Reconnecting with our Colleges

James Timpson (Geography, Hatfield College, 1991-94)

James made the visit with his wife and alumna, Roisin (Anthropology, Trevelyan College, 1992-95). Whilst in Durham, they took the opportunity to reconnect with Hatfield and Trevelyan Colleges and their academic departments. They also enjoyed lunch with both College Principals and both Department Heads, as well as Nicole Westmarland, who was James’ orator in his honorary degree ceremony.  

James visited Geography and met with Cheryl McEwan, the Head of Department and enjoyed a tour of Hatfield College with Principal Ann Maclarnon, where he visited the room in Gatehouse that he shared during his time in Durham. He also visited the Timpson Gym, which was named after his father, John, who was one of the founders of the Hatfield Trust. 

Image; James with Ann Maclarnon

Roisin Timpson (Anthropology, Trevelyan College, 1992-95)  

For Roisin, the ceremony was an emotional one, as she missed her own graduation because of a family bereavement. She also met up with the Head of Anthropology, Jamie Tehrani, and Trevelyan College Principal, Kunle Adeyeye.  

Image; Roisin with Kunle Adeyeye

A special place for the Timpson family 

The University is a special place for the Timpson family, because it is not only where James and Roisin first met, but their daughter, Niamh (Anthropology, Hatfield College, 2020-23) graduated from Durham last year, and James’ brother, former Member of Parliament Edward, is also an alumnus (Politics, Hatfield College, 1993-96). 

Supporting prison reform 

After University, James ran the family business, Timpson Group, a successful retail service operation, but also the largest employer of ex-offenders in the UK. Over the last 20 years, James has been an active supporter of positive prison reform - one in every nine Timpson employees is an ex-offender and there are Timpson Foundation Academies in prisons across the country. Of these employees, 75% remain within the Group, the others predominantly moving on to employment with different organisations. The vast majority do not reoffend.  

James has been Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending, Chair of the Prison Reform Trust, and he founded the Employment Advisory Board linking prisons with employers. He has recently been appointed as Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending in Sir Keir Starmer’s government. 

Read more: 

• About our alumni in Parliament 
• About Timpson Group and prison reform in our latest Dunelm magazine 
• About our Honorary Graduates 
• About our Summer Congregation ceremonies