Remembering Tony Millns, 1951 - 2024
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We are sad to announce that Tony Millns, who brought together the state and private English language teaching associations to form English UK, has died at the age of 73. He leaves his wife, Jill.
Tony, who came to the industry as chief executive of private industry body ARELS, saw the industry would be stronger with a unified campaigning voice and pushed for a merger with BASELT to form English UK in 2004. As chief executive, he led and grew the association through the boom years and increasing policy challenges until his retirement in 2014.
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Thank you so much
At the event marking Tony's retirement, former ARELS chair and former English UK trustee Richard Day said: "He has done so much to raise the profile of English language through our association and we are really grateful for all that he has done. He has taken English UK to the peak of performance through his vision, through his tenacity and though his determination. Tony has the most fantastic memory of anyone I know and a power of logic and argument that's second to none. He has done a huge amount to create the fabric of this organisation of which we are so proud today...thank you so, so much."
How English UK began
Recalling the roots of English UK at a 2009 event, Sue Bromby, former co-chair, said the initial idea of merging the two organisations had come when Tony and BASELT's Nicole la Hausse de Lalouviere were on a trip together in Beijing. "She rushed back and told us about it. She was excited about the name, and we could all see the sense of an organisation which could unite us to campaign," she said.
Inspiration and support
Our current chief executive Jodie Gray, who was originally hired by Tony, said: "He was an enormous inspiration and support to me, as my first 'proper' boss and my friend. He had faith in me, even when I didn't have faith in myself. I completely trusted his judgement, and in doing that, I've learnt how to trust my own. I still often think back to words of advice that he's given me over the years. His impact on my career and life has been nothing short of transformational. I will always remember that."
Jodie was not the only one encouraged by Tony: several of his appointees are still at English UK, furthering his vision by supporting members, promoting the industry and lobbying government.
Tony's big achievements
Highlights of Tony's leadership include taking the government to judicial review – and winning – over imposing new visa restrictions on ELT students without the change being discussed in Parliament. Students coming to study English were required to have skills of at least GCSE level. Saying the regulations were "disproportionate and unjustified", Tony remarked: "It's clearly absurd requiring students to know English before they come here to study it."
The creation of the 11-month English language course visa was also something fought for by Tony to support members and students as visa regulations were increasingly tightened. He campaigned publicly against "bogus colleges," telling MPs it was a "national scandal" that anyone could "hire two rooms above a fish and chip shop and call themselves a college."
Under his leadership, the ARELS workshop in Brighton became the global event of StudyWorld and Accreditation UK was formed as an English UK/ British Council partnership from an earlier scheme. He was also involved in the creation of Independent Higher Education (originally Study UK, sharing offices with English UK) and the Tourism Alliance.
Shaping education, university fees and beer drinking
Tony came to English UK with an established reputation. In the early 80s he became Assistant Chief Executive of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA), where he was the only person other than Sir Ron Dearing to work on three major education reviews, of the National Curriculum and national tests, post-16 qualifications including A levels and the review of higher education which led to the proposal to introduce student fees. He was also a national chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, an organisation he continued to work for during his retirement.
From 2009 to 2018, Tony was a Governor of London Metropolitan University. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philsophy by London Met in 2019 in recognition of his outstanding professional achievements.
Born in Yorkshire and educated at Doncaster Grammar School, he became Postmaster in English at Merton College Oxford and taught Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge.
Tony himself taught English as a foreign language in Finland before and during his time studying at Oxford. He retained close links with his "Finnish family".
Tony was appointed chief executive of ARELS in 1999, before leading the merger that created English UK. Timothy Blake, former ARELS chair, recalled chairing the interview panel. "I said, before we start the discussions let's have everyone write their preferred name on a bit of paper and pass it up to me," he said. "Every single one of them said Tony Millns. That cut the discussion short."
Remembering Tony
Tributes and memories of a funny, generous, driven and fiercely determined man have flooded in since we began to share the sad news. We will share more in the New Year.
Mike Wills, English UK Ombudsman and former English UK trustee, said: "I worked very closely with Tony through the years I was on the [ARELS] Council and learned to respect him for his astounding intellect, his tenacity and political skills. These were the main attributes which guided us to ultimate success in the formation of English UK. The latter must be his single greatest achievement during the time I worked with him. In my experience he was also very good company at the end of the day when formal work had been concluded."
Alex Proudfoot, chief executive of Independent Higher Education (IHE), said: "IHE wouldn't exist in its current form, and I wouldn't be where I am today, without Tony Millns. His personal commitment and generosity were instrumental in getting our fledgling membership association off the ground, and his keen insights into both education and politics were hugely valuable to us all in those early years. Even today, Tony is unmistakeably in the DNA of IHE: that rare combination of deeply held principles and ruthless pragmatism that made him such a formidable operator; and that blend of intellectual provocation, genuine warmth and razor wit that made him such excellent company. It was an inspiring mix. Tony cared deeply about the causes that he fought for but there was always space for light and humour too. He never let you forget that however big the issue, however serious the business, it was always the people that mattered most. He made such a significant difference to so many lives, and we will certainly miss him in ours."
John Barnett, retired principal of Cambridge Academy of English and former English UK trustee, said: "Whenever I was with Tony, I felt I learnt something from him. His intellect and his ability to set out proposals, logic and reasoning were second to none. I had the pleasure of sitting with him at many events, meetings and missions. One such overseas English UK mission to China will always stick in my mind. We were both asked to attend a small meeting in Shanghai on the spur of the moment to talk about management techniques. This small meeting turned out to be a massive hall with a couple of thousand school principals, TV cameras and an interpreter. Tony was called up on stage first and came out with a wonderful talk on management, which quite rightly led to a standing ovation. And I had to follow that!"
Jane Dancaster, former English UK trustee and director of Wimbledon School of English, said: "He absolutely transformed English UK and led the transformation of our national association into the highly professional, globally respected powerhouse it is today."
We welcome your memories of Tony and will try to share as many as possible in the New Year. Please send them to Annie Wright on annie.wright@englishuk.com.
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