English UK structure, rules and boards
The English UK board of trustees and the chief executive are responsible for the conduct of the association's business outside the AGM.
English UK boards and advisory groups
English UK rules
Our rules cover categories of membership, the code of practice, board powers and duties and the procedure for elections, subscriptions and general meetings.
The English UK Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees has 12 seats including a chair and vice-chair. Members serve for a maximum of three years and are eligible for re-election for a further period of three years. A rotation system retires at least one-third of the serving members each year. Elections take place ahead of the AGM, which is usually held in May as part of the Members' Conference.
|

|
Mark Rendell (Chair) is the CEO of International House London. Prior to 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 a BA in English and History, Trinity Licentiate Diploma in TESOL and an MSc in ELT Management.
|
|
 |
Shoko Doherty (Vice 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.
|
|
 |
Jago Brown is commercial director at UK Language Courses (UKLC) which has ten centres located across the UK. He has over 20 years expereince in senior leadership roles, often leading teams through significant change and uncertainty. He is based in the north and is a former chair of English UK Scotland.
|
|
 |
Tim Cooke is CEO of Elac Study Vacations a language school which 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.
|
|
 |
Mary Doody has been 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 right from activity leader up to operations manager.
|
|
 |
Catrin Diamantino is the CEO of Bell English. She helped build EC into a global brand. Catrin says she wanted to join the Board to bring her expertise in global markets and sales at an important time for the industry "when we need to join together and speak with one voice to be heard and taken seriously."
|
|
 |
Spencer Fordham worked in marketing and advertising in national newspapers for a decade before moving into ELT. He founded the Capital School of English in Bournemouth in 2003 with his wife Paulina, and is now managing director. He has recently created Future Success, a pioneering two-week programme during which English students collaborate with local businesses and school students on real-world projects.
|
|
 |
Francesca Giacomini has been director and shareholder of North West Academy of English in Northern Ireland for 15+ years. |
|
 |
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.
|
|
 |
Farhan Quraishi is CEO and co-owner of Speak Up London, which he founded with his partner almost ten years ago.
|
|
 |
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 in London, Brighton and Cambridge, and led on major acquisitions in the US and Canada. He has over 20 years expereince in the sector.
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
Back to the top
The Enterprises Board
All members of the Enterprises board are directors of English UK Enterprises Ltd, a subsidary company of English UK Ltd, the charity.
Back to the top
The Finance Panel
|
 |
Judith Haste (Chair) is finance director at Bell Educational Services Ltd. She is a senior ACMA qualified accountant, with strong international commercial experience. She has worked in a range of sectors and organisation sizes, including as director of finance in both a FTSE 250 international group and a conservation charity before joining Bell in 2014.
|
|
 |
Jago Brown is commercial director at UK Language Courses (UKLC) which has ten centres located across the UK. He has over 20 years expereince in senior leadership roles, often leading teams through significant change and uncertainty. He is based in the north and is a former chair of English UK Scotland. |
|
 |
Tim Cooke is CEO of Elac Study Vacations a language school which 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 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 is a senior director in the finance practise with a global research and advisory firm. With 20+ years' experience in senior finance roles across the private and public sector, Vimala specialises in sustainable transformation of organisations with 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, MBA and is a Fellow of CIMA.
|
|
 |
Karen Smith-Watson works as a portfolio finance director for The FD Centre, offering part-time FD services to SME businesses. Prior to this, she worked as CFO for a number of years for organisations in student travel, property and education. She is familiar with the ELT sector as she has previously been CFO for British Study Centres and Finance Director for TUI Travel plc's Education Division. |
|
 |
Gareth Mainwaring is director of operations and development for the Birmingham International Academy (BIA) at the University of Birmingham. Following 12 years in government, including the Department for Education, he joined the HE sector. He has operational responsibility for the growth and delivery of Foundation Pathway, Presessional English and Insessional 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.
|
Back to the top
The Professional Development Advisory Group
|
Chris Farrell (Chair) |
Centre of English Studies |
|
Ruth Chambers |
EF International Language Campuses |
|
Fiona Dunlop |
Wimbledon School of English |
|
Sian Matos |
English Path |
|
Huan Japes |
English UK |
|
Will Nash |
English Language Teaching Centre, University of Sheffield |
|
Nigel Paramor |
English in Chester |
|
Siobhan Small |
English UK |
|
Anna Thatcher |
Loxdale English Centre |
|
Eleanor Thomas |
English UK |
|
Back to the top
External Relations Advisory Group
|
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 |
|
Back to the top
Governance Review Task and Finish Group
|
Timothy Blake (Chair)
|
London School of English
|
|
Richard Day |
English in Chester |
|
Shoko Doherty |
Celtic English Academy |
|
Tim Cooke |
ELAC Study Vacations |
|
Jodie Gray |
English UK |
|
Val Hennessy |
International House, Bristol |
|
Leon Zhang |
KKCL English |
|
Back to the top