SUMS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing
- Marketing and Communications Specialist
- Marketing Expert
Adam is a marketing and communications specialist. He brings expertise in strategy development; brand positioning and values development; marketing system/target operating model development (processes reviews and optimisation); organisational structure design; market analysis and research; stakeholder mapping and engagement; and crisis communications to SUMS members and clients.
Adam is a marketing expert with agency and client-side experience in the strategic leadership of marketing and communications operations. Before joining SUMS in 2021, he was Director of Marketing and Communications at Durham University, a member of the University Strategy Development Board (which developed and monitored the progress of the university's strategy to 2027) and was responsible for all marcomms activity and strategy development across the University.
Adam managed the migration at Durham from a purely operational team of 6 in 2006, to its current model as an integrated, strategic, full-service, modern marcomms function of 45+ people and an operating budget of £4m.
Throughout 2018 and 2019 he oversaw the development and implementation of Durham's new brand positioning and associated management systems, brand architecture, and culture change and values alignment strategy.
He has a wealth of experience across all areas of marketing and communications, including internal and external stakeholder engagement and management, employee communications, staff and student recruitment, crisis and major incident management and reviewing and optimising operating models (both people and processes), amongst others.
Adam's greatest skill is being able to quickly get to the heart of an opportunity or problem and develop long-term, sustainable solutions that get results. The more complex and knotty the better.
Outside of work, Adam loves nothing more than working on his small-holding where he is undertaking a long-term project to re-wild a 4-acre paddock. Up-cycling and reusing materials is his other passion, alongside a regular and sometimes punishing exercise routine. He is the Secretary to his local community group which maintains the local area and organises regular community events.
Adam is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM).
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Alex Favier has over a decade of global and political affairs experience and an outstanding track-record of innovation, impact and creativity working for some of the UK's best universities.
Having built award-winning public affairs functions at both the University of Warwick and the University of Nottingham he has developed an international reputation for sector-leadership and collaboration. He has established groups such as the Russell Group Political Affairs Network, the UK Universities Overseas Campus Network and initiatives such as the UPP Civic University Commission, Nottingham in Parliament Day and the Universities for Nottingham civic partnership.
During his time at the University of Nottingham, he established the Institute for Policy and Engagement and served as the Director of Global and Political Affairs between 2018-2022; where he led on UK international government relations, reputation, campaigns and the development of the university's civic strategy and post-Brexit European global engagement and research strategy. He led the University's COVID-19 mutual aid programme and University of Nottingham's Asymptomatic Testing Service in September 2020.
Most recently he has worked on secondment as the Director of International Relations at the Midlands Engine, where he launched the £33bn Midlands Investment Portfolio.
He combines his time on consultancy with his role as the Director of Global Reputation and Partnerships at the University of Nottingham, as Co-Chair of the UK Universities Overseas Campus Network (2021), as the European Representative on the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education's Global Commission (2021) and, most importantly, as the Dad of Ava Favier (2020-present).
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
- Specialist
- Vice - Chair of Governors at Dover Grammar School for Girls
Amy is a specialist in change management, continuous improvement, and strategy review, design and development. She brings expertise in strategic planning and performance management; stakeholder engagement; facilitation and training; individual and team coaching; and process improvement to SUMS members and clients.
As an experienced business and change leader in both strategy and operations, Amy has a demonstrable track record in launching and delivering impactful change initiatives across Higher Education, Healthcare, Financial, Commercial and Regulatory settings.
She operates as a senior advisor, experienced in the review, development and refresh of strategic frameworks, business plans, risk assessment and heatmaps - Amy brings structure to ambiguity. Amy has extensive experience in portfolio, programme and project start-up; delivery and review; leadership of PMO functions; and establishing and driving change portfolio assurance to aid institutions in better understanding the performance of their transformation portfolio.
An experienced coach, people developer and sought-after facilitator, Amy has worked with executive and senior management teams to design, develop and articulate their vision, ambition and strategy. She has also supported the development of target operating models and implementation plans, and in the design and delivery of leadership and people development approaches and cultural change programmes that create communities, release talent and maximise potential for long term sustainability and success.
