Stephen was born and brought up in Liverpool. He taught English in secondary schools and FE colleges, mostly in the North West of England, for some seventeen years. He was Vice-Principal at Priestley College, Warrington, from 1990-1995. In April 1995, he moved to work as Principal of Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke, a role he still greatly enjoys. He currently sits on the Aimhigher National Partnership Board and Advisory Board and chairs the Basingstoke and Deane Area Strategic Partnership. The College was inspected in May 2010.