Historic British school shuts down as new Chinese owner denies 'asset-stripping' allegations

It was acquired early last year by Galaxy Global Education Group, which announced plans to transition the traditionally all-girls school to co-education from September 2025.

The education company, founded in 2003 by Shangmei Gao, oversees around 18,000 pupils worldwide and had pledged to revive the struggling institution.

At the time of the acquisition, she said: "We are looking forward to building student numbers and ensuring that the school's admirable ethos and values are upheld."

Those plans have since collapsed, with the company confirming the school is no longer financially sustainable.

Headmaster Gareth Lloyd left in January after announcing his early retirement for personal reasons midway through the academic year.

At that stage, local reports suggested the school had 269 pupils, while officials denied any prospect of closure.

Figures from the Independent Schools Council now show a decline to 220 pupils, including 22 boys admitted under the new co-educational policy.

Nicholas Grenfell-Marten, chairman of Galaxy Global’s management board, said: "Great sadness."

The company said the school has been losing more than £6million annually, a deficit it described as unsustainable despite efforts since the acquisition.

Pupil numbers had been falling steadily for several years, leaving the school operating significantly below capacity.

Galaxy Global rejected accusations of asset stripping made by parents and commentators on social media.

A spokeswoman said: "Since acquisition, the focus has been on supporting and attempting to stabilise the school, not extracting value from it."

The company pointed to wider pressures facing the sector, including the Government’s imposition of 20 per cent VAT on school fees, the removal of business rates relief and rising employment costs.

Despite these factors, the group said it limited fee increases to 7.5 per cent in the last academic year.

The move to co-education was intended to increase enrolment, but the spokeswoman said that while there was "some positive interest", it was not enough to address underlying challenges.

No decisions have been made about the future of the site.

Nearby independent schools moved quickly to arrange open days for affected families within 24 hours of the closure announcement.

The response prompted criticism from some parents on social media, who questioned the timing of the recruitment efforts.

One Mumsnet user said: "Asset stripping and the vultures circling putting on a special event and would be delighted to meet pupils."

"Deeply unedifying", said a second,adding that schools were "snapping up the scraps to bolster their own numbers against a similar fate."

A third parent described the approach as "distasteful."

The school’s former pupils include writer Barbara Cartland.

The campus occupies the historic Imperial Hotel, a continental Gothic building constructed in 1862 for visitors to the spa town.