Universities around the UK are currently facing significant challenges.
In Greenwich we are in a stable financial position but, like all universities, we continue to face inflationary pressures, the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis and an uncertain international student recruitment market.
At our All-Staff Sessions in January, our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane Harrington, and our Chief Financial Officer, Louise Watson, shared the work underway to maintain our financial security in the context of existing and anticipated challenges.
Each Faculty and Directorate has been tasked with finding efficiencies as part of the current planning round and we can all contribute to the university’s ongoing financial stability by identifying ways of working smarter or making savings.
Professor Harrington has asked staff to continue to focus on student recruitment, to prioritise student continuation, to explore opportunities for income streams through research, knowledge exchange and working with our partners, and to share ideas and suggestions for more efficient ways of working.
If you have suggestions of where we can make improvements to our processes or systems that may deliver savings we want to hear them.
Please email them to oneuniversity@gre.ac.uk. All suggestions will be reviewed and will receive a response.
FAQs
What challenges do we face?
While we have seen growth in our student numbers in recent years, like all universities we are facing increased costs, which include inflationary pressures, a rise in pension costs and the ongoing challenges arising from the cost-of-living crisis. As you may also be aware, domestic fees are now worth the equivalent of £6,000 in 2012 prices, which means we have a much reduced unit of funding for students. Furthermore, all universities are feeling the impact of additional visa controls implemented by the government and wider issues around international student recruitment. We are working collaboratively across the whole university to identify efficiencies, opportunities for new revenue streams and better ways of working to provide us with additional resilience as we continue to manage these financial challenges.
How much do we need to save?
To remain financially viable and sustainable, we are required to generate a surplus that equates to 3% of our income and generate cash which is 8% of our income. This is monitored closely as part of the budget round and we will need to save at least 5% of our controllable cost base to be able to absorb pay and non-pay inflation and meet our financial targets.
What is the university doing about these challenges?
There are significant funding challenges for all universities – over 25% of UK universities were in deficit for 2021/22 and expect things to worsen this year. We are not in deficit at Greenwich and are working hard to maintain our financial stability. Our growth for 2023/4 YOY is lower than expected but we are still growing. While international growth was lower than expected, this was partially offset by higher home student growth in 23/24. Growth is critical to manage inflation and other cost headwinds. We are working to be more efficient to release capacity for growth – we are looking at what we can stop doing and what we can simplify. We are exploring processes improvements to eliminate duplication. We are also looking at opportunities for automation. Continuation is key – as you may know, a 1% increase in our continuation rates can result in over £1.5m of income. We are also accelerating new programmes and markets, which are attractive to our students.
What kind of efficiencies will we be making?
The Vice-Chancellor is looking at things like consultancy costs and hospitality spend. We are looking at processes across the university, for example we have recently reviewed and streamlined how we pay Hourly Paid lecturers. Some process fixes and a more efficient data flow enabled us to save time for colleagues in the People Directorate, Payroll and in Faculties and to provide a better overall service. We are looking at ways in which we can free up capacity and work smarter, as well as saving money. You can read more examples of these kinds of improvements on the One University page.
Why are we continuing with large investment projects if we need to make savings?
We are committed to the redevelopment of Devonport House on our Greenwich campus. The capital funding for this sustainable investment is already identified and will enable us to meet the changing needs of our students and how they learn with us into the future.
We have also set money aside for ongoing maintenance of the university estate, digital transformation that will create efficiencies and improve student experience such as the Student Lifecycle Management tool. We are also committed to our net zero pledge, which is becoming a unique differentiator for us helping the university attract environmentally conscious students. Put simply, we need to continue to invest now to ensure we are able to recruit and retain students in the future and remain financially stable over the long term.
Why do we need to have a surplus?
As a charity, any surplus we make is re-invested into the university. A surplus is essential because it allows us to plough that money back into the university to keep our facilities and estate modern and relevant. This will help attract students and enable us to meet their changing needs and how they learn with us into the future. It also ensures we can invest in digital transformation projects that can improve efficiencies and student experience such as the Student Lifecycle Management tool.
How can I share my ideas for better ways of working?
Please email your suggestions to oneuniversity@gre.ac.uk. You can also make your suggestions to your line manager.
