Welcome to the 2024/25 Higher Education edition of CANVAS, the insights update from Saxton Bampfylde and its global community. Through CANVAS we aim to share the thoughts and perspectives of senior leaders on topics and issues that are front of mind for the sector alongside our own insights.
For this edition, we have invited two newly-appointed vice-chancellors at differing – and distinctive – institutions, as they begin their leadership at a critical juncture for higher education. Saxton Bampfylde is proud to have supported the appointment of both. Professor Duncan Ivison is entering his first semester as President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester, from the University of Sydney, where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Professor Shân Wareing is at the early stages of her time at the helm of Middlesex University, previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Northampton, and with a strong track record of leading institutional transformation programmes.
The universities are different, and so are their student and staff demographics, but the ambitions and priorities of these two dynamic and engaging leaders nevertheless have much in common. The recent transition in UK government administration brings opportunity, but crucially a time for higher education to show collegiality in the broadest sense, and to demonstrate its enormous value.
Duncan’s international experience is pivotal in his aspirations for Manchester, not just for the institution, but for the city more broadly, and indeed for the higher education sector at a macro level. He is among a number of peers who have come from Australia to lead UK institutions, and we talked about why this was, and the impact it is expected to bring.
The depth of the local and regional roster of students attending Middlesex University is a significant opportunity. In our discussions with Shân, she highlighted how this important student demographic makeup resonates keenly with a domestic ambition for growth, an emphasis on community, and the need to showcase the essential impact of higher education in its ability to support and deliver these goals.
2024 has felt like a year of change, and sometimes turmoil. The higher education sector faces real challenges that will require real change for the majority of the sector, and the wider landscape – from the UK economy to the wider geopolitical environment – will mean more choppy waters. More than ever we are proud to serve a sector that is such an important asset to society, crucial to economic and cultural development – and vital to addressing pressing challenges, both on a global scale and closer to home. Leaders like Duncan and Shân only add to our optimism for the impact they can have in their own institutions, but for the places and communities they touch and the sector as a whole.
Our own Partner community is what makes us stand out and we are very happy to introduce our colleague Rhianna Connolly, who has recently joined our Higher Education team, as she shares some personal reflections, as well as her professional experience, her ambitions and her initial insight into our sector.
We do hope you enjoy this edition and welcome any feedback you may have.
Eugenia Gonzalez
Partner and Consultant
Saxton Bampfylde
