helen Hayes MP and a raft of local councillors, who were not used to being wooed and wowed by a representative of the independent school sector. At a dinner to thank Simon for his loyal service at Dulwich earlier this term, I suggested that four wood engravings from our Dulwich 400 collection with which we presented him captured four important aspects of his work here: rescue, improvement, realisation and enhancement. The four pieces were Ann Desmet’s engraving of the Great Hall roof, which Simon rescued when it might have been that ‘the Centre [Block] could not hold’; Gaylord Schani-
lec’s engraving of The Clump, at the heart of an ever-im- proving landscape; Sue Scullard’s James Caird, as a memento of The Laboratory Simon helped us realise; and Neil Bousfield’s evocative engraving of Dulwich pupils and staff standing around the War Memorial at the one time in the year at which we bring the enhanced community together (at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month). In celebrating Simon, it is important to recognise the role his wife, Nel, sometime librarian of James Allen’s Girls’ School, played in her own right as an always willing, active and supportive member of the Dulwich community. Simon, the historian who lived in Engineer’s Cottage, will be remembered for the way he broke down artificial divisions between people and interests. We wish him and Nel all the very best in all their subsequent enterprises, and hope to welcome them back to the College often, to celebrate Simon’s significant part in the progress of our school’s story. ◎
Simon Yiend By Joseph Spence
Simon, Dulwich College’s first Chief Operating Officer, made an extraordinary contribution to the life of the College over 12 years in post. His impact was felt imme- diately, grew as time passed and continued unabated through our 400th anniversary in 2019 and over the course of the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. The Merchant Taylors’ school-
of The Laboratory) that emanates from them just before twilight. The Great Hall, as the jewel in the crown of the buildings, was a particular focus for exceptional conser- vation and restoration work: the roof has been sealed, while a new lighting design shows off the marbling of the columns and the 16 Honours Boards. With work on the Barry Buildings complete, Simon turned his attention to master planning and landscaping, and the sure and steady improvement of the whole campus. The Laboratory, on which he worked closely with Grim- shaw Architects, was designed to complement the Barry Buildings, but not in a deferential way: the buildings marry the innovative and the traditional, as we hope a Dulwich education does. The Laboratory was also designed to be what it has become: an exceptional home for science, and a wonderful venue for the arts and the community. It came in on time and on budget, as did almost every one of the projects Simon oversaw. However, the key to Simon’s success as COO was that he was so much more than an Estates Manager. Along- side the work he did to enhance our built environment was his work improving community relations, working with particular focus and energy on travel planning and the sustainability agenda. To make a difference in these spheres, Simon needed to build strong working relation- ships, internally and externally, that could withstand initial disagreements as to means or ends. If part of Simon’s success was based on tangible achieve- ments, then the other part of it was about creating and sustaining a series of nuanced working relationships, based on mutual trust and camaraderie. I was a major beneficiary of his trust and comradeship, and those of us who worked closely with him can also reflect that Simon established excellent relationships with his three Chairs of Governors; his Chairs of the Prop & Ops Committee; with two fine leaders of our Finance Office and, by extension, with Graham Ward, over the course of his long tenure as Chair of Finance; with Bunt Ghosh as he oversaw our
boy who sent his own sons to independent schools on bursaries understood us – our educational vision and social mission – from the start. The headhunters who first brought Simon to our attention wondered whether he was right for a job in a school: he’s a big personality who wears his heart on his sleeve and who achieves by following his aims with energy, and eggs will be broken. However, with his background in the Army, the Church, the charitable sector and industry, Simon had undertaken the perfect preparation for work in a school that is also a charity, a major player in its community and an interna- tional business. After Simon’s appointment, our first meeting was over breakfast at McDonald’s next to Goodge St tube station on Tottenham Court Road. Of course, it could as easily have been at the Cavalry & Guards Club. Simon would have been equally comfortable in either of these settings. That’s also why he was right for Dulwich. Simon’s early work at Dulwich was rescue work. Between 2011 and 2014 he oversaw a multi-million-pound in- vestment in the Barry Buildings to ensure that they were secure, safe and fit for purpose. This work completed, he went to work again with the goal of ensuring that the buildings were as pristine as they had been upon their construction in the 1860s in time for our quatercentenary in 2019. The exterior was cleaned and renovated and re- ally showed off that ‘Dulwich glow’ (to quote the architect
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