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MEET

Our

Team

The Artemis team has worked all over the world and across the education spectrum. Our expertise and experience bring fresh perspective to the opportunities for 21st century private education. We are united by a set of core values in our mission to improve access to outstanding education.

MEET Our

Team

Our team has phenomenal depth and breadth of experience. We combine education industry entrepreneurs with prominent international educators, project management experts with education administration specialists, and international curricula design specialists with sustainable learning space designers.

Our team has phenomenal depth and breadth of experience. We combine education industry entrepreneurs with prominent international educators, project management experts with education administration specialists, and international curricula design specialists with sustainable learning space designers.

Our team has collectively worked all over the world across the private education sector. We are united in one belief, that private education can be done better and that we have a responsibility to our students and families to provide outstanding education.

Our team has collectively worked all over the world across the private education sector. We are united in one belief, that private education can be done better and that we have a responsibility to our students and families to provide outstanding education.
Niall
Brennan
Chief Executive
Officer
Tom
Lloyd Owen
Chief Operating
Officer
Nick
Evans
Chief
Development Officer
Mike
Paterson
Chief Finance
Officer
Nicholas
Barclay
General
Counsel
Zein
Balhas
Head of
Corporate Finance
Charlie
Eastwood
Special Projects
Officer
John
Baugh
Chief Education
Officer
Darren
Acomb
Director of
Education
Andrew
Egan
Chief Finance
Officer
Andy
Coomer
Head of
Experience
Bruno
Thibault
Project
Director
Nivin El Aawar
Head of
Admissions
Amel
Ibrahim
Head of People
Paulien Bay Christensen
Group Head
of Marketing
Samar Puech
Deputy Head
of Marketing
Diana Santos
Group Finance
Manager
Luísa
Dos Santos
Finance
Director
Dominick Kelly
Group Head
of Estates
Jason Kaile
Head of Facilities
Management

MEET Our

Team

Our team has phenomenal depth and breadth of experience. We combine education industry entrepreneurs with prominent international educators, project management experts with education administration specialists, and international curricula design specialists with sustainable learning space designers.

Our team has collectively worked all over the world across the private education sector. We are united in one belief, that private education can be done better and that we have a responsibility to our students and families to provide outstanding education.

Niall
Brennan
Chief Executive
Officer
Tom
Lloyd Owen
Chief Operating
Officer
Nick
Evans
Chief
Development Officer
Mike
Paterson
Chief Finance Officer
Nicholas
Barclay
General
Counsel
Zein
Balhas
Head of
Corporate Finance
Charlie
Eastwood
Special Projects
Officer
John
Baugh
Chief Education
Officer
Darren
Acomb
Regional Director of Education
Andrew
Egan
Director of Schools
Andy
Coomer
Head of
Experience
Bruno
Thibault
Project
Director
Nivin
El Aawar
Head of
Admissions
Amel
Ibrahim
Head of People
Paulien Bay
Christensen
Group Head
of Marketing
Samar Puech
Deputy Head of
Marketing
Diana
Santos
Group Finance
Manager
Luísa
Dos Santos
Finance
Director
Dominick
Kelly
Group Head
of Estates
Jason
Kaile
Head of Facilities
Management
Address

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+351925572669

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NIALL BRENNAN CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Following a distinguished military career and three years as Private Secretary to Sir Jackie Stewart, Niall joined Park House English School in Qatar in 2008 and was Chief Executive from 2011. Niall secured and co-led the exit from Park House in 2016. He then founded the Saracen group of companies, a diverse education-centred group, designing and delivering schools across the region, consulting and advising on all aspects of education to a variety of clients and designing, implementing, and operating a range of education support businesses. Niall founded Artemis Education, a dedicated schools operator business, in 2019 completing a multi-million dollar fundraise to establish the business. In 2020 Artemis completed their second raise and now have operations underway in several countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Niall has a deep understanding of every facet of the business of education and is widely considered an educational expert in the K-12 space. He has a proven capability of delivering across all aspects of design, delivery, start-up and onward operation as well as M&A.
Tom Lloyd Owen
Chief Operations Officer

Tom has spent the last few years immersed in building businesses and education facilities in the Middle East, his experience of running companies and delivering complex projects on time and on budget has proved invaluable in the creation of Artemis Education and its projects to date. Having spent seven years in the British Army and three years as a Ship Broker, Tom went on to co-found a successful events company in London overseeing the rapid growth from start-up to an award-winning business before joining the team in Qatar in 2017.

