Our Office Teams

Managing Director

Paul is Managing Director of ACE, a company that his father, Philip, founded in 1958, and which still retains its family nature. He has an enthusiasm for all aspects of music and the arts and founded Stapleford Granary arts centre near Cambridge, at which the tours company is also based. Paul has an interest in 20th century and, in particular, Scandinavian design. Further afield, he looks forward to returning to Japan and, by contrast, Ethiopia, the ‘roof of Africa' with its rock-hewn churches and extraordinary landscapes.

Director

Mark has worked for specialist travel companies since 1978 and has been a director of ACE since 2011. He has also served as a trustee of the parent charity, The Association for Cultural Exchange, from 2018 until 2024. The varied culture and customs of people and places around the world have always been of professional and personal interest to Mark. He is also a tennis enthusiast playing regularly as well as involved as a tennis administrator for Cambridgeshire. He is also a trustee of a charity that provides adapted tennis programmes to those with physical and learning difficulties.

Commercial Director

Sam joined ACE Cultural Tours in 2016 and oversees the Sales and Marketing teams. Travel has been a consistent passion throughout his life, most memorably including time working in central China and Seoul in South Korea. Outside of work he enjoys going on adventures with his young family both at home and in the sunshine further afield.

Financial Controller

After studying History and Politics at Birmingham University, Nicola moved to Cambridge to qualify as a chartered accountant. Following her passion for finance she honed her skills across small and large scale companies. Years of experience led her to a new and exciting journey at ACE as Financial Controller. Outside of work Nicola values time spent with family and friends. She loves travelling and exploring new places, especially if it involves sampling the fabulous food and good wine! The next place she’d like to tick off on her travel list is Japan.

Sales Team

Barney’s working background is in the publishing and sales industries. He has always loved travel, travelling predominantly in conjunction with wildlife conservation projects so takes particular interest in the nature tours ACE has on offer. Outside of work Barney’s rescue dog takes up the majority of his time as he requires almost three wildlife tours worth of walking every day. Inside of work Barney works with the Sales team making sure ACE travellers are not left saying what the Dickens! but rather making sure ACE continues exceeding great expectations.

Sales Team

Jackie has been with ACE Cultural Tours for 8 years, having previously worked in Hotel Management for 30 years. Originally part of the Finance team, she joined the Sales team last year and loves talking to customers on the phone and hearing their stories. In 2019 Jackie joined ACE’s Rhone Cruise and feels her time with ACE has encouraged a love of travel especially with her family who she hopes to visit Australia with in the future. Jackie lives locally to Stapleford Granary, home of the ACE office, and enjoys the lovely walk to work, except when it rains!

Senior Sales Consultant

Sarah joined ACE in 2008, having previously worked in the travel industry for a number of years. She has joined a couple of tours since working with the company and enjoyed meeting customers travelling with ACE. She particularly enjoys her sales and customer service role chatting to customers every day and working with a lovely team of people. In her spare time she enjoys travelling and spending time with friends and family, especially her grandchildren!

Sales Team Leader

Lindsey has a background in Travel and joined Ace in 2005. Over the years she has been involved in many areas of the company but now heads up the Sales team. In her free time she enjoys cycling and competing at dressage and show jumping with her horse. She thoroughly enjoyed travelling on a previous Douro River cruise tour and would love to travel on any of the Ace Wildlife tours.

Marketing Team & Tour Manager

Beth completed a Master’s degree in Museum studies and worked as a Project Coordinator for a Museum Consultancy before joining the Marketing team at ACE. During her undergraduate studies Beth studied Egyptology and discovered a specific interest in Nubian history. This interest inspired much of her work, such as her dissertation on Roman Iconoclasm in Egypt. Her ultimate goal is to travel through Egypt and Sudan to explore the remaining Ancient Nubian history. Outside of work, Beth enjoys sports such as paddleboarding and running- but only on sunny days!

Marketing Team

George has a background in art and design which he applies to his role within the marketing team overseeing content creation and brand awareness. He is interested in modern art and design history, especially subjects such as the Bauhaus and Modernism. In his free time he enjoys visiting galleries and museums and is also an active member of an educational living history group. One of George’s favourite artists is El Lissitzky.

