Level 20, Office 47, Central Park Towers, DIFC, Dubai, U.A.E.

Our Team

You are in good company

Each member of our team is a specialist in their field and your success is their only concern. From our esteemed Phoenix Financial Training lecturers to our management and support staff, we are invested in your progress and will support you in every aspect of your journey from enrolment through to graduation. At Phoenix we always and without compromise put you the student, first.
DAVID THOMASSON

David Thomasson

Executive Chairman/ Founder

David has over 25 years of teaching experience in the UK, Africa, the Gulf, and India. He is a fellow of CIMA and worked in the industry for many years before moving into training in the 1990s where he held senior positions with a leading UK provider. David is the founder and Managing director of Phoenix and specializes in performance management, business analysis and corporate finance.

VICTORIA HARTLEY

Victoria Hartley

Founder

Victoria has over 15 years of teaching experience in the Gulf and India. She is ACCA qualified and previously worked in Audit before moving into the industry - eventually holding the position of Financial Controller at FedEx UK. She founded Phoenix along with David in 2006 and specializes in law, taxation and corporate reporting.

NIKHIL VACHANI

Nikhil Vachani

Managing Director

Nikhil the Managing Director and a Senior Phoenix Financial Training Tutor with 11 years’ experience as a specialist trainer in Financial Accounting, Corporate Reporting and Taxation across all levels of ACCA. Nikhil is a fellow member of the ACCA and UAECA. Prior to joining PhoenixFT, Nikhil was an auditor at KPMG UAE and was involved in the audit teams of companies in the infrastructure, government and health care sectors.

VIGNESH SIVAKUMAR

Vignesh Sivakumar

Operations Director

Vignesh has over 12 years’ experience in teaching, specializing in Corporate Finance, Business Strategy & Performance Management. In addition to having completed the three levels of CFA, Vignesh is ICAI, ACCA, CIMA, CMA and ACT qualified. He is an experienced marker for professional exams and has trained many prize-winners, including those who secured global high scores in the past. Vignesh also manages the International Operations of PhoenixFT.

Audit and Assurance - Preethy Joseph

Preethy Joseph

Senior Lecturer

Preethy Joseph is a Senior Lecturer with PhoenixFT and an ACCA member. Having worked with KPMG for a couple of years as part of their Audit and Assurance team, Preethy is well-versed in Audit both practically and theoretically. She has worked with PhoenixFT for the last 10 years and specialises in Audit, Financial Management and Management Accounting.

SANJAY SAGAR

Sanjay Sagar

Associate Lecturer

Sanjay has been teaching at PhoenixFT since 2013 and specialises in Management Accounting, Financial Management, Corporate Finance and Treasury & Portfolio Management. Sanjay has been a prize-winner in Financial Management and is also involved in professional exam grading for one of the largest global accountancy qualifications.

SARAH KELANI - ASSOCIATE LECTURER

Sarah Kelani

Associate Lecturer

Sarah is ACCA qualified with over 4-years of professional experience in a ‘big four’ auditing firm before joining PhoenixFT as a lecturer in 2015. Sarah specialises in Financial Reporting and Audit bringing her professional experience into the classroom to demonstrate the practicality of the ACCA syllabus while focusing on the best ways to pass the exams.

RONA NINAN - ASSOCIATE LECTURER

Rona Ninan

ASSOCIATE Lecturer

Rona is ACCA qualified and teaches ACCA, CIMA and CFA. She has taught since 2014 and has experience in the Gulf and India. Rona teaches areas such as Business Strategy, Ethics and Law. She previously taught in the Phoenix India center and has been very successful in working closely with and supporting students in getting through their exams.

Abby Ravindran - Associate Lecturer at Phoenix

ABBY RAVINDRAN

Associate Lecturer

Abby has been working with PFT since 2019 and takes pride in providing best support to all our students. She is an ACCA qualified tutor and specialises in Financial Accounting and Taxation. She always strives to create a positive classroom experience helping her students become happier, faster learners.

Business and Technology - Mustufa Ali

Mustufa Ali

Associate Lecturer

Mustufa is a qualified ACCA, with a several years of experience in the finance field. He has worked with several companies in various industries in the past, where his primary focus was on financial modelling, forecasting, and strategic process automation. He teaches the Business Technology, Financial Management, and Strategic Business Leader courses of ACCA, as well as Microsoft Excel workshops

AHMED KHAN - ASSOCIATE LECTURER

Ahmed Khan

Associate Lecturer

Ahmed is an ACCA member with more than 9 years experience in the field of accounting and finance. He specializes in F&B/Hospitality industry, but have also implemented accounting systems for many other industries. Thus, he has the ability to deliver the financial subjects with a holistic view of what goes on in the real world.

Arifa Mulla - Associate Lecturer at Phoenix

Arifa Mulla

ASSOCIATE Lecturer

Arifa is a Certified Management Accountant from IMA (US) with over 5 years of professional accounting experience in Cost Consultancy and FMCG industries in the UAE. She specializes in areas of Management Accounting and Performance Management. She focuses on instilling the key concepts by connecting to real world scenarios for better learning and understanding to help students through their professional careers.

JAMES WINDER

James Winder

Commercial Business Manager

Originally from the UK with a background in customer service and e-commerce, James joined PhoenixFT in 2012 as a Course Manager and became Operations Manager in 2015. James manages many projects across a range of qualifications for both public courses and corporate training programs. James is also responsible for driving forward the development and implementation of PhoenixFT online learning.

LIZZIE MOSS - Office Manager

Lizzie Moss

Operations Manager

Lizzie has 6 years of experience working in the financial training sector. She started her career with one of the leading training providers in the UK as the Manager of their Customer Service Team. She then moved to the UAE two years ago to continue her experience with PhoenixFT. Lizzie is now responsible for the operations of PhoenixFT and is the Account Manager for our key clients.

ANGELINE BERNARDO

Angeline Bernardo

Marketing Executive

Angeline started her journey with PhoenixFT in 2014 as a student. She now works as part of PhoenixFT's customer service team and is committed to serving students and delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Angeline also manages PhoenixFT's online presence and is responsible for external communications to students and other stakeholders.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR - AJIN TONEY

Ajin Toney

Customer Service Administrator

Ajin first joined PhoenixFT as an ACCA student in 2021. Through PSR, he is now also working with PhoenixFT as a Customer Service Administrator. Being a student himself, Ajin works as a link between ACCA students and the PhoenixFT team. Driven by his passion and enthusiasm, Ajin takes pride in providing the best customer support to all our students.