Amy joins SUMS from Canterbury Christ Church University where she held roles as Deputy Director of Planning & Academic Administration (Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement) and Director of Strategic Change Programmes.
Amy has successfully led operational teams in Higher Education across planning and academic administration including statutory returns and business intelligence, student systems, change projects and continuous improvement.
Passionate about the positive impact of education for all, Amy is Vice-Chair of Governors at Dover Grammar School for Girls. When not supporting organisations with their transformation journeys, Amy enjoys exploring the National Trust's architectural gems with her family.
Amy is a certified Prince2® Practitioner.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Chartered Manager
- Consulting Team
Andrea brings her experience and credibility as a Higher Education leader to SUMS members and clients. She has a well-known reputation across the sector, having worked in it for her entire 27-year career, spanning 5 diverse universities (Russell Group; Post-92s and smaller/specialist institutions). In her most recent role, she was part of the University Executive as Secretary & Registrar and Clerk to the Governing Body. Prior to this, she was an Academic Registrar and also worked at progressive levels of responsibility across a range of university business areas (medical schools, quality assurance (including collaborative provision in the UK and overseas), planning, student services, faculties and registry).
She has a significant depth and breadth of expertise and a proven track record of providing strategic and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio. Andrea has worked successfully at an executive level for 7 years. In her last university role, Andrea led the entire organisation through the pandemic; orchestrating and steering, at pace, the cessation and pivot of operational activities and then the transition back to campus, post and prior to the national lockdowns. Andrea has benefitted from the opportunity to work with a diverse range of multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders with various approaches and personal styles. She builds positive working relations with the appropriate influence in order to achieve operational and strategic objectives. The recommendations on her LinkedIn profile evidence the extent of the impact she has made at each stage in her career.
Andrea has been a Chartered Manager for 13 years. She has an MBA with distinction and completed the Sector's flagship leadership programme ‘Top Management Programme' in 2022 with AdvanceHE. She has led conference sessions, workshops and blogs for the Association of University Administrators (AUA) and sat on a number of panels at national HE sector events. She has served as a NED outside of HE, and currently sits on a number of boards and has held additional roles during her career advising the Office of the Independent and mentoring and then examining on AUA's PG Certificate in Professional Practice (HE Admin and Management).
She is currently involved in a reciprocal mentoring scheme with the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA) with the aim of better understanding the barriers faced by aspiring leaders.
Andrea is a working parent, looking after her two young children and is a keen runner.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Clinical Psychologist
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Angela is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who comes from senior leadership roles in the NHS and Integrated Care System. She has been at the forefront of developing Trauma Informed Approaches in the UK and immersed in system change and compassionate leadership developments.
Angela has worked in Mental Health since 1990 and works to evolve and adapt our processes to actively support the needs of people with trauma and adversity through healthy work based cultures, systems and leadership. She has set up and run a growing network for TI ambassadors across the UK, delivered programmes of change and research and has been on the board of trauma charities.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Ann brings expertise in change management, process review, effective ways of working and sustainability. She has a strong understanding of change management in HE and is passionate about the student experience and making a positive difference to those around her.
After management roles in various Government departments and Further Education colleges, Ann moved into Higher Education with a remit to complete the construction and fitting out of a new campus and the design of the services to be delivered within it. The experience was good and developed a love of building projects, which led to conversions of listed buildings, multi-storey extensions, new builds and a complete refurbishment whilst maintaining access to all services and resources. This, in turn, developed some rather advanced project management skills! She has led Library, Academic and Learning Technology services, created an Academic Skills Service and managed a Student Advice Centre.
She has led reviews into Library Services, Learning Technology and Graduate School departments resulting in changes in jobs, teams, structures and services. She has also worked in the charitable sector, setting up a new Council funded project to support people in receipt of funding from either County Council or NHS to recruit and employ personal assistants to enable a better quality of life. She also established a community support network at the start of the pandemic, which remains active.
