Chronicle 687

33 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

The Gaudy 2025 Guest of Honour Tim Hartnoll OSE (Sing’s, 1968-1973)

Tim was born and raised in Singapore, educated in England from 1963 to 1976, and is now, once again, happy to call Singapore his home.

stevedoring business in Singapore and Malaysia in 1972 while Tim was at Teddies. In 1982, the same year he married his wife Suzanne, Tim joined him in the family business as Shipping Manager. In the same year Christopher launched a new business, X-Press Feeders. Tim has grown X-Press Feeders from humble origins, helping to containerise the Indian trade from break bulk into containers. It is now a global business, owning and operating a fleet of 125 container ships worldwide. The advent of container shipping has facilitated the efficient, low cost and secure means of shifting manufactured goods from point of production halfway round the world to point of consumption.

After St Edward’s Tim attended Warwick University, gaining a BSc (Hons) in Engineering Science, graduating in 1976. This was during the decade of stagflation with high unemployment in the west after the second oil crisis. Out of a graduating class of 124 Tim was only one of four who had a job to go to. Tim chose to go into the offshore oil industry, working in and around the North Sea for Brown & Root, an engineering and construction company. These were exciting years, with massive investment in oil and gas production facilities and rising oil prices. In 1980 Tim had the chance to move back to Asia, firstly on an offshore project in Thailand and then to Bombay, India. Tim’s father, Christopher Hartnoll OSE, had set up a shipping agency and

Tim took over the reins of the business from his father in 1988 and in 2020 he stepped back to the position of Executive Chairman and has focused his attention on diversifying the group’s business. Today the group also operates a fleet of 63 offshore support vessels for oil, gas, and offshore wind turbine industries, and supports and develops other businesses through its private equity arm.

THE SCHOOL SHOP

Visit the online School Shop for a range of Teddies merchandise, from umbrellas to dog collars, mugs and pyjamas – there is something for everyone

in our iconic blue and yellow colours. Looking for some fresh Rhubarb? You can also find OSE merchandise in Rhubarb colours on the School Shop, including ties, belts and scrunchies!