Debbie Gispan
Debbie was educated within the independent sector and attended a UK boarding school during her teenage years. She studied for her bachelor’s degree at UCL and later completed an MSc in International Business from the University of London. Having graduated, Debbie spent several years working in investment banking. During her time in the City and armed with an already extensive skill set, she developed strong logistical and management tools which enabled her to support her discerning clientele who had high expectations in all areas. Taking a break from the city at the end of 2010, Debbie spent several years living in West Africa. While there, Debbie began to notice a distinct lack of quality of independent educational advice for families who were considering sending their children to the UK for their education. Determined to improve on the quality of advice available and driven by a passion for education forged from her own experience of school admissions, Debbie and her partner Nicky set about co-founding an educational lifestyle service company, with education as its principal focus. Panoba Ltd was established in 2014 when Debbie returned to the UK to settle her own children into their secondary schools. In 2019 Debbie returned to Nigeria to set up a West Africa office located in Abuja.
Nicky Sakpoba
Nicky was educated at an independent girls’ day school in West London, and continued on to study for her Bachelor’s degree in European Languages at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Nicky’s career started in the luxury hotel industry, where she spent the initial 10 years of her career in management roles in a number of London’s most prestigious five-star hotels. She went on to spend the following 12 years of her career in senior marketing roles within the London commercial property sector. As a mother of two teenage children, Nicky has been through the school search and selection process herself from prep schools through to sixth form, and co-founding Panoba in 2014 was a natural extension of her personal experiences. Nicky has a passion for offering overseas families sound and honest advice, together with a handholding service to navigate the complexities of the UK education system and the school admissions process. Recognising that each child is unique, a bespoke approach is taken to each family Panoba works with, ensuring that the final choice of school is centred around an understanding of the student and what will suit them best. Nicky lives in North London with her family and runs the Panoba UK office.