[Expat]

UK’s Dulwich College and Thai affiliate to end link
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
Published: May 17 2005 19:40

Dulwich College, one of the UK's best-known private schools, and its Thai franchisee, Dulwich International College, Phuket, have severed their eight-year-old ties after weeks of fractious talks failed to bridge differences over the Thai school's management.

Graham Able, the master of Dulwich College London, said this week that six weeks of “long and detailed discussions” had failed to reach agreement on the British institution's oversight of its Thai franchisee.

“The owners of Dulwich International College, Phuket, . . . as is their right, have decided that they wish to manage the school without the checks and balances from Dulwich College Enterprises, which are an essential part of any partnership that Dulwich College Enterprises could sustain,” his statement said.

Arthit Ourairat, founder and chief executive of the Phuket school, told parents and teachers in an e-mail that the campus will be known from June 24 as the British International College of Thailand, although he hopes to affiliate with another private British school.

The loss of the Dulwich brand for the school in Phuket is being seen as a setback for the tropical island's luxury property market, which had been boosted by the presence of an educational institution carrying the prestigious British name.

The split ends a relationship that soured earlier this year when the British school which had previously found little to fault at the Phuket campus stepped up scrutiny of its franchisee as part of its widening international expansion, including a foray into China.

Members of the Phuket school's community say the breakdown of the relationship Dulwich's first international franchise stemmed from a clash of both cultures and personalities in confronting problems as they surfaced. It also highlights the risks when schools sign relatively broad franchise agreements that fail to anticipate all possible contingencies, especially in a foreign business environment.

As they move to create a presence in foreign markets, British private schools seem torn between loose franchise arrangements, in which they may have relatively little leverage over local partners, or full management control of foreign campuses.

Other British schools' Thai franchisees have also suffered tensions.

Shrewsbury, Harrow and Bromsgrove schools also have operations running inThailand.