29 September 2025
We’re delighted to announce our partnership with Andrew Lewer MBE, who will be supporting us with the delivery of our new governance advisory offering to schools and further education institutions.
Andrew has a strong reputation in the independent education sector; he has served as an independent school governor, written for several publications – including sitting on the Editorial Board of Independent School Management Plus – and holds a number of other senior roles in the sector. He also served as a Member of Parliament and MEP, where he founded and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Independent Education, and sat on the Education Select Committee. He has also served as a County Council Leader, a university governor, Deputy Chairman and Vice-President of the Local Government Association and the Chairman of an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As part of Andrew’s onboarding process, we caught up with him to ask a few questions about his background and how he will be partnering with AQ.
How has your experience as an MP, MEP and County Council Leader, particularly your time on the education committee, shaped your understanding of governance challenges in the independent school’s sector, and what drew you to specialising in governor body reviews?
The breadth of governance models and personalities I have encountered has led to some insight into how structure – on the one hand – and personality types – on the other – relate to one another and determine success or failure (or quite often simply indifferent performance that neither excels nor leads to disaster).
I am a people person, and I have unashamedly always been more comfortable in committees or as a member of a board (and I have been on over twenty), rather than in the more conventionally confrontational formats that over twenty years of elected office have exposed me to. Collaboration, finding common ground and developing a vision by working together have been at the heart of my working life for several decades now and these are approaches that lend themselves to school governance review work especially well.
One experience which is perhaps the most relevant of all was my nine years as a university governor at the University of Derby. There I was able to see the importance of constructive contributions within the governing body structure. I could see how a particular cohort of governors were able to make their views known and have significant influence upon the direction of the university. I could see equally how others did not this, despite often possessing skills that would have been highly beneficial to the university but were not fully utilised. This also led to reflections about the nature of subcommittees and how they relate to the main governing body.
The interaction between the numerous subcommittees of bodies which I have either served on, chaired or led – and what works and what does not – is something that I am particularly keen to bring to bear in the governance reviews that Anderson Quigley will be undertaking.
What made you choose to partner with AQ for this work, and how does their executive search expertise complement your parliamentary and educational background in delivering comprehensive governance reviews?
Anderson Quigley is a good match for me in terms of my ambition to strengthen governance in the independent sector and to protect as much of that sector as possible. I want to get the best out of the people who put their time, energy and skills into the school that they are a governor of.
I am an independent school governor myself, so my passion for this goes way beyond just regarding it as a job. AQ is a relatively new entrant into the sector but draws upon significant experience in related sectors such as state education and Academy Trusts, higher education (both universities and colleges) and also the NHS. AQ reminds me of the slogan that Avis Rent-A-Car used in the 1960s: “We are number two in car rentals, so we try harder”. I think the hunger that a new entrant into the sector has is appealing, but the experience and breadth of knowledge that AQ are drawing into their governance review team balances this out.
Although the company is new to governance, those working for it most certainly are not, and that is a particularly agreeable combination. I bring to this mix a very long standing commitment to the sector, experience and knowledge of a significant number of schools and their leaders and therefore the ability to compare and contrast the methods that those schools have used to be and remain successful.
Drawing from your combined experience with AQ’s methodology, what are the most common strategic and compliance challenges you encounter with governing bodies, and why is addressing these issues so critical for school leadership?
The challenges that governing bodies in independent education face are twofold.
One is the financial sustainability of the organisation and its ability to plan for the future; the need to react to the serious challenges of the current time (such as VAT, National Insurance and the general economic under-performance of the country). There is a need to be prepared to accept that those challenges are likely to be with us for a significant time; schools must not take the approach that this is some temporary storm to be weathered for a year or two.
Secondly is the need for financial resilience – and developing a realistic vision with the appropriate skill sets that are necessary to do that – comes compliance. Regulatory requirements, the inspection regime of the Independent Schools Inspectorate and compliance are far more onerous than they once were. However, there is an important dual message in that: Of course, it is important for schools to be compliant with the relevant regulatory regime both for legal and reputational reasons, but it is equally important that governing bodies do not regard regulatory compliance as the only – or indeed the main – job that they have to undertake. To take the approach that if all of your forms and folders are in order, everything is OK. It is not.
That is why I am particularly pleased AQ have developed a model of governance review that takes compliance seriously, but does so not with box-ticking, clipboard-wielding checkers, but with dynamic individuals. Experienced individuals who have made regulations and compliance work for them, or at least do not get in their way when developing and delivering an optimistic and exciting plan for the future of their school. This understanding, at a very deep level, of regulatory and compliance issues combined with market dynamism means that AQ’s outlook on the sector are well suited to the challenges of the times and the need for good quality governance.
Given your unique perspective and AQ’s sector expertise, how do you help independent schools navigate the increasing complexity of risk management and skills assessment whilst maintaining their educational mission and values?
I care deeply about this sector. I founded and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Independent Education for over seven years and was its champion in public life. I was absolutely determined to work in the sector, post-politics, and do so in a way that makes the maximum possible use of my skills. In my view that is achieved by having a significant role within AQ’s emerging governance services section.
Whilst it is undoubtedly true that there is a highly increased level of complexity to the sector nowadays, it is equally important to ensure that this does not put off good quality governors with skills and enthusiasm to offer.
One of the purposes of a good quality governance review is not only to provide challenge but also to provide reassurance. Furthermore a good review will provide tools to enable people to satisfy themselves that they are running the school in a compliant fashion. Enabling them to not be so overwhelmed by both the volume and the level of concern over compliance that the core purposes of the school are lost sight of: Great education for young people. Providing either academic high flying excellence or education in under-offered areas of the educational landscape such as special needs education. These must remain at the heart of what governors do and feel that they contributing towards.
Throughout my career in public service, I have often seen people with good ideas, people with enthusiasm, be either bogged down or tune out altogether from bringing those ideas to fruition. In that sense, some of the disappointments, some of the lack of delivery that I have seen at a national and at a European level of governance provide me with good models of what to avoid, as well as on other occasions good models of how to proceed in the future. Organisations, as well as people, can learn from their mistakes, but it is even better if we can bring the mistakes other organisations have made into our pool of experience to ensure that those organisations we work with now do not fall into the same traps.
Independent Schools: Evolving for Future Success
If you’d like to find out more about Anderson Quigley governance advisory support, which Andrew has partnered with us to deliver, please contact Helene Usherwood at helene.usherwood@andersonquigley.com.
