We are delighted to hear that one of our former students has very recently been invited to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE. 

Robert Cashmore MBE completed his Sixth Form studies at Barr Beacon School in 2002.  He studied AS level Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Business & Economics, Geography and History.  He pursued Mathematics, Business & Economics and Geography into year 2 and finished his school years with a fantastic set of A level results – grades AAB.  He continued with his academic learning and has many achievements under his belt.  He is currently working for London based Octopus Investments as their Global Institutional Distribution Director for the Middle East.

Here is Robert’s story:

“Since finishing Barr Beacon I have completed two undergraduate degrees, one from the London School of Economics and the other from the University of Cambridge.  Following that I completed a Masters Degree at the University of Oxford. I have lived in a number of different countries.

I spent five years in the City of London working for a number of investment banks, including UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  Prior to Octopus, I was a senior British diplomat specialising in Gulf investment into the UK.  I spent four years as the UK Government’s Head of Investment for Saudi Arabia and two years as the Director for Investment Middle East, based in the United Arab Emirates.  During my time here, I played a leading role in securing the £10bn UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership.  I received an MBE in the 2020 Queen’s Honours list for services to UK Trade and Investment.

Last week I was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive my MBE from HRH Princess Anne.”

We offer our congratulations to Robert for all his successes following on from his hard work and dedication.  We are thrilled to be in contact with him and look forward to inviting him into school to work with our current students.