Steve Phillips has taken over as chair of the board of English UK. He replaces Sarah Cooper, who stepped down as Chair after 18 months in the post.

Mr Phillips, who has been vice-chair of the English UK Board since December 2014, has worked in the ELT industry for more than 20 years, and is currently head of UK schools at the Eurocentres Foundation.

Eddie Byers, chief executive of English UK, welcomed Mr Phillips to the role and thanked Ms Cooper - dean of management & professional studies and international English at South Thames College in London - for her work as chair of English UK.

He said: "We are very pleased to welcome Steve Phillips as the new chair of English UK. We are sorry to lose Sarah's leadership and are very grateful for the invaluable contribution she has made to English UK over many years. We're pleased that she will continue as an English UK board member. However, we are fortunate to replace Sarah with Steve, who has devoted much time to English UK in recent years, particularly as chair of the Enterprises Board and as a member of the Main Board. We look forward to working with him to take our association forward."

Mr Phillips said: "English UK plays an integral role in UK ELT and I look forward to building on this, working closely with our members and stakeholders."

Ms Cooper said she had enjoyed working as chair of the English UK board, and was pleased that her successor was someone with many years of experience in both English UK and the ELT sector.