Tom has run businesses all over the world and brings a huge amount of operational experience as well as a deep knowledge of project and complex programme management. Tom leads the day to day running of Artemis as its grows from a start-up employing a team of 6 to be one of the most exciting school operators with multiple schools across Europe and the Middle East.

He has led Artemis Education’s project team to successfully deliver Doha’s first Super School, controlling every single aspect of the construction project from the design phase, through to delivery and fit-out. As Artemis Education builds and acquires its own portfolio of schools across the EMEA region Tom is responsible for each project’s scheduling and delivery.

Nick Evans
Chief Development Officer

Nick has over 30 years’ experience in education, working across a range of interesting roles and initiatives, as a teacher, business analyst, education publisher and consultant. His career has included content and programme development, partnering, business turnarounds and school improvement projects, and his wealth of experience allows him to bring both empathy and a commercial outlook to his role.

He enjoys the experience of being part of a growing organisation and is attracted by the group’s values. Nick sees his role as more than implementing a sound strategic vision, but about the immediate difference that amazing teaching and learning experiences make to children’s lives.

Prior to joining Artemis Education, Nick was CEO of an international schools group.

Mike Paterson
Chief Finance Officer

Mike leads the finance organisation at Artemis Education, bringing a wealth of expertise and global experience to the role. A Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor, Mike holds a degree in Accounting and Finance. He began his career with KPMG in the UK and Ernst & Young in Saudi Arabia, before advancing to senior finance positions at Marconi, Ericsson, and Airbus.

With 24 years of experience in the Gulf region, including a decade in Saudi Arabia, Mike served as Country CFO for Airbus in Qatar from 2012. His specialties include cost management, taxation, statutory reporting, and compliance. Recognised for his deep expertise, Mike has been called upon as an expert witness in high-profile cases involving corporate bribery and fraud.

Nicholas Barclay
General Counsel

Nicholas’ role involves setting up and managing the corporate structure of our group, and to structure and negotiate new school acquisitions.

He previously worked in London and the Middle East for a broad range of clients, from large international organisations to family offices, making him ideally placed to deal with the challenges and opportunities Artemis faces establishing an international network of schools.

Nicholas comes from a legal background and trained at a prestigious firm in London and New York. He then spent 20 years working at leading international law firms in London, the UAE and Qatar, including as a partner at a top London mergers and acquisitions practice for seven years, where he specialised in corporate real estate transactions.

Nicholas has an LLB from the University of Bristol and an LLM from the University of Chicago, and is qualified to practice in England and Wales, and New York.

Zein Balhas
Head of Corporate Finance

Zein has more than 8 years of experience working in the accounting, auditing, tax and consulting fields. He also has more than 4 years of experience in valuation services in the Middle East.

He is the founder of Al-Mukhtar for Accounting and Auditing, a Beirut based firm specialised in financial, tax and legal consultancy. He is also the co-founder and the managing partner of the Institute for Financial Analysts (IFA) a firm specialising in preparatory courses and seminars for professional designations.

Charlie Eastwood
Special Projects Officer

Charlie completed a 28 year career working around the world on training, operations and numerous staff roles in the British Army, leaving in 2012. He moved from there to join Serco’s Middle East division and there spent 10 years developing and delivering professional military education to the Armed Services, Amiri Guard and Lekhwiya as well as being Qatar’s Country Manager. Latterly he filled a variety of Programme Director roles for Serco in Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Charlie has extensive experience in the planning and delivery of complex operations, projects and programmes. He joined Artemis in 2024 as a Special Projects Officer, initially with responsibility for launching their operations in Saudi Arabia. As Artemis expands Charlie is responsible for the establishment of regional hubs in order to facilitate projects and, subsequently, operations.

John Baugh
Chief Education Officer

A headmaster in UK prep schools for over 30 years, John brings a wealth of education leadership experience, detailed curriculum construction and implementation, and Senior Leadership Team Management to his role of Chief Education Officer.

John’s advisory expertise has benefitted a number of organisations. He’s served as a member of the Independent Preparatory Schools Association Governing Council and Chairman of their education committee, and as Chairman of the UK Boarding Schools’ Association. John’s articles and papers have featured in educational journals and publications and he is a regular speaker at educational conferences. He has undertaken inspections for the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).

John is currently an advisor to Jinseki International School, Japan, and the Akademeia Educational Group, Poland. In recent years, he served as Executive Director of St Andrew’s School, Kenya.

