Finance and Procurement
Finance and Procurement begins implementation planning
The Finance and Procurement team recently reached another key design milestone on the Warwick Transformation journey.
The Functional Design Board (FDB) for Finance and Procurement, which has been overseeing transformation work to date, and Value Stream Working Groups (VSWGs), which have been reviewing current services and user experiences, have been collaborating to create a list of recommendations based on in-depth insight from representatives across the University. These recommendations have now been shared and discussed with our Design Authority (the approval body for Warwick Transformation designs).
The Design Authority also offers strategic direction from a University perspective, and is attended by the relevant UEB leads, Vice Provosts and Faculty Directors of Administration, plus senior representatives from WBS, WMG and WMS, and Social Inclusion representation.
The recommendations have been grouped into a number of projects, which will bring notable benefits for users and providers of the services.
Work is being undertaken to identify which recommendations provide opportunities for early implementation and the team is looking to make progress with these as soon as possible. The on-going 'launch and learn' procurement threshold testing is an early example of this approach.
The projects proposed by the FDB (see project summary below) were endorsed, subject to funding and prioritisation with other university key initiatives. These projects can deliver significant benefits to colleagues working in Finance and Procurement and those who use the services, such as: streamlining of processes; automation of workflow approvals; improved reporting and access to data.
The projects are:
- Procurement and Procure-to-Pay (P2P)
This project aims to transform the Procure-to-Pay life cycle while retaining appropriate controls, also freeing up resource within the team and encouraging further collaboration across departments. This project aims to transform the Procure-to-Pay life cycle while retaining appropriate controls, also freeing up resource within the team and encouraging further collaboration across departments.
- Planning, Accounting and Reporting
The goal of this project is to create a step change in financial planning and reporting by reviewing systems and processes to resolve issues of robustness and version control (the ‘single version of the truth’) and delivering efficiencies in the production of forecasts and reports.
- Research Finance
This project will work closely with Research and Impact Services to clarify and enhance ways of working with a plan to integrate systems and improve consistency for users of research enabling services. As a result, academics will be supported to focus on delivering world class research and teaching.
- Student Finance
The project aims to improve dataflows, systems, processes, information access, reporting and workflows associated with managing Student Finance processes.
- Sales Order to Cash
This project will finalise ongoing activities that aim to optimise the Order to Cash (O2C) end-to-end process whilst streamlining the number of interfaces required to simplify information gathering and reduce manual processes, improving user experience.
- Policy, Governance & Compliance
This will enhance governance and financial regulations, policies and procedures, establishing owners and reviewing schedules to ensure ongoing policy development.
Finance and Procurement will now progress with its Implementation Planning phase where the team will start to map out what the changes may look like, what resource is needed, and plan a transition timeline to get there.
Some projects require investment in systems and will need to be prioritised in line with available financial resources, and these are more likely to be implemented over a longer time frame.
We’ll be providing more information about the projects and what they mean via a series of engagement events. More information will also come in future updates.
21 May 2024
Warwick Transformation initiative to trial increasing the Procurement threshold
A new Warwick Transformation initiative has recently commenced: a ‘launch and learn’ programme to respond to feedback to raise the procurement threshold for competitive tendering. This early improvement initiative will test raising the threshold from £35,000 to £100,000 in selected departments across the University. Departments have been provided with a more comprehensive Request for Quotation (RFQ) process, supporting guidance & templates, and assurance checklists for sub-threshold procurement activity.
This initiative has been identified alongside the detailed work underway to re-design how Finance & Procurement operates in collaboration with service providers as well as those who use their services.
As part of that work, colleagues have identified a few initiatives that have the potential to deliver early improvements. Raising the procurement threshold for competitive tendering is one that users regularly cite as a way to make lower value purchases simpler and faster, while empowering colleagues in their roles.
Five areas from across Academic and Professional Services departments have been invited to participate in a ten-week ‘launch and learn’ programme to test the proposed policy change, supported by bespoke decision tools and guidance to help those who regularly undertake procurement processes. The impact of the change will be measured by collecting data and feedback on the revised processes and guidance, which will inform if and how the change could be rolled out more widely across the University.
“WMG is renowned for tackling challenges, so we are delighted to be part of this early improvement launch and learn,” says Prof. Robin Clark, Dean of WMG. “Together with one of our Finance Leads, Michelle Chilvers, we look forward to working alongside colleagues in other departments to trial the approach and share information that will help shape our future ways of working.”
The five areas participating in the programme are: WMG, WBS, Physics, Life Sciences and IDG. The 10-week launch and learn period is currently planned to run through to the first week of June, followed by quantitative and qualitative assessments with input from participants from each of the sites.
Hear from those contributing to the design work in Finance & Procurement
As we reach the final stages of design work in Finance & Procurement, we caught up with Emma Ward, Head of Operations in the Innovation Group, on her experiences of design work over the past three months.