Ann Joined SUMS after 20 years working in the HE sector. After taking a career break, her most recent role was to oversee the REF submission for the Open University, resulting in a significant increase in QR funding. She then went on to project manage the programme creating a new working model following the pandemic and finally the sustainability programme.
When not working, Ann is a busy gardener producing fresh vegetables, fruit and eggs from the ex-battery chickens washed down with home made wines and spirits. She is also a keen kayaker and walker.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Anne has been working with SUMS as an associate consultant for over ten years. She has significant experience with Scientia and Semestry products and can assist SUMS members with development of space management policy, reviews of timetabling systems, processes and curriculum complexity, and interim management roles.
Anne has worked in the UK Higher Education sector for over twenty years, starting in university student systems roles and later employed by leading scheduling software suppliers Scientia and Semestry Ltd. Anne set up a full-time consultancy business in 2013 and has worked with scores of universities across the UK.
Anne's main career has been in the HE sector but she has also worked as a school teacher in London, spent three years in Zambia with VSO working with computers in schools and volunteered as an adviser for Citizens Advice.
Anne has obtained the following qualifications: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Leicester University Qualified Secondary School Teacher BA (Hons) Psycholinguistics, Essex University
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Group CEO
- Consulting Team
Bernarde has over 20 years' experience working in partnership with universities to help them make meaningful and impactful changes.
Understanding the complexities and challenges of Higher Education is at the core of what Bernarde does - she thrives when identifying the areas where change will have the most impact. She specialises in business models and benefit realisation and has worked extensively across all areas supporting the student journey. Her HE sector knowledge overlays expert consulting skills and commercial awareness gained from working in the retail sector with Debenhams plc and in manufacturing.
Bernarde is CEO of the company and has oversight of all divisions including Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) and the Procurement Shared Service (PSS) that delivers the Procurement Maturity Assessment (PMA+) Programme to the Higher Education sector.
Bernarde has an MBA and is a Fellow of the AUA.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Brock brings proficiency in data and business analysis to revolutionise ways of thinking and implementing. Through his work, he easily translates big data into relatable and transferable images to help institutions achieve excellent efficiencies. Brock has a passion for finding optimization in any sector and is excited to include everyone in that journey.
Brock joined SUMS as an associate in 2023 after 5 years working in the manufacturing and sales industry. His most recent role was starting and operating his own consultancy company in the US specialising in lean six sigma and change management practices among multiple industries. Brock utilised his technical engineering background to help companies and individuals generate increased revenue, implemented safer and more streamlined operator protocols, and used statistics to showcase best practices and improvements to their sectors. This wave of improvement allows clients the necessary resources and expertise to propel themselves forward.
Brock has a strong understanding of optimization and data analysis. He works with individuals, groups, leaders, and C-level officers to guide cultures and practices to full optimization. He buoys up the business savvy mind of leaders with the technical data findings, giving everyone the best opportunity for successful business decisions.
Brock is passionate about giving his all and being genuine, especially with his family. He recently became a father and is enjoying the new role and responsibilities that follow. He loves watching/playing football and taking his dog on walks.
Cara has over 8 years of experience working in universities on projects characterised by changes to ways of working and using technology to improve the student experience.
She was the Product Owner for the launch of King's College London's Student Services Online platform, and designed a strategy for the university's student-facing content, mapping online resources and then influencing multiple support services and academic faculties to commit to new ways of working.
Prior to joining SUMS in August 2023, Cara worked at The Open University, adapting a change management methodology to support their Student Services Portfolio's agile delivery framework. In addition to caring about how colleagues are supported during change, Cara is passionate about qualitative data analysis, specifically maximising what we can learn from written feedback received from students and staff. She has previously designed and led a Student Feedback Internship, which recruited three students to analyse and produce reports on the trends in their university's NSS and PTES open comments.
An alumnus of The University of Leeds, Cara has a Masters by Research in corpus linguistics and is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner. She is Co-Director of The Skeleton Fund, a Community Interest Company that donates its profits to charitable causes targeting different types of poverty and environmental issues.
