Paul was a Teacher and Senior Manager in schools for 13 years. Following this, he was an Education Officer in Essex,Cleveland, Bucks and subsequently served as Director of Education in Bedfordshire.

In January 2000, Paul became a Director with Serco – a FTSE 150 global government support services company. Responsible for establishing Serco Learning, Paul developed one of the leading education service providers – running inspection, consultancy, training and support services to schools, LEAs and central government. He became Chief Executive of Alpha Plus in 2002 when it was acquired by Sovereign Capital.