Testimonials

I had the pleasure of working under Paul Penfold during my time at BCIS, where he served as Head of School. Paul brought a strong balance of professionalism, energy, and genuine care to the role, creating an environment where both staff and students were encouraged to grow and succeed. What stood out to me most was his forward-thinking mindset and genuine enthusiasm for innovation, particularly around the wider impact and potential of AI. Combined with his approachable leadership style, this created a culture that felt both ambitious and supportive.

Paul possesses a rare ability to immediately recognise the strengths, value, and potential within people. He has an exceptional instinct for understanding where individuals will thrive within a school environment and creates opportunities that allow both staff and students to flourish. His leadership style is deeply people-centred, combining professionalism with genuine care, empathy, and encouragement. He leads with both heart and purpose, creating environments where people feel supported, motivated, and inspired to contribute meaningfully.

Paul is a genuinely people-first leader. He takes the time to listen, gives honest and practical guidance, and backs his staff to grow. He leads with strong values and stands up for the people and principles he believes in. When challenges come up, he approaches them with a calm, solution-focused mindset and a real 'where there's a will, there's a way' attitude. He genuinely cares, and that comes through in the way he supports staff and students.

Paul is, above all, a genuine people person. His leadership is grounded in kindness, empathy, and an instinctive understanding of what schools truly need to function well: trust, care, and strong relationships. As Head of School, Paul is always ready to step in when challenges arise. He does not lead from a distance. He listens, supports, and when necessary, shields his staff so they can focus on teaching and learning with confidence.

I had the pleasure to work with Paul on a Capacity Development of Sri Lanka's Wellness Tourism Industry project. He delivered a high standard work and outputs, much beyond what was expected from our mandate. He is a very dedicated professional, team, client and success-oriented, able to adapt to various counterparts and situations.

Paul worked as short-term expert for a GIZ-funded SDG project in Hanoi, Vietnam. With Paul's team leadership, both assignments were carried out with high professionalism and received very positive feedback from the Vietnamese Government institutions.

From 2015 to 2020, I worked as an Expert Trainer with Paul on the Myanmar Tourism HRD strategy, Government Tourism Training Centre Development and Tourism stakeholders HR development. With his professional guidance, we achieved our organisational targets and I had a lot of opportunity to learn from him. Mr. Paul has great passion in Tourism development and HRD.

I worked with Paul when he was the director of our Institute of International Education. I was impressed by his professionalism and dedication. Together, we built a successful institute and pioneered TNE in Vietnam.

Paul was my boss during his time at NTT Institute of International Education. His guidance, friendliness, and professionalism really motivated and inspired me. He always noticed and appreciated our contributions. His insights really helped put things into new and great perspectives. He's loved by all of the students, staff, and his leaders.

I worked closely with Paul when he was the team leader on the Myanmar Tourism Strategic Recovery Roadmap project. He was an excellent leader and manager, pushing the team in the right direction and making sure that everyone was cared for and motivated at the same time.

Mr. Paul was my Director from 2010–2013. He was so supportive and profound in the education sector — not only in academic but in recruitments and operations. I am happy and grateful for what I have learned from him.

I worked with Paul when he was Team Lead for LuxDev in Myanmar preparing the 2015 Myanmar Tourism Human Resources Development Plan. I was very impressed with his professionalism and disciplined, research-orientated management style. Paul is an excellent project manager and I cannot speak more highly of him as a person and manager.

I worked with Paul for 5 years in Myanmar on the tourism HR capacity building project funded by Lux Development. He was an outstanding colleague with great local relationships and an extensive understanding of the tourism industry. As my direct supervisor I found him both supportive and encouraging in the tricky environment at the time.

Paul is a motivated, forward-thinking tourism consultant and educational technologist. His abilities in leadership make him view solutions rather than problems. Paul possesses a winning combination of solid educational technology skills and business sense. I learned a great deal from him and recommend him wholeheartedly.

I worked under Paul's management to lead the delivery of community-based tourism standards for Myanmar. Paul was a very supportive manager — open to ideas and full of useful suggestions. He has a wealth of experience and a real moral compass. By the end of the assignment I recognised and respected Paul as a worthy mentor.

Paul has a solid approach to development with a vast experience to draw on. He led the multi-stakeholder participatory process under difficult circumstances, with limited time and resources — having a strong, calm, and methodical approach whilst being receptive and open to ideas.

Paul worked with me on the EU-funded Environmentally & Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme in Vietnam. He made a significant contribution to the overall project achievements and demonstrated a sound application of vocational and technical educational principles. Paul is a professional, diligent and well-organized consultant.

Paul is an innovative and inspiring educator, with strong communication skills and a passionate interest in information technology and its use in education. Paul is highly organised, efficient, and a reliable team player. I recommend him without hesitation.

Paul is a highly knowledgeable instructional designer with a creative approach that allowed the company we worked with to develop an outstanding product in the field of education. He consistently executes to an extremely high standard and is always a delight to work with — his enthusiasm is infectious.

Paul was a dedicated individual who has a rich experience at managerial level in both practical and educational organizations. As a Project Manager, Paul demonstrated his leadership in leading the UNWTO-funded curriculum project for Guilin Institute of Tourism to successful completion. I recommend Paul without reservation.

Working with Paul during our time at OnLine Education was a delightful experience. Paul is a collaborative team player who takes a consultative approach to instructional design. His insight and expertise with content added tangible value to the end products. Paul consistently delivered beyond expectations.

I have known Paul Penfold in a work capacity for over 20 years. The consultancy work that Paul undertook on competencies and NVQs produced some excellent learning resources. Paul has an excellent ability to work with colleagues both as a team member and manager.

I spent a considerable amount of time talking and working with Paul and can recommend him highly. He has a profound knowledge of numerous aspects of the tourism industry and also has great expertise with computers and new technologies.

I first met Paul during the beginnings of the 'Open Learning revolution' in the mid-eighties. It was immediately clear that Paul had a complete grasp of distant learning methodologies. Technology may change but Paul has always been able to apply his inherent skills to great effect in the Learning and Development world.

Paul had built an incredibly sound business with a solid base of loyal clients who all show a great deal of respect for his work. His training solutions are always highly tailored to his clients' needs and the participants on his courses always rate his performance very highly.

Paul is a joy to work with and an extremely innovative educator. He is a take-charge person who is able to present creative ideas and communicate the advantages. I witnessed how Paul successfully developed the cutting-edge 'PolyU Virtual Campus and Hotel' on Second Life, making SHTM one of the leading faculties of its kind in the world.

Paul is a mature business person with a strong sense of loyalty and integrity. As a trainer, Paul really 'gets' how technology complements classroom delivery. He is well ahead of the crowd in terms of what web 2.0 can do for teaching and learning.

It was a pleasure to work with Paul on the Outcomes-Based Teaching and Learning Project Team at PolyU. Paul was most attentive to administrative details and efficiently provided helpful support and advice. Paul's excellent people skills enhanced teamwork and communication. He always gave his best, and gave more than asked — an uncommon trait.