About us
Background
Craig Matthews and Irina Tchirkova founded Studycentral in 2006 We are a fair coordinating and consultancy business. Our aim is to help our clients find the best venues to present their services to high achieving students. We believe face-to-face contact between our clients and their potential students is an important part of any marketing strategy. Our fair coordinating business enables our clients to select from our growing portfolio of international education fairs in Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, Russia and the CIS. Our clients receive a bespoke service based on their individual requirements. Our consultancy business is focused on seeking out the best venues and products based on our clients individual brief of their target market.
People
Craig Matthews – Director Craig graduated with a BA(hons) in Business Economics in 2003. He has 4 years experience working with educational clients. Prior to establishing Studycentral he was the Senior Production Editor for Hobsons Plc, working on many of their international print and website publications. Whilst there, Craig was at the forefront of improving the customer experience from a delivery viewpoint. Since setting up Studycentral, he has been instrumental in the development of the Studycentral website and establishing parameters to ensure our customers have a great experience. Irina Tchirkova – Director Irina Tchirkova was born in Novosibirsk, West Siberia, Russia. At 22 she graduated with a BA in English and German from the Pedagogical Institute (Teacher Training University) in Novosibirsk. Shortly after that she moved to St.Petersburg where she worked as an interpreter for a Finnish metal company. In 1994 Irina left Russia for the Netherlands where she became one of the partners who successfully set up a recognised international business specialised in shipping fresh produce to Russia. After leaving her business partnership in 2000, Irina started to work for Ovid Technologies BV, an education and medical information provider, based in Amsterdam. Irina was always determined to start a new endeavour and the right opportunity arrived. After working at Hobsons PLC in the UK, where Irina was responsible for marketing and student recruitment for more than 120 international education clients, Irina and her business partner, Craig Matthews, set up Studycentral Limited online. At Studycentral, Irina is responsible for developing the CIS region as well as other new education markets across the world.
