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OUR STAFF
Alfred the Great College: Sponsor Licence nº 3B59NTYB4



Simon Creese-Parsons
(Non-Academic Principal)

Neil Adam Mackay
(Academic Principal)


Chand Wirak
(Director of Research &
Business Development)


Sohail Mehboob
(Director of
Student Services)
       


Roxane Gaydu
(English Teacher &
Business Manager)


Sara Walden
(Communications Manager)


Khalid Mahmood
(Head of Student Welfare)


Ayoub Ali
(Assistant Administrator)
       


Habiba Aktar
(Supply Teacher)


Dr. Gisaw Lencho
(Course Director)


Lola Malaolu
(English Language Teacher)


       
   
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Simon Creese-Parsons

Job Description: Principal (Non-Academic)
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9926
email: principal@agcuk.com

 
The son of a serving soldier, Simon was fortunate to be able to spend his early years in the Middle East where he developed a love for the area and its peoples. Returning to England, Simon attended his father’s former public school, Monkton Combe School near Bath. Although originally planning to read International Law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, he decided instead on a career in business. For thirty years he and Neil Mackay together ran an extremely successful international design and antiques business from Bath and northern France. Simon and Neil share a passionate belief in the transformative power of education and it was this that inspired them to found Alfred the Great, together with Khurram Shahzad Wirak and Sohail Mehboob.

Simon is currently working on his book, a history of the French monarchy from 987-1824. Part linear history and part dramatisation, this revolutionary approach is typical of Simon’s belief that learning and education should be based on traditional values but open to new ideas.

Neil Adam Mackay

Job Description: Principal (Academic)
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9931
email: principal@agcuk.com



BA (Hons) Bath Academy of Art, Fellowship Bath Academy of Art
Neil was born in Nairobi, Kenya where his father, Sir Gordon Mackay, was director of East African Railways. Upon his family’s move to America where his father took up positions with the United Nations and the World Bank, Neil attended Edgeborough prep school in England and then Gordonstoun in Scotland.
Although he was courted by the important London art schools Neil chose instead to study at the Bath Academy of Art, from where he graduated with a BA (Hons) and was offered a Fellowship.

Neil returned to Gordonstoun to teach Art, History of Art, Architecture and Sculpture and was made a Deputy House Master. Together with Simon Creese-Parsons, Neil founded the design and antiques company Jadis Limited in 1984.
His work has ranged from managing international projects involving multimillion pound budgets to mural and design commissions for clients as varied as King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the American billionaire John Kluge and the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Link to Neil’s website: www.neiladammackay.com

Khurram Shahzad Wirak

Job Description: Director of Research and Business Development
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
email: wirak@boacuk.com



Honorary Directorship awarded by Alfred the Great College
Khurram has been involved in various projects over the years and has thus gained experience and knowledge of many different fields. His sharing and understanding of Neils dream along with his love of education was the catalyst for being made an honorary director in the college. He hopes to help further that dream into reality and to help play his part in the betterment of society without any gainful profit for himself.

Sohail Mehboob

Job Description: Director of Student Services
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9929
email: admissions@agcuk.com

Khalid Mahmood

Job Description: Students Liaison
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
Khalid came to the United Kingdom in 1986 at 25, having obtained a BA in Urdu from University of the Punjab, Lahore and worked in the family business in Pakistan. A successful career as chef and owner of an Indian restaurant in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, followed. Khalid joined Alfred the Great College in October, 2009. A devoted husband and father of three sons, Khalid will be taking care of students’ accommodation needs and organising their airport transportation.

Sara Walden

Job Description: Communications Manager
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
email: sara@agcuk.com

Sara joined The Sunday Times newspaper and its renowned Insight investigative team in the early 1980s. She and her colleague and husband then left the paper in 1985 to live in Miami and Washington DC where they researched and wrote two investigative non-fiction books.
They continued their travels worldwide, writing investigative articles for prestigious British and American magazines, with the reward of a home base in a mediaeval hilltop village in Provence overlooking olive trees and vines.

Sara returned to London in 2009, enthused by the College founders’ vision of education in its broadest sense. Her dream is to find and bring to Alfred the Great girls who are disadvantaged by society so they can inspire and educate women in their turn. As the Chinese proverb says: “Women hold up half the sky.”

Roxane Gaydu

Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9930
email: roxane@boacuk.com

I –I UK Certificates in Grammar Awareness, TEFL, Teaching English to Young Learners, Teaching Business English, Teaching with Limited Resources, Teaching Large Classes, Teaching One to One English, Cultural Awareness in the Classroom and How to Teach Audio and Video Lessons
Roxane came to London from Paris in 2008 to further her teaching qualifications and to live in a city she has always loved. She joined Alfred the Great in August 2010, attracted by the sense of freedom she feels the College offers in encouraging our students to flourish in a modern, multicultural society.

Iván Jurado-Marcos

Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9925
email: ivan@agcuk.com




IT Systems Administration, Superior Institute ‘A Piringalla’ Lugo, Spain
Ivan has extensive experience in designing and administering websites, having run his own IT company in Spain for the past ten years. He moved to London in September 2009, motivated by a desire to grow in his profession. London has always been his favourite city and, a year later, he is seeing his expectations fulfilled. He joined the team at Alfred the Great College in August 2010 and is responsible for the College’s IT department.

Dr. Gisaw Lencho

Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
email: gisaw@agcuk.com


PhD in Education from University of East Anglia, MA in Curriculum Development and Instruction from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, BA in Pedagogics from Addis Ababa University
Gizaw came to the UK in 2003 in pursuit of his PhD, which he completed in 2009 while continuing his career as a lecturer at Addis Ababa University. He left Ethiopia in 2008 because of his political beliefs and was given political asylum. His wife and children have now joined him in London.

Gizaw feels he has “rich experience” in education and recognizes Alfred the Great College’s commitment to developing youngsters who will help shape their countries’ futures and he looks forward to being a part of that process. Gizaw will be overseeing course planning and its development and implementation at Alfred the Great College.

Habiba Aktar

Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
email: habiba@agcuk.com




Supply Teacher
Born and educated in London, Habiba is a recent graduate of Greenwich University, with a BA in Business Studies. Her studies helped her learn to manage several tasks under pressure and to work independently. From a close-knit family, her father’s death two years ago was a defining experience, inspiring her to seek independence and giving her emotional strength and maturity. Habiba came to the College as an intern and is delighted to be back with us, gaining experience in a field that interests her.

Ayoub Ali

Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 856 9923
email: admissions@agcuk.com




Assistant Administrator
Ayoub came to London from Pakistan in 2001 to study Business and IT; marriage and, with it, a desire for a more financial stability, brought him to Alfred the Great College in 2010, inspired by Khurram Shahzad Wirak’s belief in his integrity and what he could bring to the business. Ayoub finds the College the friendliest place he has every worked believes our students will find it a welcoming “home from home”.