Future Academies is a trust of 10 schools across London and Hertfordshire. The trust gathers staff from all of their schools once a year for their annual conference, delivering a day of collaboration, learning and inspiration.

Their staff take part in a wide range of sessions led by both fellow staff and external experts, sharing best practice and ideas across many subjects.

Future Academies are a client of ours and we were delighted when they reached out to ask us to deliver some key procurement and contract management training as an external expert, during their important conference day.

We ran two great sessions with a mix of Future Academies delegates from the finance, operational and site team departments.

Session 1 – Procurement training

The first session focussed on the Procurement Act, what’s new, what to look out for, how to stay compliant, the opportunities it poses, practical first steps and how to get the most from any procurement activity

Session 2 – Contract Management training 

The second session focussed on contract management and covered best practice for both operational and financial management, the art of KPI development and deployment, and frameworks for relationship management and cultivating a true partnership with external contractors.

Our procurement and contract management sessions were very well received.

In addition, the day was hugely useful for us as Future Academies had engaged RIVA for a Full Procurement Partnership (all 5 of our services). Having the chance to attend their conference day was a great opportunity to strengthen our understanding of the Trust.

We spent the day at the conference, joined different speaker sessions and met and spoke with many different staff, from many different departments. This really enhanced our understanding of the Trust, their staff, their mission, value and ethos – all of which allowed us to enhance the bespoke, tailored services we deliver for them.

A great day all round!