Pop icon Robbie Williams has become a co-owner of arts college the LMA and together they plan to open a London Campus next year.

The announcement was made by Williams at a specially arranged news conference at TV Centre in West London, hosted by DJ Scott Mills.

Liverpool’s LMA is an education centre that lives and breathes music, creative media and the performing arts.

Robbie’s role is to drive forward UK and international expansion for LMA, which will start with the launch of a new London campus that will open in 2020.

“I am delighted to now be an official member of the LMA family. As soon as I met them all I was so inspired by their passion and drive and wanted to get involved”, Williams said at the press conference.

“I hope I can help motivate the next generation of pop stars, performers and creatives.”

Williams famously championed the LMA Chior when they made it through to the live shows during the 2018 X Factor shows.

In his new role at LMA, Williams will join LMA founders, Richard Wallace and Simon Wallace, along with former Tesco chief, Sir Terry Leahy, and investment expert, Bill Currie, who have also recently joined the LMA team.

LMA offers degree courses in musical theatre, acting, music performance , games and animation and film and TV production, all validated by Staffordshire University.

“The last 12 months have been incredible for LMA”, said Richard Wallace.

“Some of the highlights have included our choir starring on The X Factor and our students performing alongside the original cast of Fame, through to our actors and filmmakers having amazing opportunities being cast and crew on multiple TV dramas and feature films, alongside greats such as Sean Bean and Gerard Butler.

Simon Wallace said: “Bringing Robbie on board is a real dream come true for us all, as we know how passionate he is about developing young talent and sharing his knowledge, experience, creativity and connections.”

“We’re now looking forward to our next chapter as we plan to expand LMA across the country and overseas – and we cannot thank our team of exceptionally talented tutors and, of course, our fantastic students for making all of this possible.”