Dr Stephen Holmes (B Ed, MBA, M Ed, PhD Education Marketing/Reputation) is Founder and Principal of 5Rs Partnership.

Over the 3 decades, Dr. Holmes has come to be regarded as the most experienced, credentialed consultant with a truly global perspective in evidence-led strategy for the education sector that leads to both education and market success and performance.

Dr. Holmes is also the only full-time consultant in the world with a PhD in the specific field of education marketing and reputation. His pioneering doctoral work in the late 1990s was part of the foundation to the global shift to a market culture in education. Stephen developed the now widely applied 5Rs framework (recruitment, retention, referral, relationships, reputation) in his seminal PhD study to establish a working framework for schools and colleges to become responsive and market oriented in a whole of institution sense.

Dr Holmes has consulted globally with schools and colleges at the highest levels in every continent. Research has always informed his consulting, something that helps to forge trust with education sector clients globally. In 2024/25 alone Dr. Holmes has already been commissioned for major education projects and keynote conference speaking in every continent.

Dr Holmes’ education sector contributions have extended to course development and delivery of masters and professional development courses at leading universities internationally. He is also the author over 20 years ago of a seminal book on education marketing and reputation.

Click here for recent and upcoming conference speaking engagements and click here for recent articles from Stephen.