Meet The Team
Danny Kenward, Director of Summer School
Danny brings over 15 years of sector-specific leadership to his role as Director of Bede’s Summer School, driving the strategic, commercial, and operational direction of the institution. Returning to Bede’s following senior operational appointments across the international education sector, he possesses end-to-end expertise in scaling global student programmes, optimizing multi-site logistics, regulatory H&S compliance, and international market development.
Danny’s strategic approach is grounded in strong commercial and financial roots. Beginning his career in corporate finance within the freight forwarding industry, he progressed to HR and Commercial Manager, where he oversaw full-scope HR governance, multi-site estate management, and enterprise logistics.
As a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), Danny balances high-level commercial growth with a steadfast commitment to regulatory excellence and student welfare. Outside of his professional portfolio, he is a passionate musician (piano and guitar), a football enthusiast, and dedicated family man.
Contact: danny.kenward@bedes.org
Alicja Penrose, Operations, Marketing and Academic Manager
Alicja has a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and has been working as an EFL teacher, Director of Studies and teacher trainer in Poland, Spain and the UK for nearly 20 years. Prior to Bede’s, Alicja spent 10 years working for a big summer school provider in the UK and Malta at centre level, and it is where she was first introduced to the study and travel industry. With a BA degree in Marketing and Advertising, she is adding a new face to Bede’s on social media and in publicity materials. In her free time, Alicja enjoys exploring new places and capturing them on camera, learning new languages and spending time in global communities. She is also committed to life-long learning and keen on further developing her TEFL-Q and safeguarding qualifications. Alicja is also one of the Designated Safeguarding Leads. alicja.penrose@bedes.org
Neil Firman, Admissions Manager
Neil has a degree in French and has previously worked in the fields of multilingual customer service and ESL teaching. Prior to joining Bede’s, Neil spent 11 years working as an English teacher in Japan for a private English conversation school, where he taught both adults and children at over 40 branch school locations across the country. As the Admissions Manager, Neil's responsibilities include promoting Bede’s Summer Courses and managing enrolments and enquiries related to bookings and payments. In his spare time, Neil enjoys reading, swimming, watching films, spending time with his daughter Frida and studying foreign languages. He is also teaching himself programming with Python at a beginner level. neil.firman@bedes.org
Tracey Cook, Admissions and Sales Officer
Tracey has 20 years experience in private language schools, in both teaching and management, and has a Cambridge DELTA and a DELTM. Tracey lived in Hong Kong, Singapore and Finland and prior to joining the EFL industry held positions in marketing agencies with international clients. Now at Bede's, she is enjoying her role supporting the Admissions and Sales Departments, marketing high quality eduational programmes. Tracey loves spending time on and in water and, when possible, taking her boat on the river Thames. tracey.cook@bedes.org
Ana Sadler, Recruitment and Onboarding Assistant
Ana has a degree in Chinese Studies, part of which included studying Mandarin for a year at a university in Beijing, China. Summer School is a new venture for Ana, having started in the Admissions Department as Admissions Executive, helping deal with booking enquires and enrolments, now moved on to join the Recruitment Team as Recruitment and Onboarding Assistant. Outside of work, Ana loves agility training with her dog and teaching herself to crochet. ana.sadler@bedes.org