Cara lives in South West Scotland and when weather permits, she's outside building a self-sufficient garden with the help of her partner, two dogs and three chickens.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Christian is an accomplished technology & Lean Six Sigma Consultant with 25 years of complex large scale transformation expertise. He scoped, led and delivered numerous business transformations, IT, ERP and outsourcing programmes to a variety of Blue-chip, FTSE 250, public sector and HE organisations.
Extensive ITIL service management, Business Intelligence skills, supply chain & vendor management skills, ranging cross industry (financial services /insurance, manufacturing, software, media, transportation, HE, public sector).
Multi-cultural exposure having worked on projects based in UK, France, Austria, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, and USA. A dynamic people orientated leader, problem solver, accustomed to working under pressure, who establishes credibility through effective delivery. Christian joined SUMS as an associate in 2023 after 25 years in IT services, business process improvement and strategic sourcing solutions across multiple sectors.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Managing Consultant
- Consulting Team
Claire helps universities identify effective and efficient solutions to complex organisational issues using a range of informed approaches.
With expertise in stakeholder engagement, participative process review, quantitative and qualitative benchmarking and activity analysis, Claire translates multifaceted problems into achievable work plans. She has worked in the HE sector for over 16 years and has experience across the breadth of professional and administrative activity within UK universities.
Claire leads our practice in a number of interconnected areas: teaching and learning, timetabling and space management. She is interested in helping Universities make the most of their academic resources, be they academics, technicians, equipment, space, curriculum and even time! Her recent projects include teaching space needs analyses, holistic timetabling reviews, curriculum management (from approval to retirement, through processes, policies and systems) and expanding non-standard teaching activity (e.g. apprenticeships, accelerated, CPD and micro-credentials). She is able to summarise data to provide actionable insights and articulate complex multidimension resourcing challenges to provide clarity for senior managers.
Claire studied maths at Oxford, then worked for Procter & Gamble in IT Systems Management. She completed an MA in Applied Management at Henley Business School after her retirement from international cricket. She still plays cricket every summer for the MCC and sits on a number of committees both local and national.
Job Titles:
- Head of Finance and Administration
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Clare joined SUMS in May 2023 having had professional services leadership roles within four HEIs drawn from different mission groups and over 25 years in the sector.
Her experience is wide ranging and includes academic standards and integrity, plus using market intelligence as a driver for meaningful academic portfolio shifts without undermining QA processes. She understands the executive environment and has worked with Councils, and Executive Boards on effective academic governance and impactful ceremonial events.
In recent years her work has also been student-centric. She can advise Universities on the changing needs and expectations of students so that organisations can develop student spaces and services that make a difference to their students' experience. She has extensive experience in large parts of the linear student lifecycle from registration to graduation. Clients can be assured of insights in student support and wellbeing, and academic infrastructure (curriculum, examinations, timetabling). For the last 2 years Clare has chaired the National ARC Practitioners Group centred on Timetabling but she has also created innovative sector firsts in graduate trainee schemes.
Clare has worked within the sector during uncertain times and changing market conditions and understands the importance of innovation supported by sound strategic leadership of people, processes and policy.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Clare Sion has twenty-six years of proven Human Resources, Organisational Development and HR transformational change experience. She has worked in a variety of senior positions across the public sector in project based roles and Business Partner positions and is currently working in a large University as Deputy Programme Director responsible for a major HR transformational project.
She has spent a considerable proportion of her career in Organisational Design and workforce transformation and in particular has a track record of building personal credibility to influence and gain the trust and confidence across all levels of the organisation and the ability to generate dynamic and innovative solutions for organisational or performance issues.
Clare is very data and evidence driven and extremely passionate about her work and how she can add value to organisations through specific HR interventions.
Clare holds a Master's degree in Human Resource Management and holds chartered membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD),
An experienced mentor, people developer, trainer and facilitator, she is also very interested in helping HR departments articulate their people plans in order to support organisational vision and strategy.
