NEWS IN BRIEF
Prue Leith steps down as QMU’s Chancellor
Our much-loved entrepreneur, and star judge on The Great British Bake Off (GBBO) series, has stepped down from the role of Chancellor of QMU, after seven years of dedicated service.
Dame Prue Leith CBE was installed in the role of Chancellor in July 2017, and has made a significant contribution to the institution over the years.
As a writer, restauranteur and cookery expert, Prue brought a wide range of skills and knowledge to the role and was always enthusiastic to find out about University initiatives and developments. Drawing on her varied and successful career in business, hospitality, food education and TV, she was highly entertaining and very generous with her time when it came to sharing stories of her career journey and enthusing our students about entrepreneurship.
Although it is always a treat to see the QMU Chancellor beamed into our living rooms on one of the UK’s most popular TV shows, Prue is so much more than just a TV personality. She has a hugely impressive track record – building a business from scratch, which grew to become Leith’s Good Food, the party and event caterer; and founding Leith’s School of Food and Wine, which trains professional chefs and amateur cooks.
She paved the way for more female appointments on industry boards and in public life, having held non-executive director positions in organisations such as British Rail, Whitbread, and Belmond. Having spent 11 years as a judge on The Great British Menu, and now six years on GBBO, as well as countless prime time appearances on a variety of TV shows, she has become a household name across the UK and well beyond!
Although Prue is in her 80s, she’s not slowing down or shying away from challenging projects. During recent visits to QMU, she told us about new businesses that she’s set afloat, and she recently progressed her involvement with the Dignity in Dying campaign with an investigation into assisted dying that was broadcast on Channel 4.
During her time as Chancellor, Prue has brought energy and positivity to her role, and to the many events in which she has taken part. She’s interacted with school pupils, students and their families, graduates and staff. We will miss her straight talking attitude, and, of course, her graduation speeches. However, she won’t feel far away. We can continue to enjoy watching her TV appearances, reading her newspaper columns and novels, and taking tips and recipes from some of her fabulous cook books.
There’s no-one quite like the unstoppable Prue Leith. She has been a wonderful ambassador for QMU, and we are hugely grateful for the positive impact she’s made on the QMU community and on the University’s profile.
Free disability resources for schools
QMU is passionate about equality and inclusivity. To help achieve this, positive discussions and activities should be encouraged, starting in primary school classrooms. To make it easier for teachers to kick-start the process, we have launched the Toy Box Diversity Lab website – a series of free resources to help practitioners enhance disability literacy.
Created by academics who have practical experience of working in inclusive education in academia and in the classroom, Dr Siân Jones and Dr Clare Uytman have also launched a new online short course, ‘Disability Confidence for Educational Practitioners’, to help participants develop their diversity and inclusion skills.
Find out more about the Toy Box Diversity Lab at
www.qmutoyboxdiversitylab.com
Preparing QMU graduates for board membership
Last year, we launched a new initiative to further enhance the diversity of the membership of the University Court – the body which governs QMU. The GIVE project has been designed to help those without previous board experience, but who have much to offer in terms of professional experience and expertise, gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to join the University Court.
There was a high volume of interest in the scheme, and we are delighted to have appointed QMU graduate Becky Hope-Palmer as our first GIVE scheme participant. Becky, a freelance theatre director, graduated from QMU in 2022 with a MA Applied Arts and Social Practice. Having worked with different production companies across the UK, she now predominately works at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as a visiting director, as well as on ‘A Play, A Pie and a Pint’ in Glasgow and at Dundee Rep.
In participating in the GIVE scheme, Becky will benefit from formal training and mentoring and observe the work of the University Court and its committees in action, with a view to her joining the University Court as a full member. By facilitating board membership through the GIVE initiative, we are enabling the University to benefit from the rich experience of talented individuals, including our graduates who can help shape the University’s future.
Andrew Lloyd Webber names theatre suite after QMU graduate producer
It’s not every day that someone gets a lounge in one of the UK’s biggest theatres named after them. But that’s what happened to QMU graduate, Michael Harrison, when Andrew Lloyd Webber, the leading West End impresario, dedicated a new bar in the London Palladium to him.
Michael Harrison has an international reputation as a producer of award-winning musicals and pantomimes throughout the UK and across the world. After graduating from QMU in 2001 he has gone on to achieve outstanding success, working with some of the biggest names of stage and screen including Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he formed Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals in 2022 to produce both new musicals and revivals of Andrew’s existing work.
The 44-year-old producer has a string of accolades to his bow, but recently he has been behind Imelda Staunton’s triumph in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ at the London Palladium, as well as her celebrated turn as Rose in a revival of ‘Gypsy’; the ‘Sunset Boulevard’ on Broadway starring Nicole Scherzinger; and ‘The Drifters Girl’; as well as countless other musicals. Towards the end of last year, he directed no less than three pantomimes in Newcastle, Birmingham and at the Palladium, whilst overseeing 22 pantos across the length and breadth of the UK!
The next time we’re in London, we’ll pop into the Harrison Suite to lift a glass in celebration of Michael’s remarkable contribution to the London Palladium’s success over the last decade, and to his wider achievements as an internationally recognised producer