English UK boards and advisory groups

English UK boards, committees and advisory groups 

Our boards and advisory groups ensure that members set the direction of their association and guide the work of the English UK team. 

 

The English UK Board of Trustees

The board of trustees is responsible for the overall strategy, policies and activities of the association. Its members are elected by the membership. They become directors and trustees of English UK Ltd.

The election of new board members takes place each May ahead of the AGM. Find out how to get involved.


Rendell Mark

Mark Rendell (Chair) is the CEO of International House London. Before joining IH London in 2019 he was principal of St Giles International London Central for seven years. Mark is a member of Accreditation UK's Executive Board and has an MSc in ELT Management.


Shoko Doherty 80x80

Shoko Doherty (Vice Chair) is CEO of Celtic English Academy in Cardiff. She first came to the UK as an international student and has worked in the industry for over 15 years. Shoko is also a committee member of English UK Wales.


Jago Brown 80x80

Jago Brown is group commercial director at UK Language Courses (UKLC) which has ten centres located across the UK. He has over 20 years experience in senior leadership roles, often leading teams through significant change and uncertainty. He is based in Scotland and is a former chair of English UK Scotland. Jago is also head of product for Lead5050.


Tim Cooke 80x80

Tim Cooke is CEO of Elac Study Vacations, a language school with year-round and multi-centre summer school courses for juniors.  He has worked in the industry for over 20 years and was previously treasurer of Young Learners English UK. 


Mary Doody Photo 80x80

Mary Doody has been the director of Kings Young Learners, part of Kings Education, since 2014. Mary trained as a school teacher in Ireland before moving into the world of international education. She has worked in many different roles with young learners from activity leader up to operations manager.


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Spencer Fordham worked in marketing and advertising in national newspapers for a decade before moving into ELT. He co-founded the Capital School of English in Bournemouth in 2003 and is now managing director. 


Francesca Giacomini 80x80 Francesca Giacomini has been director and shareholder of North West Academy of English in Northern Ireland for 15+ years.

Neil Harris 80x80

Neil Harris is director of marketing and lead teacher trainer at CELT Cardiff and has been involved in ELT since the mid-1990s. He has worked as a teacher, director of studies, teacher trainer, agent and marketing director. He is also a member of the English UK Wales committee.


Farhan 80x80

Farhan Quraishi is CEO and co-owner of Speak Up London, which he co-founded almost ten years ago. He is also Chair of the English UK subgroup, English UK London.


Stephan Roussounis 80x80

Stephan Roussounis is managing director at Bayswater Education, which he founded in 2018. He was managing director of Stafford House International for over six years where he oversaw the opening of three new schools and led major acquisitions in the US and Canada. He has over 20 years experience in the sector. 


Simpson Richard

Richard Simpson is director of the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) at the University of Sheffield. He has worked for the ELTC for 25+ years and has been a director since 2007. Before joining the ELTC Richard studied and worked at the University of Newcastle after returning from teaching in the private sector in Japan and Italy. Richard is a Doctor of Education (EdD).


Leon Zhang 80x80 A

Leon Zhang is CEO at KKCL English, an English language school based in Harrow, North West London. He became the owner and director of KKCL at the age of 24 and has experience of running English language schools, summer camps (in the UK and China), Early Years nursery schools, educational travel, and online TEFL training.


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The English UK Enterprises Board

The English UK Enterprises Board helps direct and oversee English UK's objectives and plans for StudyWorld and international promotion including market developmentIts members are directors of English UK Enterprises Ltd, a limited company that operates activities delivered under the StudyWorld brand.

Board members are appointed by the chair of the board of trustees and chief executive.


Shoko Doherty 80x80

Shoko Doherty (Chair) is CEO of Celtic English Academy in Cardiff. She has worked in the industry for over 15 years, having first come to the UK as an international student. She has been an active committee member of English UK Wales for the past five years and is a trustee of English UK. She first joined the Enterprises Board in February 2021.


Tregarran Percival 80x80 Tregarran Percival (Vice Chair) is managing director at UK Language Courses (UKLC). He has worked in the sector for over 10 years. Tregarran first joined the Enterprises Board in February 2021.

Sam Bufton Bell LinkedIn 80x80 Sam Bufton is sales and marketing director at Bell. He has held senior sales and marketing roles within international education for the last decade, working with and for schools around the world. Sam joined the Enterprises Board in December 2021.

Jodie Gray 80x80 Jodie Gray is chief executive of English UK.