Clare has previously been a Governor at two primary schools and one secondary school, having also been a vice-chair of Governors too. She loves travelling, walking and running in her spare time.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Colin brings expertise in procurement strategy and transformation, category and contract management, supply chain risk management and talent development to SUMS members and clients.
Colin is MBA-qualified with over 25 years' experience at the Procurement Director level across a broad range of sectors and blue-chip organisations including GSK, Pfizer, EY, Lex/RAC, Cancer Research UK and Sony Europe. He has strong HE Sector experience and between 2014 and August 2021 Colin led the Procurement Team at the University of Surrey, operating both within the Public Sector Procurement Regulations and, since 2018, outside of those regulations.
Colin has extensive experience in leading category teams across most indirect spend areas including Estates and FM, IT, STEMed, Professional services, Marketing, HR, and Travel. He is an expert in category management having acted for three years as the Global Head of (Procurement) Functional Excellence at Pfizer, where he developed the global category management processes, tools and training for several hundred procurement staff.
He takes a value-based commercial approach to procurement to help ensure the Procurement Team, working closely with the internal client, identify all the value levers to optimise service levels, minimise risks and reduce costs. This includes implementing specification optimisation, demand management, target cost down budgeting as well as traditional and leading-edge procurement techniques.
The key success factors have been early engagement, full client buy-in and managing the total lifecycle costs including effective contract/supplier management, which are all the areas where Colin has in-depth expertise.
At the University of Surrey, Colin successfully expanded the Procurement Team to provide dedicated procurement support for both IT and Estates, where these colleagues are co-located as business partners with the clients. This has resulted in the procurement function being positioned as trusted advisors, involved in all major projects and punching above their weight when it comes to delivering savings and commercial value-add. Surrey is in the upper quartile for the HE Sector on the key metrics of savings and the percentage spend impacted by procurement.
Colin's success is driven by strong engagement with both senior leaders and colleagues at all levels, through listening to what they need and jointly developing solutions on how Procurement can help them achieve their business goals and value over the short, medium and long term.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Darren is a change and transformation manager with over 20 years experience within HE and several other industries.
Darren has worked with a wide range of Universities both directly and as a supplier delivering strategic and tactical change across processes and systems.
Darren has a strong understanding of the student lifecycle, the business processes and systems that support that journey and the change, programme and project management methodologies that identify and deliver change initiatives.
Darren is passionate about ensuring Universities identify and deliver value, focusing on outcomes and putting the student experience at the centre of what is delivered whilst understanding the broad range of business impacts involved.
Job Titles:
- Managing Consultant
- Consulting Team
David specialises in university transformation, and he has particular expertise in organisation design and the development of fit-for-the-future target operating models.
Previously Director of Operations at one of the UK's largest universities, he led a directorate of 200 staff across the areas of campus administration, strategic projects and change. He has led complex business change projects across the globe with management experience forged in retail and local government as well as higher education. David has a track record of combing cost efficiency, business design and process improvement with culture change and staff development to encourage modern, effective and value for money professional services.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Dawn Munro brings almost 15 years of higher education marketing experience to SUMS, having worked predominantly in student recruitment marketing roles. She has knowledge and experience in both Scotland and England, and at post-1992 and Russell Group universities.
After beginning her career in business tourism, Dawn held a number of student recruitment and marketing project management roles at the University of Nottingham. In her most recent role at Edinburgh Napier University, Dawn was responsible for international student recruitment marketing, conversion for UK and international, and student recruitment market intelligence. In this new role for the University, Dawn built and developed a highly successful team from scratch. Her work in international marketing and conversion strategy development had a direct impact on achieving ambitious international targets for the University.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Alison specialises in student services, mental health, disability, counselling, and academic registry. She is an innovative and strategic thinker who can leverage staff and institutional strengths, underpinned with psychological knowledge, to engage all partners in a shared vision.
Alison joined SUMS in 2019 with significant experience in both the National Health Service and the Higher Education sector.
