De Novo shares insights at IFT Education SIG

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Jo Wright presents at the first IFT Education Special Interest Group of 2018 on 24 January 2018.

The first IFT Education SIG of 2018 took place on Wednesday 24th January 2018. It was a very well-attended event with all of the IFT Corporate Partners involved in Further Education represented and independent members who have been active, or who are keen to get active, attending.

The two key themes for the evening were:

  • An overview of differing assignments for Independent Advisors, from Jo Wright
  • An update on the developing structure and activities of the Transaction Unit, and a wider discussion on how attendees see the future, led by two representatives from the TU

The main themes of note for attendees were:

  • The major changing dynamics being experienced by the sector
  • The TU have been instrumental in driving change and the upcoming insolvency regime will overlay further changes
  • Major focus and attention on Leadership & Governance are always critical issues to focus on in FE college assignments
  • Addressing cultural change at pace is a major challenge to be expected – Jo specifically stated that it is ‘absolutely key that you become very engaged with college leadership and take them on the journey with you’.
  • The style and approach of independent advisors in this context is critical in both becoming engaged in an assignment, and also in being retained for ongoing support post merger
  • The range of roles she has engaged on cover Merger programmes, Fresh Start programmes and Pre/Post financial restructuring pieces of work. These have required variable levels of time commitment and lengths of project to suit
  • The skill sets involved in delivering, have covered managerial, operational, financial and strategic areas and hence flexibility is key
  • To conclude, Jo shared some quality case studies to outline how her work has been deployed
  • The TU representatives gave an overview of their work within the Transaction Unit, which went on to trigger interesting discussions around the table about the future outlook for the sector