Sir Iain had twenty three years of successful headship before taking up posts with the National College for School Leadership and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. He has served on many DfE working parties and committees including the Lancashire and West Yorkshire Academies Board. He was co-founder of Future Leaders which is a national programme for training aspirant headteachers for service in disadvantaged urban areas and has achieved national and international recognition as a keynote speaker on topics such as leadership and urban disadvantage. He was knighted for 'services to education' in 2002.