Louise is a dynamic influential senior leader with 25 years' international experience developing strategy and solutions in the sustainability, social responsibility, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) field. Louise drives bold and transformational change projects, embracing the diversity of people, working through complex problems, and helping teams understanding the whole system.
Louise has 27 years' experience leading sustainability policy making and organisational approaches to sustainability and social responsibility, with a focus on the relationship between the two areas. She has completed a variety of research projects investigating the transition to a low carbon economy, examining climate adaptation and sustainable value creation.
Louise works with organisations to set purposeful strategies, values and behaviours. She collaborates with senior leadership teams as they navigate the complexities of their environmental impacts, including equality and inclusion, community engagement and economic development.
A former Director of Sustainability at the University of Leeds, Louise built its Sustainability Service, supporting over £250m of associated annual research income for advancing sustainability solutions. Louise was responsible for the University's sector-leading 7 Climate Principles, including its commitments towards Net Zero 2030 and Plastics 2023 - reducing carbon emissions by 32%, and removing over 1 million pieces of single use plastic from the University in its first year. These efforts were recognised with the award of 1 st Class classification in the People and Planet University Green League.
Alongside her operational responsibilities, Louise provided academic leadership for sustainability in the curriculum, with over 6,000 students studying sustainability annually through 214 different modules.
Before embarking on a career in higher education, Louise held key sustainability roles with Deloitte, Mott MacDonald, and Sir William Halcrow and Partners. Her hands-on experience included working within the UN Global Compact Framework, leading environmental impact assessments including World Bank funded projects, and acting as an advisor to BP on environmental audits within the oil industry and wastewater operations.
Louise has a positive track record in leading bold and trailblazing commitments, developing highly effective external and internal relationships, across a wide range of sectors and stakeholders. Her unique career pathway gives Louise well rounded insights within and providing consultancy to organisations, bringing together senior and university-wide management, academic teaching, and a strong research portfolio, as well as private sector experience.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
- Specialist
Emma Ogden is a specialist in workforce development, talent management, change management, succession planning, organisation design and development.
Emma brings expertise in Human Resource management and Target Operating Model design, to her role at SUMS. She has worked in senior HR positions at several UK universities and has delivered a complex change project at the British Red Cross. Emma brings experience in managing transformational change, organisation design and development initiatives to her work. She works with all academic and professional services functions to create integrated, co-designed cultures and practices.
Emma is a passionate people practitioner and specialises in workforce development, talent management and succession planning which considers all aspects of equality, diversity, and inclusivity. She works with members and clients to implement sector-leading solutions that respond to the global landscape and are innovative, pragmatic and informed by appropriate insight, legislative and regulatory risk.
Emma's recent projects at SUMS include the design of fit-for-the-future target operating models; an academic development framework; maturity assessment reviews; and audits of HR functions and associated people activity. These have led to improved engagement and a stronger alignment to strategic priorities and values with institutions. She also led a roundtable discussion with Senior Executives and Vice Chancellors in celebration of International Women's Day 2022.
An alumnus of the University of Birmingham and Coventry University, Emma holds a Master's degree in Human Resource Management, holds chartered membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), is a panellist for the Race Equality Charter and serves as a Trustee for a Multi Academy Trust in Nottingham.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
An expert in organisational design, engagement, change consulting and strategy development, Felicity is a well-regarded Associate who has delivered strong results for SUMS Members in an array of HEIs. She is an experienced Marketer and People Professional and her talent both Professional Service disciplines is evident in her assignments.
Felicity joined SUMS in 2019 having been the Head of Marketing Operations at the University of Reading. She runs her own business, Oyster Outcomes Ltd, which specialises in providing education providers of all levels with a range of consulting services. She has recently been the Director of Marketing and External Communications at St George's School in Ascot, and she is currently the Interim Director of Marketing, Communications and Digital Engagement at St Mary's University, Twickenham.
An expert in organisational design and effectiveness, engagement, change consulting and strategy development, she has a strong record in optimising team performance across a range of disciplines including Marketing and People Functions. She is creative, personable and engaging, and enables our Members to work cohesively to pinpoint options and solutions.
