Obituary - John Corcoran, language school director

Died: April 23, 2018

JOHN Corcoran, who has died aged 80, was an entrepreneur who founded and built up one of the most successful English language summer schools for foreign students in the United Kingdom.

Brought up in Middlesex, he left school at the age of 14 and became an apprentice butcher before being called up for national service, some of which he spent in Belize.

After demob, he went on holiday to Jersey where he met his wife to be, Mary, with whom he had two sons, John and Tom, and two daughters, Julie and Angela.

The couple first lived in Glasgow before moving to Vale of Leven where Mr Corcoran was a familiar figure who worked hard in the community and on the campaign to save the local hospital from closure.

He worked in various jobs in industries that had been established at Strathleven Industrial Estate to take the place of Denny’s shipyard and the silk dyeing and textile factories which had closed.

When Burroughs Machines ceased to manufacture adding machines in Vale of Leven and other companies on the estate were under pressure, Mr Corcoran moved away and joined the Refuge Assurance Company, to manage their office in Dumbarton. The office closed eventually and Mr Corcoran went to work in an administrative capacity at St Andrew’s teacher training college in Bearsden, run by the Sisters of Notre Dame.

The spectre of redundancy again appeared when the college closed and became part of the University of Glasgow. Fortunately, Mr Corcoran was not the only person affected by the closure and he got together with four members of the teaching staff to set up the St Andrew’s English Language Summer School. He was director of the school from 1988 to 2002.

In just the first year, Mr Corcoran and his colleagues welcomed 150 European students to Bell College in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. Mr Corcoran would ensure he was on campus every day, talking to leaders and students.

In 2009, the school was accredited by the British Council as a high provider of English Language tuition. Mr Corcoran travelled widely, selling the product to new markets around the world.

The company grew. New centres were added in Edinburgh, Ayr and Glasgow, making it the largest independent provider of language courses in Scotland. More centres were opened in England and Ireland.

By 2017, St Andrews College Language Schools welcomed 5,000 students, employed five full-time staff and 280 part-time staff.

John Corcoran was a past member of Dumbarton Lions Club. He became chief executive of the Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce and was later appointed its honorary president.

He was a life-long supporter of Dumbarton Football Club and once became so animated and loud in his condemnation of a refereeing decision at Boghead Park that the police removed him

from the ground. His other loves were Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic and golf.

John Corcoran was awarded the MBE for his charity and community work. He has left his children and many grandchildren happy memories of summer caravan holidays together in towns from Nairn to Scarborough and Rhyl.

BILL HEANEY