Dr Mark Evans is one of the founders of Penta International, a company that focuses on improving schools through consultancy, inspection, and training services. He also co-founded the FilBrit Training Centre family of companies, which runs centres in the UK, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Romania. Â He is President of the International Council for Education Otherwise Than At School, which celebrates the full diversity of learning opportunities.
Through his companies, Dr Mark Evans and his team aim to help people learn effectively and to achieve excellence. They work with nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and with universities and colleges. They also consult with national and local governments. The companies are based in the UK and focus on education in the UK and Overseas.
Let’s get more information on it through Dr Mark Evans’ words below.
Explain the background of you and the company in detail.
I was a teacher and worked at the university, secondary, primary, nursery, and special needs. After that, I became interested in entrepreneurship and wanted to help people with educational matters. I am always eager that help people learn more and get solutions to their issues. Furthermore, I am a doctor, businessman, and psychologist as well. I was also a principal in the UK and overseas. Later on, I became one of the 5 founders of Penta International, which started in 1996. It’s a company that focuses on a school’s improvement through consultancy, training, and inspection services.
Dr Mark Evans, What are your goals?
My mission has always been about finding the best way to help people learn: I am passionate about lifelong learning for myself and others. I have three Masters degrees and am halfway through my second Doctorate – because learning is fun!
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
I am fortunate to be involved in more than one company, but the strength that runs through them focuses on the individual rather than the average. The critical challenge for all educators is how to achieve excellence for each and every person, young or old. FilBrit Training Centre uses the statement ‘Be the best you can be.’
What was the path you/your company took to get to where you are today?
I am a teacher and a psychologist, before being a businessman. I worked in nursery, primary, secondary, special needs, and university before becoming an entrepreneur. I’ve been a principal in the UK and overseas and loved every minute. So setting up the first company was a very easy step: Penta International is a school improvement company with a strong focus on quality assurance, collaboration, and support.
Why did you start (or want to be the head of) this company?
I started Penta with four colleagues; FilBrit is two of us; the International Council for Education Otherwise Than at School is three. I work best in a team, and being head or not was the reason for setting the companies up – making a positive difference and having fun on the way were the reasons!
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Challenges are always opportunities, too: the financial crisis of 2008/9 and the current pandemic have encouraged us to be almost infinitely flexible. I like Winston Churchill’s comment: ‘Never give in, never give in…in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
Passionate
What makes you excited about Mondays?
The same thing that makes me excited on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and every other day – the idea that today we will make things a little better than they were yesterday.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
Openness to other ideas, the fact that no one has all the answers, but maybe together we can create a better company, school, world.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
When all the schools closed during the first lockdown, we had to take all three of the companies online really fast. It was an exhilarating ride, and actually, what we now provide is better because of the changes we had to make.
What are the strategies of your company, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
We follow our own beliefs: I do take note of what our competitors are doing, but we never follow because I believe that what we do, we do with our whole heart, and it is better than anything else in the marketplace. We create, we lead, and we innovate.
What are the key values that helped you overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career? Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
Values? I think the absolute certainty is that I do not know all the answers, so I’m always listening and learning, and the unstoppable drive to improve is fun and totally engaging.
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
I love to set goals and support the team to achieve them: we are currently looking to be the first homeschool to be recognized by UNICEF, High-Performance Learning, and our provision for Special Educational Needs. I am clear that having good ideas is easy – implementation is essential!
Where is your leadership going? What benefits are your clients getting from your company in this competitive world?
Any and every company needs to innovate and be creative: we can definitely help!
What services/solutions or products are offered by your company at par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
Probably far too many to mention, but we are innovating in terms of maximising the impact of school inspections, developing stronger online learning habits, creating more personalized teaching programs, giving better support for learners with special educational needs – and so on and so on!