Jonny Wathen, Chief Information Officer, The TransforMATive
Having advised over 200 school trusts across the country, TransforMATive benefits from a privileged, sector-wide vantage point. As a technology consultancy, every engagement is anchored in the values that underpin our work: building collaborative partnerships, pursuing sustainable impact, championing innovative thinking, and above all, making the complex simple.
One recent example of our work that reflects the CST CEO Leadership Summit theme of "Values in action: Purpose, public value, and public narrative" is the introduction of our TransforMATive Tribes concept.
System leadership in action
The CFO Tribe exemplifies system leadership in practice. This initiative brings together a group of finance leaders to collaborate, share experiences, and co-create practical solutions to common challenges. Tribe members document their experiences, capturing both the steps taken and the hard-won lessons learned, to ensure the broader system benefits and progresses faster than any single organisation could on its own.
Regionally, the Tribe is supported by an alliance with our Northern Tribe partners. Red Kite Connect, part of Red Kite Learning Trust, provides a peer-network infrastructure that keeps collaboration local, contextual, and relational, while Civica contributes valuable insights, resources and education-specific technology solutions that enable automation, unlock efficiencies, and strengthen operational effectiveness. Together, these partnerships create a safe environment where ideas are tested, refined, and scaled across trusts, avoiding the need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ within every multi academy trust.
Why a CFO Tribe? Purpose in practice
Free reserves across many medium and large-scale trusts now average only eight percent of annual income, marking a further decline on previous years (Kreston, 2025). In this challenging financial landscape, the CFO Tribe demonstrates that purposeful, values-led finance remains not only possible but essential.
Across the sector, trusts are finding innovative ways to design financial strategies that directly serve their communities. At St Francis Catholic MAT, local authority grants were used to establish wrap-around childcare services. This risk-free approach enabled a valuable service to families that has since grown into a self-sustaining provision. Waterton Academy Trust has used apprenticeship programmes to create new career pathways for existing staff, while simultaneously bringing additional funding into the trust. Similarly, Minerva Learning Trust and Carlton Academies Trust have developed community sports and gym facilities that both address local health needs and strengthen community ties.
How do we create public value?
Trusts are also maximising public value through innovative financial levers. Some, like L.E.A.D. Academy Trust, operate commercial subsidiaries that generate income which is reinvested back into frontline services, safeguarding arts and enrichment opportunities for pupils. Others, such as Cidari MAT, have enhanced their treasury management approaches, using improved deposit returns to fund additional teaching capacity. At Astrea Academy Trust, redesigning central operations has released significant efficiencies, enabling more resources to be directed towards curriculum priorities. In each case, the guiding principle remains clear: every pound saved or earned is channelled straight back to benefit pupils and communities.
How do we build relational trust? - professional generosity in action
This work is underpinned by what Steve Howell from Red Kite Learning Trust describes as "professional generosity.” Recipes for success, financial data, and even occasional missteps are shared openly, allowing others to adapt, improve and avoid repeating mistakes.
A key example is the finance benchmarking project led by James Wright, CFO at Astrea Academies Trust. Initiated 18 months ago, this project invited peers to compare their finance delivery models without preconditions. Early findings revealed broadly similar cost-per-pupil figures but significant differences in how staff time was deployed. These insights have already allowed participating trusts to streamline processes and redirect staff efforts towards higher-value work. The next phase of the project will broaden participation, sharing template process maps that any CFO can adopt and tailor to their own context, turning transparency into a powerful sector-wide efficiency engine.
How do we create public narratives?
Good public narrative weaves together personal experience, collective purpose, and timely action. It challenges prevailing stereotypes, reimagining headlines about budget pressures with stories of trust CFOs securing millions for zero-carbon estates or reinvesting in frontline services. It humanises data, transforming abstract savings into concrete outcomes such as childcare places created or staff hours repurposed. In addition, it invites broader participation, encouraging governors, staff, and families to engage with and contribute to the shared journey of improvement.
A courteous call to action
If this resonates, we warmly invite you to stay connected. On Wednesday 2 July, we will officially launch the CFO Playbook via a virtual webinar. This session will share the collective learning and practical insights developed through the Tribe, offering valuable resources for finance leaders across the sector.
The CST Blog welcomes perspectives from a diverse range of guest contributors. The opinions expressed in blogs are the views of the author(s), and should not be read as CST guidance or CST’s position.
