Capital City College former Chair of Governors, Alastair Da Costa, recognised for services to further education

Alastair Da Costa, former Chair of Governors at Capital City College (previously known as Capital City College Group), has been awarded a CBE as part of the New Year’s Honours list.

With a turnover of £135m and over 35,000 students, Capital City College (CCC) is the largest further education college within London.

Alastair was the Chair of Capital City College from its inception when it was formed from the merger of City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College in 2016, followed by a second merger in 2017 with the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London. Before that, he was Chair of City and Islington College, where he had been Chair since 2014 and a governor since 2011. At the time of joining, he was a Managing Director of DLA Piper, the largest global law firm at the time. In 2014 he was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Princes Trust International, whose aim is to address youth unemployment around the world. From 2018 to 2021 he was the voice of Further Education on the Social Mobility Commission, becoming the Deputy Chair shortly after his appointment.

Alastair said: ‘I am delighted and humbled to be receiving this award, which is a tribute to the achievements of the many hard-working members of staff within Capital City College. Colleges are often the forgotten story in providing technical training and education in line with the needs of local employers, and I hope that I have contributed, along with many others, in helping people achieve their professional aspirations.’

Michael Davis, the newly appointed chair at Capital City College, said: ‘The awarding of a CBE to Alastair is recognition of his enormous contribution to Capital City College, but also to further education as a whole. Alastair’s leadership and belief in others has been inspirational and unwavering, and this award is just testament to this.’

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