With the drive from government for universities and higher education providers to be more efficient and share services and resources where possible, we've invited a number of shared service or sector-owned service providers to give you their 'pitch' about the service they provide. What do they provide? Why is it better than providing it yourself in-house or buying from a commercial provider? What are the benefits of joining the other universities already using that service?
You may not even be aware of some of the shared/sector-owned services out there...
Sessions should include time for questions as well as the presentations, and confirmed sessions so far include:
The Energy Consortium (TEC): a not-for-profit, member-owned organisation serving approximately 75% of the higher education sector across England and Wales. This session will look at collective procurement, or “bulk buying”, within wholesale energy markets.
SUMS: This session will cover the broad range of SUMS’ expertise, and how their membership model helps universities access community-based insight and learning. SUMS Consulting is a specialist higher education consultancy - working for and owned by universities. In 2024/25 SUMS successfully delivered over 330 assignments to universities, and their members/clients value their ability to solve complex problems while helping them achieve tangible value.
UKUPC: An overview of the two shared services currently in operation across the UK for institutional procurement services. This session will also include future plans for further shared services beyond procurement in Scotland.
TUpay Payroll Bureau: For over 30 years Teesside University has run a successful commercial BACS-approved Payroll and Pension Bureau (TUpay) specifically tailored for the Education Sector. With around 100 clients nationally including Schools, Multi Academy Trusts, FE colleges, and small to medium H E institutions. They offer expert advice as well as processing all your payroll and pension needs. All profits are reinvested back into the University so stay within the H E sector. The session will cover the service that TUpay could offer your institution, and the process of how TUpay could manage your payroll and pension provision.
NORMAN Managed Services: Norman enables universities to extend IT and student support services while controlling costs, providing access to a shared capability that would be difficult and costly to sustain individually. The session explores the key factors that have allowed Norman to build trust and operate successfully across multiple institutions, including deep sector expertise, close institutional relationships, and sustained investment in shared capability.
Uniac: This session will demonstrate how a shared service internal audit model delivers far more than traditional assurance. Drawing on deep higher education expertise and cross-sector intelligence from a growing national portfolio of 27 institutions, the session will show how Uniac strengthens governance, anticipates emerging risks, and generates insight that no single university could achieve alone. Attendees will discover how shared thematic analysis, benchmarking, and collaborative learning create richer, faster, and more impactful internal audit outcomes.
HEFESTIS: A shared service providing universities with the following services: a tailored Information Security Service, Data Protection and Governance share service (including Data Protection Officer and Information Rights Officer), and UniDesk - provision of IT Service Management.
KCG internal audit: Exploring the growing challenges faced by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), this session will highlight the untapped potential of internal audit to add meaningful value, while acknowledging that traditional approaches often fall short in providing the strategic insight required by CFOs and FDs. It will focus on how internal audit can evolve to better meet these expectations and support more informed decision-making. An introduction to KCG will outline how its sector-specific expertise enables effective collaboration with clients, helping them navigate an increasingly complex and demanding environment, and will also explain KCG’s structure as a cost sharing group, illustrating how this model delivers financial and operational benefits to its clients. Drawing on over 20 years of experience in the sector, real-world case studies will demonstrate examples of effective internal audit practices and what “good” looks like in practice. The session will be interactive, encouraging participants to share their own experiences and perspectives, and to articulate what they need from internal audit functions to better support their institutions.
We'll also be hearing from Jisc (provider of digital infrastructure and services), and CoSector (the University of London's collaboration hub for its 17 federal colleges which is looking to leverage the collective scale and influence of the group).
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