Databank. Tante Marie has new owner

Tante Marie has new owner

Tante Marie, the UK’s largest independent school of cookery, announced in April that it has been sold to Marcella O’Donovan, a teacher at the school for the past three years. The school’s former owners, John and Beryl Childs, will play an active role in the future of the school as finance director and director of marketing. Tante Marie, which takes its name from the legendary French cook, was founded in 1954 by the British cookery writer, Iris Syrett. Based in Woking, Surrey, the school is non-residential and attracts the majority of its students from the south of England. However, an increasing number of students are coming from overseas, most notably from Japan. Students are admitted from the age of 16 and range from school-leavers with little or no cooking experience to adults seeking to pursue a professional career in catering or just wishing to refresh their culinary skills.