She has researched and authored a trilogy of thought leadership pieces during the Covid-19 pandemic, reviewing the impact of CV-19 on admissions, enforced online learning, and graduating through Covid, as well as an in-depth exploration of the impact of enforced remote working on HEI staff. She developed a discussion piece for the University of Cardiff to enable them to explore options to develop OD at the university, supported desktop research with Leeds University Business School to identify distance learning opportunities.
She has worked with SUMS Partner Organisation, Gatenby Sanderson, and Chair of CASE to surface a debate at the University Marketing Forum (UMF) distilling the benefits of increasing equality, diversity and inclusion in HE Marketing Teams. Felicity is an active member of the SUMS CPGs in Change Management, and Student Recruitment & Marketing.
Through her business, Felicity is also a provider of professional coaching to SUMS Members - an embedded strand of SUMS' efficiency and transformation offer. SUMS also directly refers its Members who are seeking Mental Health and Wellbeing Training Solutions (including MHFA England Courses, i-act for positive mental health and wellbeing courses, and bespoke course) to Oyster Outcomes.
Job Titles:
- Procurement Expert - Procurement Shared Service
Job Titles:
- Procurement Expert - Procurement Shared Service
Job Titles:
- Expert and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute
Emily brings a wealth of expertise in apprenticeships, end-point assessments, RoATP and RoEPAO applications; Ofqual recognition and Ofsted readiness to SUMS members and clients.
With over 20 years' experience within the education and training sector, Emily is a highly experienced innovative educational manager with a proven ability and track record in developing apprenticeship provision. Prior to establishing her own consultancy business, she worked in senior and management posts across university and college settings.
Emily is passionate about empowering those she works with to achieve the successful outcomes and maintain long term standards. In recent years this has taken the form of projects and programmes focused on meeting external quality assurance, funding and regulatory requirements across apprenticeship and end-point assessment.
Her strength as a consultant is a result of wide ranging knowledge and ability to use this effectively at operational and strategic levels to bring about impactful change.
Recently Emily has successfully lead and supported the establishment of new end-point assessment organisations, integrated degree apprenticeship provision and on-programme delivery across a range of providers and sectors.
In addition to consultancy work Emily is an Ofqual Subject Matter Expert and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute alongside being a strategic board member for a Training Provider and an End-Point Assessment Organisation.
In her free time she loves visiting the theatre, exploring the Lincolnshire countryside around where she lives, and spending time in her garden.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Programme Manager
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Consulting Team
Sameer specialises in strategic marketing, UK and International student recruitment and communications for the higher education and the not-for-profit sectors. He brings expertise in strategy development and execution particularly by using research, data and analysis to solve complex problems and development of goal-setting frameworks for measuring outcomes. This is complemented by a sound academic foundation and a creative mind with management skills that aim to deliver results.
Sameer brings with him over 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, corporate communications and senior administration within higher education and the not-for-profit sector. His wealth of experience spans senior management roles within UK and international Higher Education institutions as well as at a global not-for-profit organisation.
Sameer has successfully led teams to develop and deliver strategic plans, integrated marketing campaigns, student recruitment strategies for home and overseas markets, research and analysis and effective digital and print communications. He has also been involved in implementing institution and department-wide projects including brand identity mapping, course portfolio evaluations, CRM systems integration, website implementation as well as the setup and delivery of an international Centre for Continuing Education.
Sameer's work has included using strategy development and execution to solve complex problems. These skills have recently been enhanced by studying Strategy Execution at Harvard Business School. Along with his experience, academic strengths and professional networks Sameer brings a strong knowledge of market research and analysis which has ranged in delivering studies on competitor benchmarking, programme analysis and development, pricing studies and using qualitative frameworks to inform brand development and advertising/marketing plans.
Sameer is passionate about education, an advocate for life-long learning and has a keen interest in diversity and inclusion. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his young family, volunteering in the community, reading fast-paced fiction, swimming, travelling and playing badminton.
Job Titles:
- Procurement Expert - Procurement Shared Service