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Alex Gilbert combines his work in international finance with a busy family life – and still finds time to keep up with his old QE friends.

Alex (OE 1990–1995), who has a background in “cleantech” venture capital and low-carbon development, is an Investment Manager at Amber Green, the sustainable investment brand of the global Amber Infrastructure Group.

With a first-class degree in Economics and a Masters in Advanced Energy and Environmental Studies (Distinction) from the Centre for Alternative Technology in Powys, mid-Wales, Alex has worked in the arenas of energy and low-carbon for 16 years across investment, sales and consultancy. He joined Amber in 2011, where he was given responsibility for sourcing new investment opportunities.

He has primarily focused on Amber’s successfully deployed JESSICA Funds (funds for Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas, an initiative of the European Commission developed with the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank), which include the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) and the Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres (SPRUCE). “Amber is the Fund Manager for £200m of capital across three of these sustainable investment vehicles, which match government money with private-sector capital to deliver public infrastructure, regeneration and green energy projects across the UK.”

His work involves investment opportunity origination, transaction execution and compliance reporting. Alex is responsible for project management, pipeline development and asset management. He is also in regular communication with London’s developers and sponsors of district heating, energy efficiency and renewables schemes.

Married with a daughter aged seven and a four-year-old son, Alex enjoys sport and travel. He has run and captained two football club and twice represented Great Britain in the European Maccabi Games – the largest Jewish sports event in the continent. He is also a regular and competitive cyclist and triathlete, as well as being a fully qualified nutritionist, with an Advanced Diploma in Nutrition.

He regularly speaks at national and international industry seminars on energy and has given his time and expertise to assess opportunities for the Social Enterprise Investment Fund of Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm connected to The Big Issue street newspaper.

“I am still very much in contact with my school-mates,” says Alex. In fact, he has met fellow OEs several times during the autumn, adding: “We have our next ‘QE Exiles’ quarterly drinks on December 22nd.”

Alex has recently re-established contact with the School, visiting Headmaster Neil Enright and coming to this term’s Year 11 Careers Convention as one of the OEs giving careers advice to boys and their parents.

Two Old Elizabethan friends returned to their alma mater to recount an inspirational story of success in the face of extreme adversity.

Johan Byran, who is a successful London GP, has from the age of 18 struggled with the painful and debilitating condition of rheumatoid arthritis, yet this year he completed one of the toughest endurance challenges of them all – the Marathon Des Sables, a 156-mile ultra-marathon across the Sahara Desert.

He was filmed throughout the race by his QE contemporary, Johnny Ho (1997–2004), a professional film-maker who has recently secured investment to complete a documentary about the adventure, to be entitled Grit.

They came to the School to deliver a lecture to senior boys in assembly. The pair addressed themes of taking on challenges, of being resilient – a quality that comes from the experience of testing yourself in uncomfortable environments – and of needing to draw intelligently on the support of a team around you.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Johan and Johnny’s account was truly inspiring: I trust our boys will have taken to heart the message that if they have the belief, the persistence and the determination, they, too, can achieve extraordinary things.”

Johan works in a conglomerate of doctors’ practices in Enfield, which is innovating by taking healthcare into the community in places such as gyms. Having been a photographer, Johnny now makes videos, with a portfolio that includes music videos and corporate work for major firms.

Although he continued with his studies and eventually qualified as a doctor, Johan’s condition, which first developed in the summer holidays after he left QE, quickly left him unable to accomplish basic tasks such as getting dressed, nor would he shake people’s hands because it hurt too much. Moreover, the condition took a mental and emotional, as well as a physical, toll. In response, Johan wanted to prove that he could still conquer big challenges.

“I initially had a failure mind-set, but moved to a growth mind-set, where I saw failures as challenges. I decided to do things that I found hard and compete against myself, not others.”

So he took up long-distance cycling, scuba-diving and marathon-running. And while he did not see himself as competing with fellow participants, he did draw inspiration from them, such as his companion on a bike ride from London to Barcelona – a man who had cystic fibrosis and was on the lung transplant register.

He progressed from multiple marathons to Iron Man events, to running 100km to Brighton for his stag celebrations, and ultimately to the Marathon Des Sables. “It was absolutely awful… really hard… and then, for the documentary, after ten hours on the go, Johnny would ask ‘Can we do that last bit again?’ No! But it was part of the process. I had to follow a routine each day, including the filming. It provided structure.

“A lot of the time you were on your own in the desert with a map and some markers, and you have to draw on everything you have.” He likened it to the feeling of isolation around examinations when your classmates are no longer there and you have got to do it yourself.

A huge physical challenge for Johan, the event was also tough for Johnny. He had never actually made a documentary before, so had to learn the specific skills involved, as well as coping with 50-degree-plus heat and the challenges posed by sand, including occasional sand storms, which caused problems with the camera equipment. This required plenty of problem-solving along the way.

He, too, drew inspiration from what he saw: “As humans we like things that are comfortable, but these guys are in a place where no one would feel comfortable. But to learn and be successful you have to put yourself in these positions.”