As lead for financial reporting in her area, she saw joining the Planning, Accounting and Reporting Value Stream working group as a great opportunity to share her perspectives and help shape future changes.
“Through this experience you get to learn more about how things actually work at the University and how we might make changes to end users’ experiences of services.”
Emma shared that she’s gained a new appreciation of what happens ‘behind-the-scenes’ and how we “all contribute to a single system that has great reliance on each other”. By spending time understanding what currently happens and where the problems are, the design groups have begun to see what positive changes could be made in the short and long-term. Reflecting on this Emma said, “it will be great to see what comes out of this work and know that I was part of making that change happen.”
We also spoke to Sarah Parkin, a Finance Administrator in Physics. Sarah oversees the Procurement function in Physics and so decided to join the Procurement Value Stream to share her views from working with academics in departmental areas.
“My work allows academics to focus on delivering research and teaching students, but current processes are preventing us from maximising the value in what we do."
Sarah also urged the importance of ensuring that departmental voices form part of design working groups. “Processes really differ across departments. Without this perspective, key improvement opportunities could be missed.”
We're now over midway through the design phase, and we want to thank everyone for coming on this journey and sharing their views. Over the past three weeks we have held four Finance and Procurement engagement events so all those interested had the opportunity to ask questions and understand more about the design work. Your voice matters and we will incorporate your feedback into design outputs and communications about the work going forward.
Look out for future events on the Warwick Transformation events pageLink opens in a new window. It's important for us to hear your views and concerns as we go so that we can address them accordingly.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our Design Board and Working Groups members who have shared their insights and knowledge, this has been crucial in shaping the future design. If you would like to know more about the Design Board and Working Groups membership, see below.
To ensure that the future service is shaped by those who use and deliver the Service, representatives from different areas volunteer their time on a regular basis to collaborate with the Design team and develop the design recommendations for each area, that will be taken forward into implementation.
Working with colleagues in Faculties, Academic Departments, Professional Services and the Commercial Group, individuals were selected based on their experience, expertise and perspective.
Functional Design Boards
The Functional Design Board ensure coherence, cohesion and integration of designs, by setting the vision and direction and overseeing and supporting the design working groups.
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Ruth Cooper |
Director of Administration |
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Medicine |
|
Jackie Clarke |
Director of Administration |
Faculty of Social Sciences |
|
Peter Hall |
ChiefOperating Officer |
Campus & Commercial Services Group |
|
Catherine Newman |
Head of Operations |
Warwick Medical School |
|
Robert Horton |
Head of Administration |
School of Law |
|
Claudia Gray |
Head of Administration |
History |
|
Simon Bailey |
Director of Operations |
Life Sciences |
|
Jonathan Millar |
Professor |
Warwick Medical School |
|
David Towers |
Professor |
School of Engineering |
|
Georgina Cowley |
Chief Finance Officer |
Warwick Business School |
|
Paul Bradley |
Chief Finance Officer |
Warwick Manufacturing Group |
|
Rosie Drinkwater |
Group Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Andrew Smith |
Group Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Nicola Constant |
Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Pippa Glover |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Kathryn Balanescu |
Head of Finance Projects |
Finance Office |
|
Steve Wilkes |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
Design Value Stream Working Groups
The Value Stream working groups collaborate and develop proposals on the future service design, based on user requirements, functional experience, and knowledge.
There are over 60 members who have shared their time and expertise during this process, many of whom are mentioned below.
