Our Team

Kevin McNeany

Chairman

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 Russia, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia, Ecuador, Qatar and China.

David Pottinger

CEO

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 Stewart

CFO

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.

Michael Clack

Regional Head of Schools

Michael joins Orbital with 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 for 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,Qatar, Russia and Ljubljana.

Karl Wilkinson

Regional Head of Schools

Karl brings to Orbital 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 Spain, Budapest and Ecuador and is the group-wide lead for Assessment.

Victoria Hark

Group Accountant

Victoria is a Management Accountant with considerable experience in a number of industry sectors. She graduated in 1998 from the University of Salford with a degree in Finance and Accounting.

Victoria joined Orbital Education in January 2016 as Group Accountant from Wellacre Academy, a secondary school in Manchester. Prior to this, she had worked for a property development company, a travel business and Nord Anglia Education. At Orbital Education, Victoria works as part of the finance team to produce financial and operating reports for the group.

Phil Roberts

Group Financial Controller

Philip has over 15 years’ experience within finance in international business. After graduating with a Master’s degree in Chemistry from Magdalen College Oxford, Philip joined AstraZeneca and worked in multiple finance roles across Commercial, Manufacturing and Research divisions before joining European FMCG group McBride Plc, co-ordinating the group’s statutory and management reporting.

Philip joined Orbital Education as Group Financial Controller, responsible for group wide financial reporting, forecasting, financial controls and taxation.

Andy Edgar

Group HR Manager

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.

Myles McNeany

Group Head of IT

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.

Sam Atkinson

Information Systems Manager

Sam has over 12 years experience in the education sector working for North Lancashire Training Group, an apprenticeship provider in the North West of England.

He started off his career learning both administrative and technical roles, but with having a keen eye for data quality he soon fell into data analysis, a position in which he thrived in learning SQL, basic programming as well as various development tools such as Visual Studio and Power BI.

Now working as the Information Systems Manager for Orbital Education, Sam is responsible for maintaining, training and supporting the group on all of our MIS systems, and developing tools so that we may understand and utilise the data held on them.

Pam Butterworth

Administration Officer

Pam first starting working in international education in 1984, when she joined Nord Anglia Education. She supported the development of Nord Anglia from a small family-run business into a major education company with several international schools and a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Pam joined Orbital Education at its inception in June 2006 to manage the office and provide support to the head office team. She plays a key role in ensuring the company fulfills its financial and legal obligations, managing payroll and other functions, plus providing administrative support to ensure the smooth running of the Orbital office.

Claire Grundy

Group Head of Marketing and Admissions

Claire has over 15 years experience in marketing and leadership and joined Orbital Education in October 2017 after spending her previous 9 years heading up marketing for multiple countries at LEGO Education. She started her career in banking, working for both MBNA and Bank of America where she held several roles including project and relationship management before moving into marketing.

Claire is highly experienced in both B2B and B2C and working internationally, including managing international teams. She has experience right across the marketing mix and excels in strategy development and implementation and brand and communication.

Zsofia Alibaux-Jakab

Group eLearning Manager

Zsófia has been in education for 20 years, teaching French and EAL in international schools in Hungary and France. For seven years she was Head of Secondary, member of the SLT and whole school EAL and Mother Tongue Coordinator at Britannica International School in Budapest, Hungary. Here, Zsofia played a major role in introducing a VLE and BYOD to secondary, as well as taking part in the decision making process of ICT related development when she was a member of the whole school ICT committee.

Zsófia is a certified Edmodo trainer and Ambassador, Classcraft Ambassador, Wakelet Community member and has trained on various online courses and MOOCs on digital learning and led CPD sessions on digital learning and tools for staff.

Prior to rejoining Britannica in 2011, Zsófia worked at an international IB world school in Lyon teaching French and English A2, as well as whole school EAL. Zsófia has also a strong background in EAL, having attended an ECIS conference and completed a TESMC teacher and a trainer course. Zsófia also trains staff on TESMC in group schools.

Zsófia was appointed Group eLearning Manager at Orbital Education in August 2018.

She is responsible for the provision and management of digital learning at Britannica Budapest, eLearning globally within the Orbital group and the lead on Digital Learning and engagement of Canvas LMS across the group.

Chris Wright

International Education Development Consultant

Chris has worked in the education industry for over 40 years and previous positions include working as a school development advisor with a large UK education authority as well as a successful school principal both in the UK and internationally for 16 years. During this time, he took part in almost 40 OFSTED inspections in the UK and has almost seventeen years’ experience of undertaking quality assurance reviews in international schools following both the British National Curriculum and International Baccalaureate programs.

Prior to joining Orbital Education, Chris worked for three large education companies; WCL Group, Humansoft Learning and GEMS Education, where his roles included Group Project Director, Chief Operations Officer and Director of Pre-Operational Schools. In these roles Chris was responsible for the concept, design and fit out of 24 new schools globally.

Chris joined Orbital Education in November 2015 to lead the opening of the new Oryx International School, Doha. Chris’s responsibilities include all educational aspects of the design, fit out, resourcing and start up activities along with school regulatory compliance.

Kevin McNeany

Chairman

David Pottinger

CEO

James Stewart

CFO

Michael Clack

Regional Head of Schools

Karl Wilkinson

Regional Head of Schools

Victoria Hark

Group Accountant

Phil Roberts

Group Financial Controller

Andy Edgar

Group HR Manager

Myles McNeany

Group Head of IT

Sam Atkinson

Information Systems Manager

Pam Butterworth

Administration Officer

Claire Grundy

Group Head of Marketing and Admissions

Zsofia Alibaux-Jakab

Group eLearning Manager

Chris Wright

International Education Development Consultant

Join us

Talented and career minded teachers, administrators, school owners and consultants - find out how you can join the Orbital family of schools.

Kevin McNeany

Chairman

David Pottinger

CEO

James Stewart

CFO

Michael Clack

Regional Head of Schools

Karl Wilkinson

Regional Head of Schools

Victoria Hark

Group Accountant

Phil Roberts

Group Financial Controller

Andy Edgar

Group HR Manager

Myles McNeany

Group Head of IT

Sam Atkinson

Information Systems Manager

Pam Butterworth

Administration Officer

Claire Grundy

Group Head of Marketing and Admissions

Zsofia Alibaux-Jakab

Group eLearning Manager

Chris Wright

International Education Development Consultant

Our team of educational and specialist support staff

Kevin McNeany

Chairman

David Pottinger

CEO

James Stewart

CFO

Michael Clack

Regional Head of Schools

Karl Wilkinson

Regional Head of Schools

Victoria Hark

Group Accountant

Phil Roberts

Group Financial Controller

Andy Edgar

Group HR Manager

Myles McNeany

Group Head of IT

Sam Atkinson

Information Systems Manager

Pam Butterworth

Administration Officer

Claire Grundy

Group Head of Marketing and Admissions

Zsofia Alibaux-Jakab

Group eLearning Manager

Chris Wright

International Education Development Consultant

Join us

International Track 200 Company

Sunday Times

Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade

1000 companies to inspire Britain

London Stock Exchange