Johnny showed a trailer of the film to the boys and made clear how appropriate its title, Grit, is, given the way Johan had overcome his difficulties.

He also spoke about not needing to know what you want to do when at school and the merits of taking a different path from the norm. Johnny took Photography at A-level at QE, taught by Alison Lefteri, who is still in the School’s Art department. “Trust in your own beliefs and what you are interested in – it doesn’t matter if it’s not like what others are doing. Opportunities will arise,” he told the boys. He found a passion for photography, developing his skills and discovering an interest in documentary-style photography at university. Eventually, however, he moved into film and found he loved that even more.

Johan reinforced Johnny’s advice, saying: “Never look to the side of you, as you’ll only end up keeping up [with others] – you should look ahead of you.” He added that “arbitrary markers of grades or salary are not important for life satisfaction”. Nor was natural aptitude necessarily essential for achieving fulfilment, he said, claiming not to be a great marathon-runner: “I tended only to run when on camera!” Instead, what was important was self-belief – without it, he simply would not be able to run marathons.

Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Demis Hassabis has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for “services to science and technology”.

The announcement came in the same week as an interview with Demis (OE 1988–1990) by Prince Harry was broadcast on BBC Radio Four’s flagship Today programme, which the prince was guest-editing.

Demis is the co-founder and chief executive of DeepMind, which recently announced that its supercomputer program, AlphaGo, had taught itself to become the world’s best player of the ancient strategy game, Go, without any guidance from human beings.

Responding to news of the CBE, he told the BBC he was “very proud” of his team at DeepMind. “This is recognition of the immense contribution they have already made to the world of science and technology, and I’m excited about the potential for many more breakthroughs and societal benefit in the years ahead,” he said.

DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014 for a reported £400 million. Demis told Prince Harry that DeepMind’s workforce has gone from around 100 at that time to more 700 today, adding that there are over 60 nationalities and more than 400 PhDs inside the company.

“It’s really the biggest collection of brainpower anywhere in the world on this topic,” he said. “And it’s happening right here in King’s Cross so I’m very proud of that.”

Topics broached by the prince included the ethical implications of AI and what DeepMind is doing to ensure that the benefits of AI extend to all humanity. He also asked him why he has decided to keep DeepMind in London.

Demis said: “I’m a proud born-and-bred Londoner. I love London and Britain and I think that I have always believed that we have top talent here. We have world-leading universities and it just requires, I think, the ambition and the drive to actually really try and create a deep technology company like Deepmind. And I always felt it could be done in London.

“But I was told at the beginning when we were starting up that we were crazy and that we should go to Silicon Valley and that that was the only place that you could build these types of companies. I think we proved that wrong. Even when we got bought by Google, I insisted that we would stay in London and build the research team here.”

DeepMind has two floors in Google’s London headquarters, as well as smaller offices in California and Canada.

With global competition for AI talent fierce, DeepMind’s hiring frenzy has not come cheap. The company spent £104.8 million on “staff costs and other related costs” last year, according to a document filed with Companies House in October, reported Sam Shead, of American finance and business website, Business Insider.

The website added that DeepMind made a loss of £164 million in total in 2016, a significant increase on the £54 million loss it posted in 2015. However, the company brought in revenue for the first time in 2016, recording a turnover of £40 million. The turnover relates to DeepMind’s projects with Google.

Jonathan Kruger’s plans to use technology to “reinvent” the fashion industry have been drawing attention from investors and journalists alike.

His company, The Drop, started trading only in April this year, but has already secured £250,000 in ‘pre-seed’ funding from venture capitalists Forward Partners and has also featured in the business pages of The Times. Jonathan (OE 2000–2007) expects to secure further investment of around £1.5m soon.

“We launched with a simple website and now we are using the investment we have already received to make it better and better, adding new features as often as twice a week. Next year, with the additional investment, we plan to expand into the US.”

Already, the website allows men to submit their measurements with a photograph and browse a range of styles before ordering made-to-measure suits from £299. They can then have them delivered anywhere in the world in two weeks. The suits are laser-cut and then hand-finished.

But, says Jonathan, that is just the start: “It’s not really a suit business. We are changing the way that clothing is made, discovered and bought and addressing each stage of the process. We looked at what is wrong with the fashion industry and we want to reinvent it, to disrupt the high street and the traditional retail structures.”

The inspiration came from a couple of years he spent working in Shanghai, where he set up a clothing company supplying big retailers. He told The Times journalist of his dismay at the wastage of natural resources and the damage done to human lives by the way the supply chain worked. Retailers would typically order a range six to 12 months in advance, with the clothing produced in very large quantities but in a limited range of styles and in limited sizing.

“We would be manufacturing dresses for $7, selling them for $11 and then they’d turn up in the shops at a few hundred quid. We saw lots of big retailers buying 20,000 of something and then deciding they don’t want it after it’s been produced. As consumers, we pay for this waste with our wallets.”

The Drop commissions a number of high-tech factories in the Far East to make its clothing. “It’s mass personalisation to replace mass production and fast fashion,” said Jonathan. “We only produce what we need, so we are building a fashion business that is not only better for the customer, but better for the world.”

Jonathan, who is The Drop’s chief executive officer, met his co-founder, Stephen Stroud, one-and-a-half years ago. Stephen is a software engineer and is The Drop’s chief technology officer. “We are building a platform which is AI-led: it uses machine learning to understand what you like to wear and how you like things to fit,” says Jonathan. The workforce at The Drop is being expanded as the business grows. “We should be a team of seven in the next couple of months.”

Jonathan took a degree in Politics at Sheffield after leaving QE, graduating in 2010. During his spell in Shanghai from 2010 to 2012, he helped establish and then manage a Chinese sales team for a UK-based trading company.

In the run-up to the end of the autumn term, Jonathan came as a speaker to QE’s Young Entrepreneurs Club in the Main Hall. Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We really enjoyed his excellent presentation and eight key messages for aspiring entrepreneurs.” These were:

1. 1. Don’t play it safe and don’t be afraid to fail;
   2. Always hustle:
   3. Think big and go big;
   4. Success takes time;
   5. Be stubborn on vision but flexible on details;
   6. Don’t let vanity make you lose focus;
   7. When starting out, no job is beneath you;
   8. Be humble enough to ask for help.

Leke Abolade is helping to inspire future generations of black Oxford University students through a new graduate alumni network.

The Oxford Black Alumni Network, which numbers more than 200 members, aims to connect black Oxford graduates from across the generations as well as inspiring current and future alumni “to fight for their causes and achieve common goals”, as its website puts it.

Leke (OE 2004–2011) was among a small group of members who were pictured at its launch – an image reproduced by major media outlets, including the Evening Standard and The Voice.

“The photoshoot was organised by members of the network, myself included, which has been created to highlight the inspiring and varied endeavours of Oxford alumni of black African and Caribbean heritage across fields including entrepreneurship, academia, and careers in the City, Law, media, tech, the arts and sports,” he says.

Naomi Kellman, the network’s co-chair, who took a PPE degree in 2011, told the Evening Standard: “There is still a concern among black students that if they apply, they might be the only one — they might think Oxford is not for ‘people like me’. But we want to show that’s not true. There is a long history of black students at Oxford doing well and being happy.”

After leaving QE, where he had enjoyed rugby with the Second XV, as well as singing in the Chamber Choir and playing with the Senior Strings, Leke went up to St Catherine’s College to read Engineering. In his four years in Oxford, he threw himself fully into student life, belonging to the university’s Amateur Boxing Club as well as its African Caribbean Society, Energy Society and Engineers Without Borders. He was also involved in St Catherine’s rugby, in the college choir and in a musical production, Chutney and Chips.

“Oxford was a fantastic educational experience and I want to ensure that prospective black students can believe this will be true for them as well,” he said.

Since graduating in 2015, he has worked in various roles, including a spell in the Osney Thermo-Fluids Laboratory within Oxford’s engineering faculty. Leke has spent most of 2017 working as a software developer with LexisNexis – a US company that works especially with law firms and other organisations operating in the legal sphere.

He is now carrying the objectives that inspired the formation of the new network into his professional life as well.  “Last year I began a career as a software developer and found myself in an industry that, like Oxford, has problems of under-representation,” he said. His response has been to volunteer as a coach in his spare time for Codebar – a non-profit initiative that runs programming workshops in a safe and collaborative environment to improve career opportunities for under-represented communities in technology.

Old boy Aaron Tan stressed the importance of seizing opportunities as they become available when he spoke to QE’s Entrepreneurs’ Club.

His very varied career has taken him all over the world and into widely differing business sectors. Aaron (OE 1996–2003) recounted his experiences, which range from successfully running his family’s restaurant business to training people in the Far East in presentation skills.

Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala said: “His insight as an entrepreneur was extremely beneficial, especially as the talk was run more like a lesson in business, with the use of real-life examples. He spoke of how easy it is to start a business and gave the basics on how to do this and then build upon it. It was very inspiring for the boys.”

After leaving QE in 2003, Aaron went to university in Manchester, where he studied Business with Marketing Specialism.  He then worked briefly in a road reinstatement company, where in his first three months he negotiated the payment of a £120k debt that was owed to the company.

He went on to spend six years with a multinational aerospace and defence company, before leaving to take over the family restaurant due to his mother getting ill. He managed to make a success of this family business.

Since then, Aaron has opened a photography studio and become a part-time lecturer at the University of Greenwich, as well as a presentation skills trainer: he has helped people in the UK, Vietnam and Malaysia. In addition, he is currently collaborating with others on several ventures, ranging from an educational ‘app’ aimed at GCSE students to an image consulting business which he will be starting soon.

The topics covered included valid reasons for starting a business and the attributes an entrepreneur needs to achieve success. “Stay humble and do not just chase money because that alone won’t help you be successful,” Aaron advised the boys.

He borrowed freely from a number of sources of business wisdom and included in his presentation a quotation from Sir Richard Branson, perhaps the country’s most famous entrepreneur: “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

Mr Uduwawala said: “I think Aaron has lived by that – he has taken on many opportunities and those risks that he has been willing to take have made him very successful.”