Neil Harris 80x80 Neil Harris is director of marketing and lead teacher trainer at CELT Cardiff and has been involved in ELT since the mid-1990s. He has worked as a teacher, director of studies, teacher trainer, agent and marketing director. He has been an active member of the English UK Wales committee for 4 years. Neil joined the Enterprises Board in December 2021.

Peter Hayes 80x80

Peter Hayes is managing director of International House Manchester and chairperson at International House World Organisation. Peter joined the Enterprises Board in December 2021.


Lisa James EC LinkedIn 80x80 Lisa James is managing director of young learners at EC English Language Centres. Before joining EC in 2019, Lisa was global sales and marketing director at Embassy English. Lisa joined the Enterprises Board in December 2021.

Yeliz LinkedIn 80x80

Yeliz Hussein is global sales director at Bayswater Education. Before joining Bayswater in 2019, Yeliz was head of regional business development at LAL Language Centres. Yeliz joined the Enterprises Board in January 2024. 


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Finance Panel

The finance panel oversees the financial strategy and financial performance of English UK on behalf of the Board of Trustees. 

Appointments are proposed by the Chief Executive, approved by the English UK Board of Trustees and subject to annual review.


Jago Brown 80x80 Jago Brown (interim Chair) is the group commercial director at UK Language Courses (UKLC) which has ten centres located across the UK. He has over 20 years experience in senior leadership roles, often leading teams through significant change and uncertainty. He is based in Scotland and is a former chair of English UK Scotland. Jago is also head of product for Lead5050.

 Nicki Tinniswood Nicki Tinniswood is CFO at Bayswater Education with over 25 years of experience in finance. Having trained with Deloitte, she spent several years lecturing in accountancy and management with The Financial Training Company before moving into the industry. Her experience has focused in recent years on the private education sector, working in apprenticeships and online tutoring before joining Bayswater.

Tim Cooke 80x80 Tim Cooke is CEO of Elac Study Vacations a language school that has been delivering year-round and multi-centre summer school courses for juniors for 30 years.  He worked in the industry for over 20 years and was previously treasurer of Young Learners English UK.

Neil Low Neil Harvey is the chief executive of UKCE overseeing their businesses in the UK and Dubai. He has been in the for-profit education sector for over 30 years, working for major chains and start-ups. Neil has spent most of his time in the UK, Italy and Canada where he served on the board of Languages Canada.

Vimala Jayaraman 80x80

Vimala Jayaraman is a senior director in the finance practice with a global research and advisory firm. With 20+ years' experience in senior finance roles across the private and public sectors, Vimala specialises in the sustainable transformation of organisations with a particular focus on financial and commercial strategies; aligning financial performance with organisational strategy to sustain enhanced financial performance and resilience. She holds a Bachelor's in Commerce, an MBA and is a Fellow of CIMA.


Gareth Mainwaring 80x80

Gareth Mainwaring is director of operations and development for the Birmingham International Academy (BIA) at the University of Birmingham. He joined the HE sector after 12 years in government, including the Department for Education. He has operational responsibility for the growth and delivery of Foundation Pathway, presessional English and in-sessional programmes at the university. He also worked with the university to open its first international branch campus in Dubai and continues to work on other TNE initiatives.

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External Relations Advisory Group

The external relations advisory group guides English UK's campaigning activities. They aim to create an environment that will help the sector to survive, compete and thrive


Huan Japes (Chair)

English UK


Mark Allen East Sussex College 

Margie Barker English in Totnes

Jane Dancaster Wimbledon School of English

Shoko Doherty Celtic English Academy

Sue Edwards Kaplan International

Sarah Gore Edinburgh College

 Jodie Gray English UK

Kate Hargreaves Living Learning English

Val Hennessy International House, Bristol

Nicole Kennedy Studio Cambridge 

Sian Matos English Path

Neil McLoughlin BOSS

Paul Murray Foyle International 

Nigel Paramor English in Chester

Naadiya Rawat English UK

Richard Simpson University of Sheffield, English Language Teaching Centre

Susan Young English UK

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Representation, Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement Committee

The Representation, Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement Committee (RIDEC) is a standing committee of the board of trustees. It seeks to ensure that as many types of organisations and individuals as possible are included on the board and association committees and that members from every background are involved in association activities.

The 2024 committee is chaired by Vice Chair, Shoko Doherty. Other committee members are Jodie Gray, Jago Brown, Farhan Quraishi and Mary Doody.


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