9.30 - 10.30
PLENARY 3 - Energy Systems Catapult
Stephanie Parker, Senior Advisor Decarbonisation - Complex Sites, Energy Systems Catapult
Stephanie Parker is a Senior Advisor at the Energy Systems Catapult. She works in the Complex Sites team helping predominantly public sector organisations deliver Net Zero. Most recently, Stephanie’s work has focused on the Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance, a free to access suite of guidance, tools and checklists that makes it simpler and quicker for the public sector to decarbonise their buildings and estates. Stephanie’s background is in the Civil Service, where she worked on policy and strategy across a number of departments over ten plus years. Latterly she worked on decarbonising commercial and industrial buildings in the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, now the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
11.00 - 12.00
WORKSHOP 7A - VWV
Rachel Tonkin, Partner, VWV
Rachel specialises in advising charities in the higher education sector on governance, charity law and regulatory matters. She has worked with a number of universities in relation to their constitutions and governance arrangements; provides ongoing advice to universities on compliance with their regulatory obligations; and has advised on a number of strategic projects involving universities and their connected charities and companies. Rachel also provides training to universities and their legal and governance teams in relation to a range of charity law, governance and regulatory matters. She has recently been on secondment to a university client, where she has undertaken a wide variety of legal and corporate governance work, as a member of the university's legal team. 
Morag Roddick, Partner, VWV
Morag has advised the education sector on corporate and commercial matters for over 15 years. She is experienced in advising universities, colleges, schools, academies and research organisations on governance, constitutional matters, corporate structures and joint ventures. Morag has been involved in a wide range of strategic projects for Universities where new companies are established or where the arrangements with existing group companies have to be evaluated and refreshed. She has advised on intra group agreements (including loans and SLAs), the transfer of rights and assets between group companies and the winding up of group companies which are no longer required. She regularly advises on the structuring of commercial arrangements to meet company law, charity law and other regulatory requirements. Morag provides training on company law compliance, collaborations and joint ventures.
WORKSHOP 7B - Loughborough University / LEES Accountants
Charles Shannon, Head of Research and Innovation Quality and Policy, Loughborough University
Charles Shannon is considered a leader in research funding assurance and compliance with more than 15 years of experience in research funding assurance and compliance. He has project-managed various assurance visits, including UKRI, EU, US, Wellcome Trust, CRUK, and many others. In his spare time, he supports organisations with audit preparation, policy and procedure review and implementation, and training for administrators and academics on post-award good practice, assurance & compliance and specific funder terms & guidance. He co-champions the Audit and Compliance SIG within ARMA, is a committee member for the Education Scholarship fund for NCURA and is a personal mentor for a colleague studying toward an EARMA qualification.
Jonathon Gray, Senior Grant Audit Manager, LEES Accountants
Jonathan is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and experienced grant auditor. He has over 15 years' experience with the financial administration and auditing of university grants, specialising in EU, UK and US Federal assurance and a co-champion of the ARMA Audit & Compliance Special Interest Group. Jonathan holds an undergraduate degree from Lancaster University. He is Senior Grant Audit Manager at LEES Accountants.
Ellen Thompson, Senior Grant Audit Manager, LEES Accountants
Ellen is a Senior Grant Audit Manager at LEES Accountants, in Norwich, UK, where she co-manages their dedicated grant audit department. They audit approximately 750 projects per annum, covering funders such as US federal, H2020, and InnovateUK (among others). Ellen is a Chartered Accountant, and an alumni of both the University of Stirling, Scotland, and University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US. As well as being Treasurer-Elect for NCURA Region VIII, she is also the co-champion of the ARMA Audit & Compliance Special Interest Group.
WORKSHOP 7C - BUFDG
Andrea Marshall, Tax Specialist, BUFDG
Andrea’s tax career spans over 30 years, beginning in 1988 when she joined HM Customs & Excise as a VAT Control Officer. She then spent over 20 years in practice specialising in VAT, initially working with corporate clients, and from 2004 advising the housing association sector. Andrea joined the University of Worcester in 2013 as its in-house Tax Officer before moving to BUFDG as its Tax Specialist in March 2020 - just a week before lockdown. Her role now involves updating the HE sector on current, relevant tax issues, of which there have been many since she joined BUFDG!