Darren Acomb
Director of Education

Darren has worked in international education for over 20 years, leading school and curriculum development in institutions across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In addition, he has served as an accreditation team member for numerous international education accreditation organisations.

At Artemis Education, he will be focused on identifying new school opportunities, as well as supporting existing Artemis schools to build capability and further excellence.

Andrew Egan
Director of Schools

Mr. Andrew Egan was born in Bristol, England in 1965.
Educated at Bristol, Oxford and Manchester, he holds both first and higher degrees in Theology, Divinity and Education. After a period of study towards ordained ministry as well as two interesting years working as a chef he began teaching, Religious Education, History and Physical Education in 1989. Having served as a highly successful teacher and school leader in the UK, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Pakistan as well as in both West and East Africa, he believes the challenge to every school leader is to enhance and develop a school’s reputation by establishing the school as a centre of excellence from which the wider community as well as existing students and staff can benefit, in short, to establish and maintain a truly outstanding learning community whilst ensuring that the complete development of the school is exceptionally well managed.

Andrew sees our work in education as a vocation and central to this must be “human flourishing” ‘a concern for the development of the whole person’ (Body, Mind & Soul) which he believes is the primary aim of education. At the heart of this is ‘E-ducere’, this refers to ‘drawing out’ a person’s inner self, what they have in their heart, what they do not now know especially about themselves and their life’s potential.

Working alongside colleagues, he has helped young people flourish and grow in a climate of high expectation supported by love and clarity of objective, through good quality spiritual, physical and moral education, as well as outstanding academic challenge. 

Andrew is an expert in the field of the Continuing Professional Development of Teachers, Curriculum Leadership and Assessment and has acted as a consultant to the UK government in this respect as well as a special adviser on Assessment and Reporting in Religious Education. He is a published author both in the UK and in the US, his work comprising mainly Religious Education textbooks; his particular specialism being the Religions of Christianity and Islam. He joins Artemis from Al Muntazir Islamic International School, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where he was Director of School.

Andrew’s UK base is in Cornwall in the far Southwest of England. He enjoys reading, language learning, skiing and surfing. He is married to Joanne, an Artist and they are blessed with two grown up daughters, Olivia and Lucy.

Andy Coomer
Head of Experience

Andy’s role focuses on the students in our Artemis Education schools. He develops options for them outside the classroom, bringing together physical, creative, academic and community strands as the basis for his experience model. He will support senior leadership teams across our group by creating varied and engaging opportunities for our school communities.

Andy started his education career at a prep school in England, and went on to spend 13 years teaching in international schools in Qatar, Oman, UK and China as a Head of Physical Education. He most recently taught at Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong and also spent time in the independent sector at Blundell’s School in the UK.

While in Qatar, Andy worked at Park House English School where he successfully formed and developed different sporting academies and pathways. During this time, he organised and fundraised for two charity projects in Kathmandu, Nepal, and in Tamil Nadu, India, with the backing and support of the school community.

Bruno Thibault
Project Director

Bruno brings 20 years’ experience as a lead project manager and interior architect in the construction industry to his role as Project Director, spanning ambitious projects in education, luxury hotels and airports.

Bruno’s expertise has focused on educational facilities where he managed the three-phase reconstruction of the Lycée Bonaparte, the French Embassy School in Doha, where he was responsible for the complete site from a 1,000 child capacity to a 2,000 child capacity school through a rolling construction and fit out over three years whilst the school remained operational, handing over the finished project within time and budget.

Bruno began his career in the construction industry in France, where he led large-scale projects such as the renovation of the Chateau de Versailles and building facilities for Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Air France.

Bruno holds degrees in Interior Architecture and Computer Science.

Nivin El Aawar
Head of Admissions
A Lebanese entrepreneur and educator, with a diverse international work experience of 25 years among the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Completed a Master of Science in “Organisational & Business Psychology” at the University of Liverpool, currently finalizing my thesis for a second Master’s Program in “Educational Psychology” at the American University of Beirut. Preparing for a doctorate degree in Sociolinguistic at the University of Liverpool.
Amel Ibrahim
Head of People

With eight years of HR experience in Qatar and seven years in international schools, Amel oversees Human Resources activities, policies, and programmes within the organisation and is dedicated to fostering a strong and supportive environment for staff at Artemis Education. Originally from Egypt, she has been living in Qatar since 2009 and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Amel has a Professional Human Resources Certification from Human Resources Certification Institute. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing sports and spending quality time with her daughters.

