Andy was born in Tiddington near Stratford-upon-Avon in 1952. He attended King Edward V1th Grammar School where he was recruited by maths teacher and neighbour, Douglas Tuckey, to cox the 1st four in the rowing section. In the Sixth Form he was Captain of Boats and took up single sculling.
After teacher training at Durham University he taught Drama and English at a comprehensive school in Essex for two years. Attracted by a more informal learning environment he went to work at an Outdoor Education Centre at Sharpness in Gloucestershire, for many years.
In his thirties after completing a two-year B.Ed. Honours degree he made a career move into Management Development, initially as a Leadership Programme Manager for a large retail organisation, then in consultancy, before establishing his freelance business, Arena Development in 1996. He worked in the UK, in Europe and other parts of the World on Leadership and Organisational development programmes and projects.
A keen sportsman he played County League tennis for over twenty years in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire before his back problems forced him to give up the sport.
Aged twenty, Andy had first met Moira McGinnety while at Durham University. After a ‘trial separation’ of twenty-one years they met again in 1994. A few months later Andy re-located to Durham and they were finally married in 2010. Today they live on the edge of Durham City with stepson Ben Shepherd.
Andy resumed his rowing and sculling obsession when he returned to Durham, competing on the North-East circuit and as a ‘Masters’ (age category) sculler at National, Henley and World Masters events, winning three gold medals, at Henley Masters in 2013, at World Masters in Hungary in 2019 and in France in 2022. He coaches sculling at Durham Amateur Rowing club specialising in developing single scullers from ‘improvers’ to ‘racers’ (see www.mysinglesculler.com )