Julia Ascott, Employment Taxes Specialist, BUFDG
Julia joined BUFDG in October 2019 as Employment Tax, Payroll and Global Mobility specialist, after working at Deloitte, Grant Thornton and, more recently, in her own business where she was first introduced to the HE sector. Her experience within the world of employment taxes spans almost 20 years, and she will happily chat about employment status issues for hours. Her role at BUFDG is to inform and assist the HE sector on current, topical tax issues as well as highlight broader issues to HMRC on behalf of the HE sector.
13.00 - 14.00
WORKSHOP 8A - Mercer
Rebecca Dodd, Partner, Head of Higher Education Group, Mercer
Rebecca leads Mercer’s Higher Education Group and has advised many universities on their SATs, LGPS, TPS and USS pensions strategies. Over many years, Rebecca has advised numerous university employers on benefit change exercises, and related member communication exercises. She has worked extensively with members providing one-to-one consultations and group sessions dealing with pensions education, pensions tax, benefits and options.
WORKSHOP 8B - Pinsent Masons
Victoria Goddard, Partner - Head of Universities & Higher Education, Pinsent Masons
The international universities practice is leading a team of specialist lawyers in university governance and constitutional matters, HR, estates, GDPR, tax, financing, IP and student disputes who are consistently ranked number one in the leading directories. Recently Victoria and her team have led student accommodation projects for LSE and the Universities of Birmingham, London, Leicester, York, Sussex and Royal Holloway University with a range of funders, (Assured Guaranty, PIC and Aviva) and DBFO providers (UPP, Uliving, Balfour Beatty, Equitix, DIF and City Heart) as well as leading individual bids for DBFO provider Equitix. In 2023 the Student Accommodation team was named Property Week Student Accommodation Awards’ Professional Advisors Of The Year, having also won the title in 2020 and 2021.
Chris Owens, Legal Director, Pinsent Masons
Chris Owens is a Legal Director specialising in the delivery of long-term infrastructure partnership projects, with particular expertise in the student accommodation sector. Recently Chris and the team have led student accommodation projects for LSE and the Universities of Birmingham, London, Leicester, York, Sussex and Royal Holloway University with a range of funders, (Assured Guaranty, PIC and Aviva) and DBFO providers (UPP, Uliving, Balfour Beatty, Equitix, DIF and City Heart) as well as leading individual bids for DBFO provider Equitix. In 2023 the Student Accommodation team was named Property Week Student Accommodation Awards’ Professional Advisors Of The Year, having also won the title in 2020 and 2021.
WORKSHOP 8C - University of Birmingham
Nicolle Charlton, Deputy Director of Finance, University of Birmingham
Nicolle Charlton is a Deputy Director of Finance at the University of Birmingham with responsibility for Corporate Accounting, Business Partnering, Management Accounting, Tax and Treasury. Nicolle previously worked for Rolls-Royce in Derby, building an impressive career portfolio spanning roles focussing on Finance, Risk Management and Transformation.
Russell Brown, Financial Controller, University of Birmingham
Russell Brown is Financial Controller at the University of Birmingham with responsibility for the Corporate Accounting team. Russell qualified with KPMG in Birmingham and before joining the University he was Finance Director at CP Foods, the UK arm of an agro-industrial and food conglomerate headquartered in Thailand.
Amy Hayes, Corporate Accountant, University of Birmingham
Amy Hayes is Corporate Accountant at the University of Birmingham working within the Corporate Accounting team. Amy has worked in the higher education sector since 2016 and before joining the University she was part of the external reporting team at the University of Leicester.
14.30 - 15.30
PLENARY 4 - Strengthify
Holger Bollman, Director, Strengthify
With an extensive background spanning almost 25 years in the higher education sector, I have garnered valuable positive experiences by applying positive psychology and a strengths-based approach to engage, develop, and empower my teams. Motivated to extend the benefits of this methodology to the sector at large, I established Strengthify in 2023. Our primary focus is on assisting managers and teams in enhancing engagement, productivity, and overall well-being. Through Strengthify, we aim to guide managers and staff in making incremental yet consistent improvements, fostering long-term benefits for sustained success.
Carley Brown, Consultant, Strengthify
Carley is an experienced Organisational Psychologist, Consultant and Facilitator with over 12 years’ experience of supporting leaders and teams to foster workplace engagement through positive psychology and evidence based practice. Driven by a passion for improving the workplace, she has dedicated her career to understanding the intersection of human behaviour and organisational success. Through tailored interventions and workshops, she has successfully guided numerous organisations towards creating environments where employees thrive.
