References are available from any of our benchmarking clients, but here is a selection of recent comments received:-
Camilla York, Bursar, Latymer Upper School
I presented your report to the F&GP Committee last night. The Governors were really impressed by your work and report, thank you.
Nick Ball, Bursar, King's School Rochester
The report is most compelling and provides actionable focus areas in the short, medium and long term. While there are always site-specific nuances, this provides a data-led approach to searching for savings in key areas; namely: Utilities, Grounds, Catering, Cleaning and Insurance.
Steven Platts, Bursar, Glendower Preparatory School
Relative to what we pay for other things, your services are extremely good value for money. Over the next couple of years the cost will pay for itself many times over I feel.
Martyn Gamble, Bursar, St Swithun's School
St Swithun’s School used Bursarnet to complete an Operational Benchmarking Review (OBR). The review was comprehensive, non-intrusive and satisfied the needs of Governors, the executive and departmental leads in identifying areas of focus to recognise efficiencies, good practice and enhancements to be pursued. The OBR took time to understand how the school works to avoid incoherent comparisons. The final report was comprehensive, offered evidence-based but insightful observations which focussed on realities, offered appropriate comparisons and indicated some ideas and contacts to reinforce further work. I would unreservedly recommend Bursarnet for any operational cost benchmarking and would certainly not hesitate to use their thoroughly professional services again.
Jeremy Blunden, Bursar, Brentwood School
I have found the Operational Expenditure Benchmarking Report provided by Bursarnet to be a really valuable tool in helping to identify the cost areas that are working efficiently and where we need to focus more attention. While the analysis is based on data from the previous year, Tim is able to project forward effectively and this has been particularly useful in testing responses as part of re-tender exercises.
Owen Adams, COO, Bradfield College
The forensic benchmarking of our operational cost base has provided a clear pathway for cost reduction in the right areas. Tim's approach was user-friendly from the off - working through iterations of the draft report to help understand the detail. We will repeat this exercise in a couple of years.
Nicky Marlow, Mill Hill School Foundation
The Bursarnet benchmarking was a simple cost effective tool to review our non-teaching staff cost base. The results were very insightful and flagged a number of areas to investigate further for cost efficiencies. The report was easy for all to understand and well received by the finance committee.
David Thompson, COO, Habs Elstree
We undertook the operational benchmarking exercise as we were merging the support functions of the two schools. We found the insights particularly useful in dispelling some myths and helping to identify those areas of highest opportunity. The information was presented in a clear and concise way that facilitated governor engagement and decision making. We plan to redo the exercise next year to check on our progress.
Julian Anthony, COO, Berkhamsted Schools Group
Berkhamsted Schools Group engaged Bursarnet to carry out an extensive cost benchmarking exercise allowing us to compare cost data and intelligent KPI’s against those of similar scale schools. The report produced is very informative and has enabled us to focus on critical areas where we can see opportunity for efficiencies without degradation of services.
Tim takes the time to walk clients through the details and highlight anomalies for further exploration by the school. Tim has been a pleasure to work with and his sector expertise is extremely valuable. It is refreshing to work with a purchasing expert that does not operate a model whereby they take an enormous percentage of ongoing perceived savings. As Chief operating Officer at Berkhamsted Schools Group I have no hesitation in recommending Tim’s Bursarnet services.
Simon Piggott, former Bursar at both Stamford and Oakham Schools
Bursarnet’s operational benchmarking gives the Bursar/Director of Finance/COO some clear analysis as to how their school measures up relative to peers in cost areas ranging from buildings maintenance to cleaning, grounds to utilities. I have used this benchmarking at both my last two large day-boarding schools to provide clear guidance as to which areas to interrogate further. The exercise provides very good value-for-money.
Michael Berkowitch, Director of Finance and Operations, Lady Eleanor Holles
I found Bursarnet’s cost benchmarking analysis to be comprehensive and very insightful. Tim’s contacts with specialist consultants have also helped us to explore in greater detail specific areas of the benchmarking analysis.
Nick Tesseyman, COO, Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital first engaged Bursarnet to provide a benchmark report on our operating expenses. This work provided reassurance that many elements of our operations are efficient and at least in line with peer schools but also identified two areas, energy and water, where further external involvement could yield cost savings. Work with Bursarnet partners on these areas has yielded significant ongoing savings. We then undertook a separate estates efficiency report to look in more detail at some of the areas identified by the benchmarking report. Both reports were high quality and user friendly and have produced excellent returns on the original investment for the school.
Paul Bilton, COO, Worth School
We used Bursarnet to undertake the operational benchmarking. I have used, and challenged, many benchmarking exercises over the years and found the simplicity of the Bursarnet methodology to be particularly insightful given the low cost. The insights can only improve with more schools using it. 12 months later I am regularly drawing on the findings in that report and the wider range of services offered by Bursarnet.
Paul McKeown, Bursar, The Leys
The benchmarking exercise we undertook was the key element in enabling the school to identify the cost areas which we really needed to focus on. The exercise was more straightforward than we feared and there was little impact on the school in producing the data. Bursarnet continued to support us when we then sought to analyse specific cost areas in detail and the consultants they recommended assisted the school in identifying some significant savings.
