Explore Learning - Corporate Investors
Explore is owned by a group of investors - 2 funds and 7 individuals - who all share a commitment to expanding educational opportunities for children. The largest of these investors are:
Wittington Investments
Wittington is an investment holding company. Its principal investment is a 54.5% stake in Associated British Foods plc, a FTSE 100 listed company. Wittington also owns Fortnum and Mason plc and Heal’s plc, two long-established retail businesses, and has a diversified portfolio of private equity investments including its stake in Explore Learning. Wittington’s principal shareholder is the Garfield Weston Foundation (“GWF”), a general grant-making charity. GWF is one of the UK’s leading donors to educational charities, having given more than £73m to the sector over the last five years.
Guardian Media Group / Kingston Communications
Through the Spectrum Venture Management Fund, GMG and Kingston were among Explore's founding shareholders. Alongside its portfolio of media interests, GMG has an education subsidiary, learn.co.uk, and a long-term commitment to education in the UK.
Sir Peter Ogden
Peter Ogden was the founder of Computacenter. He is a significant education sector philanthropist. Following the flotation of Computacenter, he established the Ogden Trust (see www.ogdentrust.com) with a 25 million GBP donation, to improve educational opportunities for lower income families - principally by providing of Bursaries to attend private schools. He supports a City Technology College and sits on the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). Recently Peter was knighted for his services to education.
Sir Peter Lampl
Peter Lampl is a significant education sector philanthropist. In 1997 he founded the Sutton Trust (www.suttontrust.com) with the aim of providing better educational opportunities for lower income families. Its principal activity is funding Summer Schools at leading universities, targeted at teenagers attending secondary schools with a poor history of sending students to top universities. Peter is a CTC supporter and sits on the SSAT. Recently he was knighted for his services to education.
Peter Freeman
Peter Freeman has had a 30 year career in corporate finance in the natural resources sector, first as a director of Rothschild's Natural Resources Team, then as one of the founders of Warrior International, an investment banking boutique focusing on the mining sector. He is currently one of the partners of Cutfield, Freeman and Company.
Bill Mills
Bill founded Explore in December 2000 in an effort to establish a fun learning environment for primary age children that would be a worthwhile complement to school. Bill has had a lifelong interest in education and was the founder of Brookham School - a pre-prep school for 3 to 7 year olds - in 1991. He is also Chairman and owner of Highfield School, a prep school in Hampshire.
