Sir James Hill Bt OBE DL
Chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, Sir James Hill, spent from 1962 until 1964 studying a ‘Spinners Special’ at the Bradford Institute of Advanced Technology and also doing City & Guilds courses in the Textile Department of the Technical College.
Sir James has had an extensive and successful career
in textiles, travel, transport, and energy related
companies, but now devotes much of his time to
voluntary and charitable activities, in particular in the
health, disability and education sectors in the Bradford
and West Yorkshire area. Sir James is a 4th Baronet
and was awarded an OBE in 2000 and an honorary
doctorate from the University of Bradford in 1997. He
is also a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.
Sir James Hill is Chairman of the Specialist Schools
and Academies Trust, has been a member of the
SSAT’s Council since 2003, and previously held
the role of Deputy Chairman. He is also Chair of
the Board of Governors at Dixons City Academy,
Bradford, and Co-Chair of the Academies and Colleges
Association. He has held a variety of roles in further
and higher education in West Yorkshire.
“I stood for President of the Students’ Union and
borrowed my father’s Bentley to go round canvassing.
It was probably a bit like the current controversy of ‘toffs’ standing for parliament! I lost on a postal vote
from students at McMillan.
I remember some of us used to access the roof above
what was then the new lecture theatre for swotting
and more often, sunbathing. We would lean over the
roof and throw paper darts at girls below and when
we spied the ice cream man, one of us would make
his way down through a lecture in progress, returning
with ice creams.
We used to go for frothy coffees and cheese
sandwiches in between lectures and if it was a fairly
quiet day we would skip classes and sneak off to the
Asoldo Cinema on Manningham Lane where they
showed X rated movies. We would sit there sheepishly
watching what must be very tame films by today’s
standards but featuring topless girls. When the lights
came up and we looked round we saw about 100
students and some of the younger lecturers!
I did the C&G 2 year course but that didn’t give you
the qualification as it took 3 years, so 5 of us signed
up to an extra course which was mainly evenings and
day release. We quickly worked it out that if one of
us in turn attended 1 class in 5 and copied the notes
for the others, we got a lot of nights off!
We also had
practical sessions. I got some wool from my company,
scoured it, carded it, proccessed it and my friend Bill,
who did spinning and weaving, helped me. Something
went wrong in the finishing which meant that what
was meant to be a smart dark blue suit had to be
dyed black. It became the black morning suit I got
married in!”
Photograph supplied by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust