Leeds Metropolitan University
Summer Graduation 2006
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Winter Graduation 2006 |
Nimble Thompson
Nimble Thompson, Retiring Chair of the Board of Governors has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Leeds Met during Summer Graduation 2006.
Introduced by Claire Morris, Associate Dean and Head of Leeds Law School, as a son of Yorkshire and as a great friend of the Faculty of Business and Law, Nimble said, “Thank you Claire for your kind words. I am honoured, proud and somewhat humbled by this special occasion.
“I have seen some great changes over the last 12 years at Leeds Met and I have had the great chance of following in the footsteps of Leslie Silver.”
Nimble thanked all the staff at the university for making the graduations possible.
He said, “I’ve made some great friends. I’ve had a lot of fun, along with some difficulties and successes.”
Addressing the graduands, he added, “You who are graduating today, sitting with your friends, I want you to promise you will stay in touch with one another. I hope you have as much joy keeping in touch as I did with the friends that I made at university.
“I’d like to publicly thank the Vice-Chancellor for all that he has achieved. I’m especially proud of the work that has been done to this campus. This is a confident, swashbuckling institution…that is making a reality of a world-class regional university with worldwide horizons, using all its talents to the full. I hope you all are and will continue to be proud of this university.
“When you leave university you will be on your own. Although you will have the backing of your family and friends, you will still be on your own. You need a vision for yourself of what you want to achieve. You must have fun and make sure you wake up every day looking forward to it.
“Sometimes you will find yourselves looking over your shoulder at the past, but it’s the future that matters – grab it and enjoy it.
“With a determination to have fun and a certificate from this spectacular institution what more could you want? I wish you all the best from life.
“Finally I would like to thank you very much for this honour which I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
Nimble Thompson has been a member of the Board of Governors of Leeds Met for the past twelve years, and Chair of the Board since 2000. He is a solicitor and former Managing Partner with Eversheds one of the largest legal firms in the world.
Nimble (a nickname coined at university) was brought up in North Yorkshire and educated at Rossall School in Lancashire before going onto read Law at the University of Leeds. He trained in London and returned to Leeds soon after he qualified as a lawyer and joined Hepworth and Chadwick, then one of the biggest lawyers in the North. Unusual for that time he specialised in commercial disputes. Over the years his work took him all over Europe, the United States and Australia and in 1989 was made the Managing Partner. This led to a decade within which he led the firm into the fledgling combination of firms eventually becoming Eversheds. He retired in 1999 as Deputy Chairman and Senior Partner of the Leeds and Manchester offices to do other things ‘before he became too old’.
Nimble is now Chairman of N G Bailey Ltd a privately owned company based in Ilkley with offices all over the UK and employing over 4000 people with a turnover of £490 million. In addition he is a non executive of a number companies and the Scarborough Building Society. He is also regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, Yorkshire and a member of their council, Chairman of EUREKA! the children’s museum in Halifax, a Trustee of Yorkshire Children’s Hospital Fund and Vice-Chairman of Giggleswick School. He has been married and ‘wonderfully’ supported by his wife Morven for the last 36 years.
HONORARY AWARDS 2006
Saturday 22nd July
Friday 21st July
Thursday 20th July
Wednesday 19th July