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Justin Benson, currently Head of Admissions at King Edwards School in Guildford has had a really colourful past. Brought up in Africa, he met future test cricket players such as Derek Pringle and Alan Donald and from there relocated to Cambridge, UK where he studied at St Faith's and then the famous Leys School. It was at the Leys that Justin realised that he had quite a cricket talent, to such an extent that he left school before completing his A'levels, played for Cambridgeshire and then trialled and was accepted to play for Leicestershire CC. Whilst at Leicestershire he played with some of most well known and famous English and overseas cricketers such as the fearsome Devon Malcolm, David Gower, Jonathan Agnew, Neil Foster and Phil "Daffy" De Freitas, not to mention Waqar Younis and his "toe-crushing" inswinging yorkers! After a distinguished career Justin went on to play for his beloved Ireland before hanging up his whites in 1993 to work at his former school The Leys.

In this episode of The English Breakfast I speak with Justin about his career, the magnificent work that King Edwards does with vulnerable children, regrets, school and pints of beer in Cambridge!

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It's not that common for me to have the opportunity to speak to someone who is as passionate as me about indie rock music, marketing and schools and so it gives me great pleasure to speak to Jane Flynn Blondel on the latest episode of The English Breakfast.

Like all my guests, Jane has had a full and facinating career that took her from university in Edinburgh, to Hong Kong, Singapore and South East Asia and back to the UK again, where she currently works as Head of Marketing for The National Mathematics and Science College or NatMatSci as it is affectionately called. In that time she has started her own record label, Records for Children, her own music promotion company, Songs for Children and promoted some of the biggest names in the indie rock scene such as Dinosaur Jr, The Libertines, Happy Mondays, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive and Swervedriver.

I talk to Jane about life in Hong Kong and her experiences with the people from these bands - J Mascis, Pete Docherty, Bez and Sean Ryder to name but a few and how she came to be the go-to girl for bands wishing to play in Asia. A really facinating insight into the life of a seasoned and passionate music promoter.

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In this month's episode of The English Breakfast I have the pleasure of speaking to Alex Tait, former Barnard Castle student and professional rugby player of Newcastle Falcons with caps also gained for England U-21's and U-19's.
There is no doubt that his time at Barnard Castle School (which incidentally is one of Study UK's partner schools) provided Alex not only with a love for rugby but over and above this the tools, business nous and wherewithal to go further once his professional career was over.
In this interview we talk about a wealth of things including the start of Alex's career whilst at school, the sacrifices he and his parents made to help him fulfil his dream, his time with Newcastle, working with the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and coach collosas Dean Richards, and then his retirement and subsequent founding of his own financial planning startup.
What was it like having a younger brother who also played for England? Was there any sibling rivalry? Why were they known as Itchy and Scratchy?
Find out all in this episode of The English Breakfast.

You can find out more about Alex here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-tait-5282b583/ or you can also write to him to find out more about Barnard Castle School or his financial planning company, PWM at: alextait@pwmdirect.co.uk