When Robert Owen, then a long-standing governor of the famous Repton School in Derbyshire, held an impromptu discussion with a Dubai-based  investor back in 2004, he could hardly have imagined that this would be the start of a remarkable journey. The following years saw Robert and his team of dedicated professionals, led by Tony, set up further schools for Repton in the UAE, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Egypt. Many other UK schools followed in their footsteps and the international schools market is now a great UK export story bringing world-class education to far-flung corners of the world.

In each case, our aim was to translate the values and essence of the parent school into the overseas location in a creative process delivering the best teaching and learning whilst respecting and assimilating the local culture and context.

After fifty years of collective experience in setting up international schools, the team became independent and established Minerva in 2020 to work with new partners and allow them to benefit from the lessons we had learned. Our strengths lie in the wide array of skills we bring to the table. We bring commercial and financial skills, pedagogical expertise, teacher-training, practical operational knowledge as well as design and planning skills. Each aspect of establishing an overseas operation is therefore covered by people who are not only highly knowledgeable but who are also passionate about delivering the very best educational experience for our pupils.