BPP University chief exits after 20 years at legal education giant

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By Alex Aldridge on

Carl Lygo started as a tutor at the law school in the 1990s

The boss of one of the biggest law schools in the land is stepping down after 20 years.

Carl Lygo is a well-known figure in the legal education world having joined BPP Law School in its early days after it was founded by entrepreneur and legal blogging pioneer Mike Semple-Piggot in 1993.

Lygo, who practised as a barrister for 11 years before moving into teaching, then helped BPP establish its Bar Vocational Course (now known as the Bar Professional Training Course) and Legal Practice Course, before leading the organisation’s transition from college to university status in 2013.

Rumours about Lygo’s departure have been circulating since last week, and were fuelled further yesterday after he revealed on LinkedIn that he had been appointed non-executive chairman of the Association of Costs Lawyers’ training arm. He has also recently been appointed as a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

But it wasn’t until this afternoon that the exit chatter was confirmed as BPP notified first its staff and then Legal Cheek that Lygo was departing for pastures new.

He is being replaced, for now, by former BPP Business School dean Tim Stewart, who’ll serve as interim CEO of BPP Holdings and interim vice chancellor of BPP University. A further shake-up of BPP’s senior team seems possible, but right now no one is commenting.

In a statement, Lygo said:

It has been an amazing 20 years at BPP working my way up from Tutor to CEO and becoming the first Vice Chancellor. I leave BPP in strong leadership under Professor Tim Stewart. I will now focus the next part of my career on charitable and community work.

News of Lygo’s departure comes a month after BPP Law School owner Apollo Education Group was sold to a trio of investment firms for £760 million.

Previously

Carl Lygo: ‘I applied to every firm in my home town for a training contract and they all rejected me without interview’ [Legal Cheek]