Irish edtech Shaw Academy appoints former Virgin head as chairman

Irish education technology company Shaw Academy, which has taught more than four million students worldwide, has appointed former Virgin Group chief executive Stephen Murphy as its new chairman.

Mr Murphy, who is also chairman of Ovo Energy Group and GYG in the UK, succeeded Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson as head of the Virgin Group in 2005.

During his six years leading the company, Mr Murphy oversaw the creation of a number of new businesses, including Virgin America in the US and Virgin Blue in Australia.

Mr Murphy also has extensive experience working with entrepreneurs and scaling consumer orientated businesses having previously chaired the international hospitality group Jumeirah International, the medical software provider, The Learning Clinic, and Byron Hamburgers, a casual dining chain.

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Shaw Academy, which was set up five years ago by James Egan and Adrian Murphy is headquartered in Ireland, where it has a live e-learning centre at East Point in Dublin,

The firm, which provides live online course in areas such as IT, business and marketing, employs more than 180 people in Dublin and Bangalore.

Mr Murphy’s appointment as chairman of Shaw Academy coincides with a period of substantial growth for the company, which is aiming to teach 500,000 new students a month by December .