About Michael Painter
I grew up in Jersey, Channel Islands. Outside, on the beach, in the waves. My dad designed houses, shaped surfboards and read the ocean. My mum taught primary school and played music. Between them, they gave me everything I needed. What follows is the story of how a surfer kid with a head full of music and a love of making things ended up building schools, scaling businesses, and finding his own way — on his own terms.
Learning to Read the Water
Growing up · Jersey, C.I.Jersey in the 1980s and 90s was a particular kind of childhood. The ocean was everywhere — my dad designed houses, surfed, shaped boards, and taught me to read a swell before I could read a book. My mum, a primary school teacher, gave me a love of learning and people. Between the two of them, I developed an instinct for both making things and understanding them. I picked up instruments early — guitar, piano, and others — played in bands, performed in orchestras. At A-level I studied Maths, Physics, Media and Graphics. Creative and analytical in equal measure.
First Sessions
2002–2008 · Portsmouth & PlymouthI crossed to England to study a BSc in Entertainment Technologies at Portsmouth, then a PGCE at Plymouth. My early career was split in two: by day, lecturing and working as a technician at Plymouth City College on their modern music course. By night and weekends, touring the south coast with a band, recording albums, freelancing as a live sound and studio engineer. Surfer towns and music venues. The best education I ever had.
Choosing Your Wave
2008–2016 · StaffordIn 2008 I joined Stafford College (an FE College in the Midlands for young people aged 16+ and adults), setting up their modern music practice course and lecturing in music technology and media. Over eight years I was promoted from curriculum leader to faculty manager and eventually to head of the faculty of creative industries (which was graded Outstanding by Ofsted under my leadership). A key moment for me was in 2010, when a band I was playing guitar in — Terracotta Army — was offered the chance to sign a development deal with Sony. I turned it down. Not out of fear, but because teaching felt more like me. More purposeful. More alive. At Stafford I learned about business management and administration, organisational efficiency, developing teams, building partnerships, and the politics of the board room.
"I could see the wave. It was a good one. But I knew, somewhere deep down, it wasn't mine."
Paddling Out
2016–2021 · BirminghamIn 2016 I joined BOA (one of the UK's most prestigious music and arts academies) as Assistant Principal. I transformed the digital, creative arts and music departments, elevated events and partnerships, and played a central role in pushing BOA to the top of the national league tables. It was here I became an expert in data systems, assessment, and causal analysis. When BOA expanded into a multi-academy trust, I became Group Director — working closely with the founding CEO and two inspirational Principal Designates to design two new academies from the ground up: BOA Digital and BOA Stage and Screen Production Academy. Everything from a blank piece of paper.
Out the Back
2021–2025 · Birmingham"We were a small team doing extraordinary things. That's always been where I'm happiest."
Back to the Beach
2025–Now · IndependentFinancial pressures across the academy sector, a change in leadership and a divergence in values brought my time in the academised education to a close. I stepped down gracefully and founded Painter & Partners Ltd. Since then I've worked with Vault X — a fast-scaling consumer brand in Poole, helping build their team, systems and processes, set up a Brazilian subsidiary and develop and patent a new app. I've also been advising the founder of Threewise Entertainment (known for Rock Island Mysteries) as they navigate an exciting creative pivot. My wife and I are currently developing a new venture called 'Painting Brighter Futures', which is an outreach and creative/physical education programme for young people who struggle to access school — alongside e-learning work, releasing music from my back catalogue, and preparing a book.
Client — Vault X
Started by four friends in a garage in Poole — including Pete Morris, my best man and former bandmate — Vault X has grown into the UK's leading premium trading card accessories brand, with 30 employees, their own building, and operations across every corner of the globe. Their values: be better, be different, be kind. Painter & Partners provide Vault X with strategic advisory support, transformation programme management, and project management services.
Client — Threewise Entertainment
Known for Rock Island Mysteries, Threewise were one of the very first industry partners I brought into BOA Stage and Screen, before the academy even opened its doors. Now moving into more innovative territory (new forms, new funding mechanisms), in my new role I've had the privilege of advising the founder on how to manage this evolution in a structured, programmatic way, building out a programme brief, plan and execution strategy, which I am also supporting to implement.
New Venture — Painting Brighter Futures
Founded to address the growing "missing middle" in education, Painting Brighter Futures supports young people who have quietly disengaged from learning and lost belief in their future. These "BRIGHT learners" — those facing Barriers Restricting Independence, Growth, Hope & Transition — often fall between traditional support thresholds, leaving them unseen and unsupported. Through targeted tutoring, flexible learner pathways, and future-readiness programmes, Painting Brighter Futures partners with schools, colleges and local authorities to identify these learners early, rebuild confidence and direction, and reignite motivation through shared passions — including music, arts and sport — reconnecting them with meaningful opportunities and a future they can believe in.
"Vault X remind me of the early days at BOA Stage and Screen — a small team, huge ambition, the courage to be different and the kindness to do it right."
"Painter & Partners don't just advise — they make it happen."
Pete Morris
CEO & Founder, Vault X
"I still surf. I still write music. I still believe the best work comes from people who care deeply about what they're building."Start the Conversation →