Head of Product Development

Jane spent much of her childhood travelling to France and – although she's visited many other countries since – the region around Toulouse and Carcassonne remains her favourite part of the world. She discovered ACE after leaving the world of academia and enjoys the combination of organisation, writing, research and creativity that comes with the Product role. Jane particularly loves music and continues to sing with choirs whenever she can, as well as exploring the outdoors and spending time in the wonderful cathedral city of Ely, where she lives.

Product Development Team

Megan studied Ancient Civilisations at the University of Wales where she focused primarily on history in the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent. Her special focus was on the ancient civilisation of the Hittites, often termed the ‘forgotten empire’ and the ‘blank’ spaces in history. After study, Megan moved to Spain where she taught English and Heritage before returning to the UK to be closer to family. In her free time, she enjoys dance, swimming and visiting National Trust sites. She hopes to visit Santorini to see the Akrotiri Frescoes and do an expedition to the Antarctic.

Product Development Team

Rowan studied the History of Art at the University of Bristol and Norwegian art at the
University of Oslo. She loved learning about a diversity of visual culture, from regal
medieval textiles to Munch’s dreamy landscapes, and how aesthetics are intricately
connected when adopting a global perspective. As a product assistant, she enjoys
getting creative through researching and writing, as well as coordinating with tour
directors to devise the perfect itinerary! She loves running, pilates and nature,
especially mountains and wild swimming in lakes. The top 3 travel destinations on
her bucket list are Japan, Switzerland and New Zealand!

Product Development Team

Amelia studied art history at UCL, the Courtauld Institute of Art and Birkbeck, and works at ACE designing the collection of art and architecture tours. With a background in curating, her interests are the country house, art collecting, landscape and garden history, and she is the author of Longford Castle: The Treasures & the Collectors (Unicorn Press, 2017). Amelia enjoys spending time with family in Cornwall, the South Downs, North Norfolk and Scotland, and accompanying occasional ACE tours, the most memorable being Great Art Collections of New England.

Costings & Contracts Manager

Sarah is now the longest serving staff member of ACE Cultural Tours having been given a work experience placement in 1992 and never leaving! She has seen the company grow from only a handful of staff to a full team yet it has still been able to keep its family values. Sarah was lucky enough to join a National Geographic cruise tour to the Galapagos Islands. She also loves the sunshine, one of her favourite countries to visit with her family is Dubai.

Contracting, Insights and Projects Specialist

Nia has been with ACE since 2017 having worked with the sales, operations and now the contracting team. She loves to be active, including playing tennis in her spare time. Nia enjoys being creative, cooking and baking and runs a scented candle business. Nia holds a special place in her heart for Australia and would love to explore Canada on future travels.

Assistant Accountant

After completing her master's degree in HR Management she decided to leave her beloved Land of a Thousand Lakes, Poland, and start a new adventure in England. At ACE she works as an Assistant Accountant and is working towards completing professional qualifications. Privately, she is a huge fan of HotPod Yoga classes and a proud 'mother' of a German Shepherd - Chewbacca.

Health & Safety Advisor

After graduating in Modern Languages & Linguistics, Stefan worked in school travel for many years before joining ACE as Supplier Relations Manager. He now works as Health & Safety advisor for ACE. His interests include gardening, creative writing and opera. Having spent two years living and working in Andalucia, Spain remains his favourite travel destination.

Operations Team

Gill recently joined ACE and works in the Operations team as a tour Co-ordinator. She previously lived in Spain for a number of years and worked in Gibraltar. When she was much younger she spent a number of years living in Arizona and travelling around the west coast of the USA. Gill and her husband are currently spending every holiday exploring Northern Europe. In her spare time Gill enjoys cooking and going to the theatre.

Sales & Operations Manager

Peter joined the ACE team in January 2022 and has been working in the travel industry for over 20 years. He is interested in most sports (football being his main interest), enjoys the outdoors, and spending time with his family and friends.

Operations Team Co-Leader

Since she joined ACE in 2013 Julia has worked in a few departments and currently enjoys working in the Operations team, where she finalises the tour details with suppliers and produces customer tour documents. The variety of ACE tours ensures Julia always has plenty to keep her interested. In her spare time Julia enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking her cocker spaniel and gardening.

Operations Team & Tour Manager

Holly studied Art History at university and loves adventuring to new places around the world so enjoys putting the final touches to tours in her role in the Operations team and travels with ACE in her role as a Tour Manager. She has a particularly soft spot for Italy having lived in Rome for several years and finds it hard to stay away from the country for too long!