A NORTH-EAST business leader who has sponsored some of the country’s most successful academies has announced he is handing over his schools’ foundation after more than two decades in education.

Sir Peter Vardy opened Emmanuel College in Gateshead and went on to sponsor three more schools, including The King’s Academy in Middlesbrough – all among the successful in the country.

He said last night he had completed his task and reached agreement with the Board of the United Learning Trust (ULT), to join Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) and its four schools with ULT.

ULT, a subsidiary of the United Church Schools Trust (UCST) is the largest sponsor of schools in the UK with 17 Academies – and Mr Vardy assured the North-East schools it would be business as usual in good hands.

Sir Peter became involved in education when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Education Secretary Kenneth Baker invited him to build a “Beacon of Educational Excellence”

under their City Technology College (CTC) initiative in the late 1980s.

He later became involved in former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s City Academy programme.

Sir Peter, who spent 40 years turning around failing companies to build a world-class motor retail business, said: “Both the CTC and City Academy initiatives are great examples of what can be achieved when business leaders from the private sector bring their experience and expertise into public sector activities.

“I was delighted to be invited to use my experience to help transform education in areas where young people had previously been let down.”

He added: “We have built outstanding new facilities and recruited exceptional leaders and inspirational teachers for each school.

“We have asked for strong discipline so students and staff can work in a calm and safe environment, and we have won the support of our parents.

“This has all led to enormous improvements in results and behaviour. We were asked to be ‘turnaround specialists’ and in that sense we have completed our task.”

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “I am enormously grateful to Sir Peter Vardy for the fantastic contribution that he and his organisation have made to the Academies programme.

“His work has helped to transform the life chances of thousands of children in the North of England.”