The IBD Partnership Group chief executive discusses building an international education business around opportunity, resilience and cultural understanding.
Entrepreneur Prime’s latest print edition features Raja Ali, Group Chief Executive of The IBD Partnership Group, alongside business style, leadership reading and entrepreneurial insight. His cover interview explores the relationships and resolve behind an organisation dedicated to widening educational opportunity.
Entrepreneur Prime has unveiled Issue 13, featuring Raja Ali on the cover under the theme ‘Building Bridges. Shaping Futures.’ The new edition brings together entrepreneurial perspectives, leadership insight and the stories behind businesses with a wider social purpose.
Ali, Group Chief Executive of The IBD Partnership Group, leads the cover conversation with an account of developing a business from his bedroom into an international organisation. In the interview, he says the group has grown to eight offices and supported more than 60,000 learners since its establishment in 2005. These figures are his account of the organisation’s development.
The interview considers what growth means when a business helps young people gain experience abroad. Ali discusses cultural understanding, access for disadvantaged learners and the trust required to sustain partnerships across borders.
Enterprise with a human purpose
‘For me, success means breaking down barriers, creating opportunities and inspiring positive change,’ Ali tells Entrepreneur Prime. His emphasis falls on the confidence and relationships that international education can help people develop, alongside professional skills.
He also reflects on the disruption Brexit brought to the group’s UK operations and describes responding by developing partnerships and pursuing opportunities in other European markets. ‘Leadership is not about avoiding setbacks; it is about how you respond to them,’ he says.
That perspective gives the cover feature its central thread: commercial resilience and educational purpose can reinforce one another when a team has a clear reason to keep adapting.
Inside Issue 13
The edition also includes the autumn/winter Business Style Report, Leaders’ Literature, insights and inspiration, and Ineke Nugteren’s journey from intensive care to functional food.
According to the publisher, Entrepreneur Prime is available in print across tens of countries through thousands of retail platforms. Availability, price and delivery depend on the retailer and destination. Readers can explore Issue 13 and its retailer searches using ISBN 9781642264777.
Interview highlights
- Ali’s account of growing a bedroom business into an organisation with eight offices.
- More than 60,000 learners supported since 2005, according to Ali.
- Building international partnerships through listening and mutual respect.
- Responding to disruption while retaining a commitment to educational access.
“Leadership is not about avoiding setbacks; it is about how you respond to them.”
Raja Ali, speaking to Entrepreneur Prime
Read the original Raja Ali interview in Entrepreneur Prime and explore Issue 13.
Company: The IBD Partnership Group.
