Year in Review | 2019 at Schools Plus!
We’re proud to say that 2019 has been a year of change, milestones and success for us all at Schools Plus. We experienced our biggest shift in management structure so far, we turned 15 years old as a company which we feel is a fantastic achievement and most importantly we generated a record amount of additional income for our partner schools!
We’d like to start this look back at 2019 with a word from our Finance Director, Andrew Halliwell who has played a vital role in leading the company at times this year.
2019 has been another record breaking year for Schools Plus financially. We increased the amount we pay to our client schools by £500,000 to a total of £3.6m and we now provide this cash to them each month. In order to generate this income, we have had our busiest year and increased the community usage within our venues and I would like to thank our 250 staff for all their hard work hosting our customers.
The business is on a firm financial footing and has a leadership team committed to improving our services to our clients and community users. We have ambitious plans for 2020 which, when delivered, will help us grow and drive the business forward
Finance Director, Andrew Halliwell
The significant change in management structure touched on in the introduction came when our Founder, James Woods announced his plans in May to leave for China to start Schools Plus 2. James stepped down as Managing Director but thankfully remains as our dedicated chairman.
After a temporary Managing Director appointment ended, Schools Plus is now currently lead by our established Senior Leadership Team who consist of Finance Director , Andrew Halliwell, Sales and Marketing Director, Simon Kidby, Operations Director, Wayne Cryer and HR & Compliance Director, Mike Jenkinson-Deakin.
We couldn’t do what we do without our wonderful staff who work tirelessly across the country either on-site at our Partner Schools across the country, remotely from their homes or in our Head Office in Bournemouth.
The Schools Plus Sales and Marketing Team grew in numbers this year, with further plans to grow even further next year! Simon leads this team and has his thoughts on the year just gone, here…
As we come to the end of 2019 and what has been another incredibly busy year, there is lots to reflect upon that makes me immensely proud to work for Schools Plus. As the Sales and Marketing Director both departments have had a fantastic year; onboarding more schools than ever, trialling new marketing initiatives, bringing in a huge drive of sales and reevaluating the structure of the sales team. We will head into 2020 with a dedicated focus to increase revenue for our partner schools expanding our relationship management schemes and new members planning to join the team.
It has been a year of change but one that will see us start the new year in a brilliant head space to meet our objectives and continue to challenge ourselves.
Simon Kidby, Sales and Marketing Director
We were delighted to grow our list of Partner Schools this year, as we got the chance to start working alongside Capital City Academy, East Point Academy, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Knights Academy, Harris Invictus Academy Croydon, Laureate Academy, The Harefield Academy and Westcliff High School!
An important member of the Schools Plus team who had a stand-out year is Lisa Berryman, who achieved a well earned promotion from Venue Manager to Area Manager. We are all very proud of the hard work and positive results Lisa has achieved in her new role so far, here are her thoughts on the year just gone…
Wow what a year it has been! I have grown into my new role as Area manager and have worked hard with my amazing teams to make it a successful year of Operational excellence across all our partnership venues. I’m as always very grateful to be working in close partnership with some truly amazing schools across England and I’m proud of our work to provide a substantial revenue injection into Education.
Lisa Berryman, Area Manager
Our Venue Managers are crucial to getting set up at new Partner Schools, as well as maintaining our good relationship with our existing Partner Schools. We managed to catch up with Michelle Lucas, a Venue Manager for five separate sites in East Anglia for her thoughts on the year…
2019 was my second full year with Schools Plus and I’m delighted to say it was a great one, filled with lots of success. Hosting Question time was a great experience at Thetford Academy, as was forming an excellent new partnership with Norca Sistema at Hewett Academy. At Jane Austen we were pleased to be able to host the fabulous craft fairs of Makers Bazar and I was pleased to add East Point Academy as a Partner Schools in July. Next year is looking very exciting and I cannot wait to achieve even more!
Michelle Lucas, Venue Manager
We hope you enjoyed hearing from various members of the Schools Plus team with their thoughts on their own personal 2019’s! We’re glad to hear they all positive years, full of achievements and personal growth.
We’d like to end this year in review blog by looking ahead to 2020, a year (and decade!) we’re very excited to get started. We have big plans to increase our sales team and increase the utilisation at our existing schools.
We also want to continue to work together with the amazing partners we’ve gained this year, including UKActive as well as continuing to work with even more partner schools to continue to maximise educational facilites across the country.
Before we leave you, we wanted to link you back to some of our personal favourite blogs that we published this year – just so you experience a few of the standout moments that Schools Plus had this year!
Schools Plus take on National Fitness Day – Read Here
Hosting BBC Question Time at Thetford Academy – Read Here
The Customer Contact Centre’s Second Birthday – Read Here
Schools Plus at the ukactive National Summit – Read Here
Providing access to facilities all year round – Read Here
Thank you for sharing 2019 with us! We want to wish everyone the best health and happiness for 2020 and we’ll see you back on the blog in January!
