Britain's first privately run federation of state schools was launched last week, offering schools an alternative to local authority control.

The new organisation is based at Kingshurst City Technology College in Birmingham, which has used its commercial arm to take over the management of two comprehensive schools in Surrey. The three schools will share a range of services.

Kingshurst's wholly owned subsidiary, 3E's Enterprises, already runs Kings College Guildford, the first privately managed state school in Britain.