We have a Passion for Education. Do you?
Find out how you, or your school, can join the Orbital Education Group.
Kevin started his career as a teacher and lecturer in schools and further education institutions in Northern Ireland and England. He founded Nord Anglia Education in 1972 and since then, Kevin has proven to be both an entrepreneur and innovator in the field of education.
Nord Anglia established independent schools in the UK and international schools in central and Eastern Europe and the Far East. When Kevin stepped down from Nord Anglia in 2005, the company was educating over 4,500 pupils worldwide.
As Chairman of the Manchester Academy of English, Kevin oversaw substantial growth and a successful disposal. He was the founder of Acorn Care and Education, a company providing expert care and tuition for children with special educational needs and placements for fostered children. On disposal, the company had grown a portfolio of eleven schools and fostering businesses in most parts of England.
Kevin started Chairman of Orbital Education in 2006. As Chairman, he focuses on establishing international schools and colleges, which offer quality education, mainly in the British style and tradition to expatriate and host nation families in countries throughout the world. The portfolio already includes schools in Spain, Hungary, Slovenia, Ecuador, Qatar and China.
David has 30 years of experience of leadership and management in international education. He joined Orbital Education as CEO in early 2016, from the position of CEO at Obeikan Education, the leading Arab education services provider and publisher working throughout the Middle East.
Qualified to Master's level in Applied Linguistics and Business Administration, his early career was in English language education, followed by leadership positions in the British Council, Nord Anglia Education, qualifications awarding body NCC (National Computing Centre) Education, and ELT provider, Bell Educational Trust.
During his career, David has lived and worked in France, Peru, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well as developing overseas operations from the UK.
James has 30 years' experience in finance and management roles, the majority within international education and training.
After studying for a degree in Economics and Accountancy, James spent 3 years in chartered accountancy, before taking the position of Financial Accountant in a large national training company. Later at NCC Education - a multinational Higher Education Awarding body - he held the roles of Finance Director and, in his last year, Acting Managing Director. He contributed substantially to turning the business around, resulting in the company enjoying the most financially successful period in its history.
James joined Orbital in 2007 to fulfill the role of Group Finance Director and support the development of the group.
In November 2019 James won the Northern Finance Director of the Year 2019 for turn around successes. He had been shortlisted from over 70 candidates at the prestigious 2019 Northern Finance Director of the Year Awards.
Myles has a long history in supporting education through his knowledge and experience of IT systems. Myles was awarded a Bachelor's Degree in IT from Sheffield Hallam University and a Master’s Degree from Manchester Business School. He previously worked at the world famous Courtauld Institute of Art (part of the University of London), where he was a member of the information technology team.
Since 2008, he has developed a track record that is second to none in the implementation of school wide IT solutions for start-up enterprises. At Orbital, Myles supports the schools by the development of group-wide technology and information systems.
Michael has over 25 years educational experience, with nine years in the international market. Most recently he was the Principal of Raffles International School, Dubai where he was highly commended at the Education Journal Middle East Awards, 2017 as Principal/ Headmaster of the Year. Prior to that he was Headmaster of Oporto British School, Portugal, the oldest established British school in continental Europe. In both schools he has led a number of project management initiatives including the re-design of a campus comprising the construction of a multi-purpose recreation complex, secondary section and a nursery.
As well as a wealth of experience in international and UK leadership roles, Michael is an ISI Team Inspector for BSO, a Lead Improvement Partner and Peer Accreditor for COBIS and Chair of Visiting Teams for CIS.
At Orbital he is responsible for our schools in China and Qatar.
Karl has more than 25 years’ experience of international education, including Headships in international schools in North Africa, the Indian Ocean and Europe. With a wealth of knowledge of both national and international education systems, Karl has led two of his schools to successful BSO accreditation from the DfE, is a Lead Improvement Partner and Peer Accreditor for COBIS, and has been a regular participant in visiting teams for BSO and other British and American inspection and accreditation agencies.
Before joining the UK team, Karl was the Principal of our school in Ljubljana, responsible for relocating the school in 2016 and for renovating and expanding the facilities in 2018.
Karl is now responsible for our schools in Hungary and Slovenia and is the group-wide lead for Assessment.
Jonathan has 30 years educational experience and has been a Principal in the UK, U.A.E. and Qatar. Most recently, he worked as CEO/Principal for a group of schools in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Jonathan worked in close partnership with the Private Education Authority and was a hub leader for seven other Sharjah Schools. Before this, he was a Principal in Dubai after having been a Founding Principal and Country Director in Qatar. Jonathan has extensive experience leading change within bilingual curriculum schools in Dubai, Sharjah and Qatar.
A passionate believer in professional development, he is an accredited facilitator for the UK National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) and Senior Leaders (NPQSL) programmes, and an Associate Lecturer for the world-renowned Institute of Education, London. Jonathan is also a qualified Tribal Education International Inspector.
At Orbital he is responsible for our schools in South/Latin America, Spain and has group wide lead for Professional Development.
Alison joined the Orbital team in 2020 with over 25 years of experience in leading successful marketing and admissions teams.
Alison started her career developing leading brands in the UK and internationally at Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods and PepsiCo. Since moving to into international education 10 years ago she has consistently increased student numbers and was received a Storyteller award from Forbes Middle East in 2020, recognising her as one of the top 50 marketing and communications people in the Middle East.
During her career she has lived and worked in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Dubai and developed international teams across the globe.
Andy joined the Orbital group in May 2017 from Acorn Care and Education, the largest combined children’s services group in the UK specialising in Care and Education for vulnerable Children. In addition to his experience working within Education, Andy also has substantial HR experience across a number of other industry sectors, including Residential Care, Professional & Legal Services, and Digital and Media.
At Orbital, Andy is responsible for supporting the Group’s schools to deliver high quality education, by assisting the attraction, development, and retention of talented individuals, and ensuring that the People Strategy supports the goals of the organisation.
Andy holds graduate and post-graduate qualifications in Law, and has experience working with legal firms across various legal fields, prior to developing a career in HR. In his previous roles Andy has also worked as an Employment Law Advisor for the Legal Services Commission.
Ignacio has over 20 years of experience in transactions, due diligence, private equity and corporate development. After qualifying in Economics and Business, he started his career in EY and, subsequently, Deloitte, where he advised companies in acquisitions, divestments and refinancing processes.
He then joined Ahorro Corporacion, a Spanish private equity house to invest in and support mid-size companies and, in 2014, moved on to K-12 education as Investment Director with ISP, one of the largest schools group worldwide. During his time in ISP he was in charge of the Latin America and Southern Europe markets and completed the acquisition of over 20 schools in 10 countries.
Ignacio recently co-led a turnaround and expansion project in the Boston School, a Panama city leading IB school and has managed other K-12 projects in Spain and Mexico. He joined Orbital in 2022 to head corporate development with the objective of expanding the Group portfolio of schools.
We have a Passion for Education. Do you?
Find out how you, or your school, can join the Orbital Education Group.