Jason Mckinlay, Bursar, Feltonfleet
We have utilised the Operational Benchmarking tool on two separate occasions over the past three years. We found it to be of significant value not just in the comparison of costs and efficiencies with other, similar schools but also in the planning of future projects and resourcing changes. I would recommend its use to anyone keen to obtain an insight on their performance.
Karen Churms, Finance Manager, Notre Dame
Thanks Tim for carrying out our Operational Expenditure benchmarking review it provided some really useful comparisons. We have already adopted 3 of your recommendations (energy, insurance and MFD copiers), saving considerable sums of money in the process. Many thanks!
Richard White, Bursar, Princes Mead
I found the output from the Opex Benchmarking Review most insightful. The cost of this exercise was quickly recovered many times over, merely in reducing my telecoms spend. I then undertook the Estates Efficiency Review which produced some really helpful ideas, many of which we adopted immediately.
Karl Mahon, Bursar, Aldenham
As a relatively new Bursar in 2018, Bursarnet led a KPI Benchmarking exercise for the Foundation and identified a number of potential cost savings. The most significant was on utilities and having now implemented their recommended changes, we are making substantial annual savings, through highly competitive contract prices for electricity and gas and with the added benefit of no broker commissions!
John Buckles, Bursar, Saint Ronan's
We have used Bursarnet for several years and have found them highly professional with great sector knowledge. Tim Groves offers a unique service and is my first point of call if I need to conduct expenditure reviews and go to the market for energy tenders etc. Of particular value is the biennial expense benchmarking. Through this we have been able to identify and correct areas in which expenditure is out of kilter with other similar Schools. Recommended!
Tony Mountain, Bursar, St Margaret's School for Girls
I found the Bursarnet costs comparison service to be a most effective means of benchmarking my school against others. With just a few hours of work I was able to focus my attention on delivering savings measures where they were needed most, freeing up my time to analyse details of areas where costs seemed to be higher than comparative schools. This has given me peace of mind and confidence in our established purchasing and contract arrangements, and the graphical interpretation was an excellent tool to share results with senior school managers and governors.
Tony McNiff, former Bursar of Royal Hospital School & Prior Park College
I am pleased to endorse Bursarnet. I introduced it into two Schools and in my latest School undertook two assessments, comparing results with a small group of fellow Bursars.
It is incredibly difficult to obtain accurate comparative information on general overheads and thereby assess relative performance between independent schools and Bursarnet provides a methodology that enables Schools to do this very effectively.
Whilst the approach is simple, what makes it particularly effective is that Tim and his team are easy to work with and happy to adapt to fit the specific needs of their clients. This is particularly important when trying to ensure that comparisons are genuine. Benchmarking in this way not only provides a catalyst for improvement but is also a tool to demonstrate to senior management and Governors that overhead efficiency is being improved.
Once relative performance has been agreed, Bursarnet has a suite of suppliers available to consider and help schools improve performance. The Bursarnet comparative benchmarking analysis should be an essential element in every Bursar's quest to ensure that School overheads are challenged and reduced to ensure best value for money.
Mike King, Bursar, Hampton School
Bursarnet undertook an Operational Benchmarking Review for Hampton School. The report was thorough, comprehensive and well-presented, and did confirm a number of suspected issues. The report also brought several other matters to our attention and as a result we have been able to focus on those areas and make significant savings. We would thoroughly recommend Bursarnet and would not hesitate to use them for any future benchmarking exercises.
Andy Horner, Bursar, Walthamstow Hall
Walthamstow Hall has twice made use of the excellent Benchmarking provided by Bursarnet. One of the first tranche to Benchmark, Walthamstow Hall has been able to use the data to renegotiate some contracts. Whilst every School’s costs are different, Bursarnet’s Benchmarking has allowed us to look at how a range of other Schools perform and help us to become more cost effective in some areas. We now make use of a range of providers through Bursarnet including energy, minibus leasing and wine; I am very happy to strongly recommend Bursarnet and their Benchmarking.
Andrew Dawson, Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools
Using Bursarnet has been a really positive experience. Tim had well-designed and benchmarked KPIs that allowed us to focus on the areas of expenditure where we could isolate savings. He then worked with us to ensure that we were able to generate savings and save time. We saved money by lowering our water usage considerably. We also made savings on gas and electricity and more importantly our new consultant proactively encouraged us to go to market for a long-term deal at a beneficial rate, locking in savings and giving us cost certainty.
Jim Doherty, COO, Loughborough Schools Foundation (LSF)
LSF has worked with Tim at Bursarnet since 2017 and has now undertaken the operational benchmarking exercise on three occasions (every two years). Although not a panacea for efficiency and effectiveness, such exercises provide unambiguous insight into how we compare with similar organisations thus enabling deeper analysis and investigation as required.
As most readers will probably agree, support services within schools are both vital and the easy scapegoat when efficiencies are sought. Having empirical data presented with purpose and clarity has really helped us to dispel the urban myths and engage better with all stakeholders.
Bursarnet’s benchmarking reviews are a simple and cost-effective way of getting under the skin of what really matters, and in doing so, driving positive change across an organisation.