Sales-order-to-cash
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Andrea Pulford |
Director of Planning & Operations |
Warwick Arts Centre |
|
Emma Durrant |
Head of Operations and Compliance |
Warwick Employment Group |
|
Ed Scott |
Senior Operations Assistant |
Warwick Business School |
|
Claire Stephenson |
Senior Research Finance Assistant |
Mathematics |
|
Georgina Cowley |
ChiefFinancial Officer |
Warwick Business School |
|
Sarah Thomson |
Finance Officer |
Economics |
|
Chris Key |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Catherine Wallis |
Financial Controller |
Finance Office |
|
Ann Rous |
Accounts Receivable Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Vicky Timms |
Finance Manager |
Finance Office |
Planning, Accounting & Reporting
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Andrew Taylor |
Head of Conferences |
Warwick Conferences |
|
Tim Wilkinson |
HR Process & Training Lead |
Human Resource |
|
Clare Swift |
Head of PMO & Strategic Planning |
Information & Digital Group |
|
Emma Ward |
Innovations Operation Manager |
Innovation Group |
|
Sam McClenaghan |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Ryan Emery |
Head of Finance(Science Park) |
Finance Office |
|
Rebekah Leadley |
Head of Finance Departmental Services Team (ARC) |
Finance Office |
|
David Mason |
Head of Finance Departmental Services Team (PSG) |
Finance Office |
|
Matt Solomon |
Finance Manager |
Campus & Commercial Services Group |
|
Julia Porter |
Head of Finance Projects |
Finance Office |
|
Caroline Watt |
Head of Finance |
Warwick Business School |
|
James Argyle |
Finance Manager |
Life Sciences |
|
Helen Mead |
Chief Finance Officer |
Warwick Medical School |
|
Brendan Ward |
Finance Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Representative from Professional Services |
Group Accountant |
Finance Office |
Student Finance
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Gareth McConnell |
Operations Manager – Student Information Centre |
Student Information Centre |
|
Andrew Higgins |
Director of Student Administrative Services |
Economics |
|
Michael Sherwin |
Assistant Accountant |
Warwick Business School |
|
Teng Zhang |
Head of Financial Operations |
Warwick Manufacturing Group |
|
Steven McGladrigan |
Departmental Administrator |
Psychology |
|
Nicola Attridge |
Finance Manager (PGR) |
Education |
|
Chris Key |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Sue Jones |
Head of Student Finance |
Finance Office |
|
Tracey Grant |
Student Finance Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Chris Bergin |
Student Collections Manager |
Finance Office |
Research & Research-related Finance
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Navdeep Bains |
Director of Research & Impact Services |
Research & Impact Services |
|
Kyleigh Griffin |
Research Support Manager |
Research & Impact Services |
|
Maria Ferreiro |
Resources Manager |
Computer Science |
|
Representative from the Faculty of Social Sciences |
DepartmentalAdministrator |
Sociology |
|
Debbie Carter |
Finance Manager |
Warwick Manufacturing Group |
|
Lindsay Clements |
Management Accountant |
Life Sciences |
|
Sam Roberts |
Finance Manager |
Physics |
|
Representative from the Faculty of Social Sciences |
Management Accountant |
Warwick Business School |
|
Representative from the Faculty of SEM |
Senior Accounting Assistant |
Engineering |
|
Nicola Constant |
Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Pippa Glover |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Yvonne Burrell |
Head of Research Finance |
Finance Office |
|
Natalie Ryan |
Finance Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Olvi Luur |
Compliance Officer |
Finance Office |
|
Peter Wreford |
Contractor |
Finance Office |
|
Perminder Dhesi |
Senior Research Finance Assistant |
Finance Office |
Procurement
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Matt Drew |
Director of Food & Beverage |
Campus & Commercial Services Group |
|
Rachael Johnson |
Contractor |
Information & Digital Group |
|
Adrian Hope |
Chief Information Security Officer |
Information & Digital Group |
|
Jeanette Preedy |
Operations Manager |
Warwick Business School |
|
Helen White |
Project Manager |
Warwick Manufacturing Group |
|
Sarah Parkin |
Finance Administrator |
Physics |
|
Andrew Smith |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Pauline Mealing |
Group Head of Procurement & Insurance |
Finance Office |
|
Carl Johnson |
Head of Procurement |
Finance Office |
|
Debbie Cook |
Head of Procurement |
Finance Office |
|
Katia Merine |
Head of Procurement & Supply Chain (Estates) |
Finance Office |
|
Sophie Talbot |
Procurement Officer |
Finance Office |
|
Catherine Wallis |
Financial Controller |
Finance Office |
|
Ben Reece |
Finance Operations Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Christina Eades |
Accounts Payable Manager |
Finance Office |
|
Representative from Professional Services |
Head of Finance (Assurance) |
Finance Office |
Financial Compliance & Risk Management
|
Name |
Position |
Department |
|
Pippa Glover |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Steve Wilkes |
Deputy Finance Director |
Finance Office |
|
Viv Smith |
Head of Finance Treasury |
Finance Office |
|
Jo Ray |
Group Head of Tax |
Finance Office |
|
Representative from Professional Services |
Head of Finance (Assurance) |
Finance Office |
This month we'll be running five engagement events to give you the opportunity to learn more about the design work currently taking place in Finance and Procurement.
At these events you'll hear from members of the Design Working Groups about the progress made by each Design Working Group and identified improvement opportunities. Non-Finance members of the Design Working Group will also be in attendance.These events may be of interest to anyone who uses Finance and/or Procurement services, to learn about the progress to date and the next steps for Finance and Procurement. We look forward to hearing your views and there will be plenty of time to share thoughts and ask questions. Visit the Events page for more information and event registration.
Work has accelerated over the past two weeks, with each of the six design working groups meeting weekly to develop a new design for Finance and Procurement that is built around service users and staff. As of this week, all six groups have met frequently, dedicating extra time to bring insights from across the University community. These six groups are working alongside a dedicated Functional Design Board whose role is to oversee and provide guidance on design options.
In all, there are now more than 100 colleagues who are regularly giving their time to help Finance and Procurement develop the service design that will empower staff and simplify and improve the experience for those who use the service