Former minister with links to Qatar's royal family buys 'Eton of the North' private school

A leading private school once nicknamed the 'Eton of the North' has been bought by a company co-owned by the former deputy prime minister of Qatar.
Glenalmond College in Perthshire, where fees are up to £54,375 a year for senior boarders, is now in the hands of 35 Education, a company that styles itself as 'a philanthropic education enterprise'.
Fees have been frozen while the school has launched up to 40 awards for subjects such as academic studies, art and design and technology, offering a discount on fees of up to 100 per cent.
The new owner is a joint venture between Professor Basak Akdemir, a Turkish academic and businesswoman, and Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, who served as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister and has links to Qatar's royal family.
Former pupils of the college, a Presbyterian boarding school founded in 1847 by William Gladstone, include the late actor Robbie Coltrane, golfer Carly Booth, and former Scotland rugby player Rob Wainwright.
The move comes as the private sector faces financial turmoil caused by Labour's decision to impose VAT on fees, forcing some closures and leading to fears that state schools will have to accommodate an influx of pupils from fee-paying institutions.
Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs said the news showed the pressures caused by Labour's 'misguided' economic policies that are 'failing to bring in the predicted revenue, costing jobs, letting down pupils and placing extra strain on state schools'.
Professor Akdemir, who will 'closely involved' with the school's curriclum, said a generous investment would bring Glenalmond 'up to standard' over the next two to three years - and there are plans to open a chain of Glenalmond Colleges across the world.
The Sunday Times reported the takeover has prompted concern from some people close to the school who take issue with Qatar's human rights record towards women and the LGBT community.
Falling roll numbers and the financial difficulties common in the private school sector had made the sudden takeover a 'necessary step', insiders claimed.
But Lucy Elphinstone, who has been appointed executive principal of the Glenalmond Schools Group, told the Sunday Times: 'Absolutely no parents or staff or anybody has raised any issues whatsoever.
'And there is no association with his excellency, except that he has given incredibly generously and is president of Glenalmond.
'We have on our governing body the primus of the Episcopalian Church and a second bishop, and they have looked into this very carefully and feel there's going to be no influence.'
Mr Al-Attiyah has been appointed president of the schools group but will not be involved day-to-day.
Ms Elphinstone said that the move might prove to be a model for other fee-paying British schools and she expected more money from the Middle East to be invested in the private system.
She said other schools 'would give anything to be in the position we are in', adding: 'I've had other heads phone me to ask if the professor has a brother or sister who might like to invest in my school, and can you introduce me.'
A statement from the school said a new board had been appointed as part of a 'change in personnel'.
The school's constitution dictates that a descendant of Mr Gladstone and the primus of the Scottish Presbyterian Church must sit on the board.
Professor Akdemir said she had been looking for a school to invest in 'for some time' and chose Glenalmond for its history and 'glorious campus'.
Ms Elphinstone said: 'The raw material, the canvas of the college, is so wonderful, so glorious, and has such potential.
'But, as with all schools, over the past decade it's been harder to attract students. Pressure has come upon our ability to be able to develop and expand in the way that all schools are wanting to in terms of their facilities and their provision.'
Ms Elphinstone, who was headmistress of a school in London where Professor Akdemir sent her daughter, described the takeover's provenance as an 'extraordinary quirk of fate'.
She said: 'I didn't realise that her parents felt they owe this great debt of gratitude to my school, and perhaps to me.'
Professor Akdemir had spent a year looking for the right school to buy and saw Ms Elphinstone's name on the list of governors of Glenalmond.
Ms Elphinstone said: 'It is utterly miraculous. I am a Christian and I do believe this was an act of God ... The staff live on campus and with the pupil numbers going down, they were thinking, 'Is it going to be OK?''

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