Throwback Thursday – Matt Clegg

Throwback Thursday this week is Matt Clegg, previously a Standish High pupil, who attended Winstanley from 1995-1997. He is now UK Sales Director for Gorilla Glue, having pursued his passion for business since leaving college.

Matt says: I’d always been a kid that was interested in business- specifically making my own money. Despite getting good grades, I was never a brilliant student and so I intentionally chose subjects that I enjoyed more and had an element of practicality to them.

In 1997, I was awarded a place at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology) doing a BSc in Management Science, which at the time was the best Management School in the country but also allowed me to stay in the North West close to family and friends in Standish. I took a year out of University between my second and third year and worked for Dyson in Tokyo, Japan and latterly at Currys as the Youngest Deputy Store Manager in the country. I was earning money and seeing the world before I was 20.

One year back at UMIST and then I entered the world of full time work at Marconi in Coventry on their Graduate program, going onto work for Halfords, Lloyds Pharmacy, SSL International and then most recently at Gorilla Glue Europe Ltd, where I am UK Sales Director. I manage a team of people, a large Sales Budget and sit on the UK Management Board. I’ve had a brilliant career in Sales and Marketing, moving around the country only to come back to Standish 5 years ago, where I now live with my wife Louise and our 3 children.

My career has taken me to some of the most incredible places including America, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Monaco and all over Europe.

I see my years at Winstanley as being my formative years. I was quiet and introvert at High School, whereas Winstanley really brought me out of my shell and made me confident in doing what I wanted to do. My teachers pushed and supported me and became more like friends than teachers. I DJ’d on the college’s radio station and became Editor of the College Newspaper for a while too- a million miles from the kid I was at High School. I grew more physically, I got my independence with the arrival of my driving licence and my own first car. Winstanley really made me who I am today and I’ll never forget what I fondly look at as an incredibly positive early chapter in life. ‘

Matt is running the London Marathon in April 2020, in aid of Hospice UK, specifically for Derian House, the Children’s Hospice in Chorley, and Wigan and Leigh Hospice, his fund-raising link is:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MattClegg2

Matt is pictured below (with his wife Louise, another former Winstanley student.