Old Princethorpians

Two brothers and former Head Boys, Suki and Ek Samra, returned to Princethorpe on 18 July 2009 to celebrate the birthdays of two of their children together with their families and friends, including some fellow Old Princethorpians.

Suki was a pupil at Princethorpe from 1986 to 1993 during the stewardship of Fathers’ Sweeney and Whelan and headboy during 1992/93. After Princethorpe, Suki studied law at Kings College and is now a partner at law firm, Lester Aldridge, based on the south coast practising property law. Suki’s abiding memory of Princethorpe is “coming from a Sikh background it may seem odd that my parents decided to send me to a Catholic school. However, my parents clearly saw at the outset what I was to experience over the next 7 years. That was an ethos and faith which was aligned with a Sikh upbringing where faith, culture and a way of life are often intertwined. Combined with this was an all round “comprehensive” education. The college managed to get the best out of pupils whether that was through the support and encouragement of the staff, particularly from the likes of Moira Weir, or through the great setting and sense of place. It was the location that brought us back to Princethorpe this year to celebrate my youngest son’s 3rd birthday. As a pupil it is easy to take for granted the excellent setting. The addition of the new Sixth Form Centre overlooking the green down to the former gasworks provides a great facility not only for the current 6th Formers, but also for past pupils who want to hold an event or party there. 

"I made some great friends at Princethorpe, many of whom I am still in touch with. Mark Woods was my best man at my wedding to Michyla 5 years ago and others such as Oli Noble, Jason Rudolf, Chris Clark, John Sutherland, Donald Silcock, Deep Mahida, Dave Grant and Mark Smyth also attended. More recently, I met up with some of these guys and also Mike Knapp in Edinburgh to watch Scotland play rugby against South Africa followed by the usual shananigans you would expect from a group of 30 somethings meeting in a pub at midday and finally hitting the sack in the early hours of the following day!”  

Eqbal (Ek) was a pupil at Princethorpe from 1987 to 1994 and followed in the footsteps of his brother, Suki by taking over as Head Boy during 1993/94.

After Princethrope, Ek studied Accounting and Financial Management at Sheffield University, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2000 and is now an Executive Director within Credit Derivatives at UBS Investment Bank in London.  

“Like my brother, I too have made lasting friendships (some 22 years and counting) with fellow Princethorpians (Amarjit Snehi, Raj Mahal, Parminder Badial, & Vach Jandu), many whom attended to celebrate my daughters second birthday party at the College with their families.  It was good to go around the school with the Old Princethorpians as it brought back such fond memories of our time there.

Princethorpe laid the foundation in succeeding in many aspects of my professional and personal life to date through its ethos of ensuring each individual gives their best, be that academia, music or sporting prowess. 

Images show from left to right OPs Raj Mahal, Suki and Ek Samra and Amarjit Snehi and a view of the party in action.

James was at Princethorpe from 1989 - 1996

After Princethorpe he studied A' levels at Lawrence Sheriff, and then went to Coventry Uni and studied Consumer Product Design.

After qualifying he worked for a professional practice designing stands for exhibitions including the Motorshow.

Says James, "I worked with great people and saw some fantastic things. Won a few best of show awards for Subaru stands then given that the work we were doing was not consistently there and that the owner was thinking of retiring, I decided to enter into something which was more sustainable and guaranteed , namely estate agency. And that's what I have been up to for the past 7 years.

James is currently a senior sales negotiator at Hawkesford in Leamington Spa, "My long term aspiration is to open my own estate agency with a friend in Leamington. 

He would like to hear from other former pupils that have fled further afield, Antony Harvey and Paul Lamb both, he believes working as accountants in New Zealand.

Ruth (1998 - 2005) graduated with a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Fashion Design from the University of Wales, Newport this summer.

After graduating she got offered an internship at the head office with an Australian women's fashion designer called Camilla Franks. Camilla specialises in resort wear and is based on Bondi beach in Sydney. She has stockists all over the world and is recognised as a high end international designer.

This month Ruth is working closely with Camilla to design and launch her first ever swimwear range, due to showcase at Sanctuary Cove Resort on the Gold Coast in February for Australian fashion week. 

She has also been offered job prospects for the coming year, leading onto full time employment if she wishes.
 
Ruth is pictured with fellow OPs sister Rebecca and Chris Griffin.

Sean Hedigan left Princethorpe in late 1988 or early 1989.  

He married his wife Fiona (who is Irish) back in June 2006 and moved to Ireland in the August of 2006 and has been there every since. He is employed by John Sisk And Son Ltd (Ireland’s largest Main Contractor in construction) as a Senior Quantity Surveyor.

He and Fiona were joined by Baby Freya in June of this year and Sean says, "Life could not be any better than it is now !!"

He continues, "I would just like to thank all the staff at Princethorpe who provided me with a solid education which has enabled me to become what I am today. Please pass on my regards to the staff and in particular Fr. Sweeney (Headmaster at the time) and Mr Ketterick (Form Tutor, Geography Teacher and Careers Advisor (who actually directed me into becoming a Quantity Surveyor), hoping that they have not left or that they are still in contact with Princethorpe College and that they are still with us.