English UK boards, committees and advisory groups 

Shoko Doherty (Chair) is CEO of Celtic English Academy in Cardiff. Originally from Japan, Shoko first came to the UK as an international student and has worked in the industry for over 15 years. Shoko has been recognised as the Welsh Government's Export Exemplar and the UK Export Champion. She is also a member of the English UK Wales committee.

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.

Fiona Dunlop is Principal of Wimbledon School of English. She has worked in ELT for 35 years working overseas in Egypt then Brazil before settling in London. Fiona has had a broad career spanning teaching and learning to academic management and now senior management at director level.

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

James Herbertson is Director and co-founder of Bayswater Education. Bayswater has 10 year-round colleges and 7 summer camps in the UK, France, Cyprus, Canada and South Africa. James started out as a student learning Spanish, formed the agency Answer English, co-founded accommodation agency London Nest, and is on the BETA board. 

Justin Quinn is CEO of Centre of English Studies. CES has five UK year-round schools, two in Canada and one in Dublin, Ireland. Justin is vice president of membership of IALC, has been a past chair of EAQUALS and has served on the boards of MEI and ACELS in Ireland.

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.

Victoria Paterson is International Business Manager at Edinburgh College. Originally from New Zealand, she has worked for over a decade in international education in leadership roles at UK higher and further education institutions. 

Mark Rendell 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 has an MSc in ELT Management and is past Chair of English UK.

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.

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

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. 

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 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.

Huan Japes (Chair)

English UK