Effective contract management for school trusts

Understanding the theory and practice of post-award contract management

Relationships and contracts with suppliers are key to your trust’s success but are you managing them effectively? Could you be getting better value and greater benefits from them?

This CST masterclass provides in depth insight into the theory and application of leading practice in post-award contract management. It gives you the knowledge and practical guidance to assess and enhance your trust’s practice to ensure that the children and staff in your schools get the best value and service from your commercial partners.

Who is it for?

• Chief finance and operations officers
• Contract managers and those who work with suppliers
• Chief executives

What you will gain

This course will give you:

• An understanding of what contract managers in school trusts must do to comply with the Procurement Act 2023
• Insight into the culture and behaviours of effective contract management and how these can be developed and enhanced across all levels of the organisation
• Knowledge of the tasks, roles and processes needed to effectively manage contracts
• An understanding of what good practice contract management looks like
• Guidance on wow to identify risk areas and contracts that need more attention
• Information on the key risks at each stage of a contract’s lifecycle and what should be done to manage them

Course speakers

Walter Akers

Founder and CEO, In2 the Bargain Limited

Walter Akers

Founder and CEO, In2 the Bargain Limited

Walter specialises in advising on commercial contract risk and maximising value from complex commercial arrangements. He has over 25 years’ experience working in industry in senior commercial management roles and as a teacher and professional advisor in the commercial assessment and optimisation of contracts, procurement, contract management and capital projects. He has deep experience in public procurement, including working with the UK public sector on the new Procurement Act.

Ciara Campfield

Partner, Stone King

Ciara Campfield

Partner, Stone King

Ciara is a partner in the education sector at Stone King and has a particular specialism advising academies, GFEs, and sixth form colleges. Ciara heads up the commercial practice for our education clients, and has a particular specialism navigating clients through procurements. She is independently rated in the main legal directories – Legal 500 and Chambers.

Samira Sadeghi

Director of Trust Governance

Samira Sadeghi

Director of Trust Governance

Samira is Director of Trust Governance. She has been involved in school governance for over a decade. Prior to joining CST, she served as Head of Governance and Company Secretary at Academies Enterprise Trust, a trust with 57 schools. She started her career in governance with Ark Schools, as a regional governance officer.