Paulien Bay Christensen
Group Head of Marketing

Paulien Bay Christensen is an accomplished marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, advertising, and corporate communications. As the Group Head of Marketing at Artemis Education, she leads a dynamic team in redefining the future of education, elevating brand visibility, and promoting the transformative power of education.

Before her role at Artemis Education, Paulien played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Doha Family Guide, a widely recognised parenting magazine in Qatar. As one of its founders, she was responsible for creating a trusted platform for parents, offering resources and support to the local community. Her leadership and vision helped the magazine grow into a vital publication for families across the region.

With a strong foundation in corporate communications, digital marketing (inbound + outbound), and media planning (SEO/PPC/E-commerce), Paulien brings a global perspective to her work, crafting innovative marketing strategies that drive brand awareness and growth. She is passionate about working with people who share her belief in continuous improvement and a positive attitude.

Samar Puech
Deputy Head of Marketing

Samar Puech is an accomplished marketing professional with extensive experience, particularly in the international education sector. Her innovative strategies and commitment to storytelling have been key in engaging diverse audiences, fostering brand loyalty, and driving customer retention. With a strong focus on digital marketing, she has led impactful campaigns that resonate with multiple target groups and enhance brand visibility.

Samar holds a Master’s in Communication and Marketing from the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. She began her career in marketing and admissions with the opening of a new school in Doha, excelling in developing effective marketing and admissions strategies, which contributed to it becoming the most successful school launch in the city at the time. She then worked at a prestigious international day and boarding school in Dubai before returning to Doha.

Since January 2024, Samar has been Deputy Head of Marketing for Artemis Education Group, overseeing marketing operations across the group’s schools. She works closely with the Head of Marketing to align strategies with recruitment and admissions goals, ensuring consistency across campaigns and fostering collaboration between departments. Her data-driven approach and leadership have solidified her reputation as a dynamic marketing leader.

Fluent in French and English, Samar’s multilingual skills and strategic thinking continue to fuel her success in a fast-paced educational landscape.

Diana Santos
Group Finance Manager
Diana Santos joined Artemis in August 2024, after 5 years as Finance Manager at ACS Doha. She brings multicultural experience from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. Diana has over 16 years’ experience with international companies, in education, service and manufacturing sectors, which has sharpened her diverse skills of promoting positive change and making things happen. She is passionate about continuous improvement, company sustainability and adding value to organizations. Diana graduated from the University of Porto and completed her post-graduate degree in Finance and Taxation at Porto Business School. As a Finance Manager, a mom and a wife, she values time quality over quantity.
Luísa Dos Santos
Finance Director

Luísa, an accomplished professional in the field of management and accounting, has honed her skills over the past two decades in Portugal with leading organizations such as Deloitte, Sun Microsystems, Carrier, and Sodexo. She holds a degree in economics and an Executive MBA and is fluent in three languages. Her primary focus at Artemis Education is to manage the day-to-day financial operations, establish policies and procedures, and oversee the company’s financial performance.

With extensive experience in corporate tax, intercompany subjects, and internal controls, Luísa brings a wealth of knowledge to her role at Artemis Education, which has operations underway in several countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Dominick Kelly
Group Head of Estates

Dominick is a highly accomplished leader of Estates and Facilities, with over 30 years of senior-level experience leading the management of Estates and Facilities for several large-scale, complex property portfolios in the commercial sector. Establishing a change management consultancy brought opportunities for him to specialize in driving business improvement within the education sector, working with prestigious museum groups, a global university portfolio, and international school networks across the UK and the Middle East.

Originally trained as an engineer, Dominick spent a decade in the military, where he developed sharp analytical and technical skills. These, combined with his business-improvement consultancy experience, make him exceptionally well-suited to his current role, where he leads the development and management of Estates and Facilities operations for the rapidly growing international portfolio of Artemis Education Schools.

Jason Kaile
Head of Facilities Management

With nearly two decades of experience managing facilities & maintenance departments across international schools in the Middle East, Jason ensures that the facility operations of all Artemis campuses are run to a very high standard.

Jason’s expertise enables the Artemis mission of providing a high-quality learning environment by ensuring every campus operates smoothly and cost-effectively, leading teams of support staff and contractors to ensure a safe, secure, and productive space for all students and staff.