Wells Advisory
in the UK

In the UK, Wells Advisory partners with clients across the higher education sector, providing advice, guidance and support on strategy and operations in order to achieve successful outcomes.

Services we provide

For clients in the UK, or investing in the UK, our team combined senior UK-based consultants, with team members based in Australia and elsewhere, have a collective experience and track record in assisting universities worldwide to find solutions to some of their most challenging problems. A selection of our global service offering is set out below.

Higher Education New Provider Registration

We offer a range of consultancy services to support new higher education providers with UK market entry.

Higher education providers wishing to enter the UK market must meet the requirements of the regulatory body appropriate to the jurisdiction in which they intend to operate. The majority of HE provision is situated in England (rather than Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) so registration with the Office for Students (OfS) is necessary to become a registered English Higher Education Provider. Registration is also necessary as a pre-requisite for obtaining degree awarding powers.

We offer a range of consultancy services to support new higher education providers with market entry to the UK.

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Inward Investment

We provide M & A and brokerage advice for investment in higher education providers in the UK.

Working on either side of transactions we provide specialist regulatory, strategic and commercial advice and utilise our wide international network to bring motivated investors, buyers and sellers together and then facilitating progress to successful outcomes. Recently, we acted for the China Education Group in arranging a financial and strategic partnership with Richmond the American University in London and we are working with clients on similar opportunities in the UK higher education sector.
Partnership and franchise arrangements

We assist higher education providers in negotiating appropriate UK and international partnership arrangements to suit their particular purposes.

There are many reasons why partnerships between providers can be advantageous to both parties, including student recruitment, validation and franchise arrangements, articulation agreements, geographical and curriculum expansion and the meeting of widening participation objectives. The current regulatory framework for higher education in England defines a number of key terms for higher education partnership provision, together with the responsibilities of the respective partners. We can support both lead and delivery partners in establishing appropriate sub-contractual arrangements as well as auditing existing partnerships.
Governance and leadership

We have in depth understanding and appreciation of the governance structures required to achieve success at a strategic level as well as fulfilling legal and regulatory compliance.

We are able to offer governance reviews, to consider Board effectiveness and culture as well as committee and member effectiveness and engagement. If the committee structure isn’t working well, the Board of governors requires strategic alignment or purposeful team building.

We are able to offer leadership review and advice on restructuring and help with the need for achieving cost reduction across the activities of the senior team. We also can provide leadership mentoring and support to tackle issues at an individual or team level. This may involve providing an external review of strategic programmes to achieve change, or providing oversight at a programme board level to help drive results.
Portfolio review

We have considerable expertise in conducting portfolio reviews in higher education provision to ensure that the curriculum offer is fit-for-market and fit-for-purpose in relation to institutional mission.

In the current climate it is crucial for the learning experience to be perceived as providing value for money by students, and for delivery to be cost effective for the institution. To be competitive, providers need to offer courses which are attractive to prospective students and offer a coherent experience of knowledge and skills, incorporating employability and entrepreneurship through an appropriate learning strategy and graduate attributes. This should address the needs of employers and older students as well as those of young graduates who may need to re-skill or up-skill in response to changing industry needs. In particular we can provide support for innovative solutions such as incorporating short courses and micro-credentials in the curriculum.

Link to all Global Services

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Who are we?

Wells Advisory is a management consulting firm that focusses exclusively on the higher education sector. For the UK market, our local team is composed of a number of highly experienced educational professionals who have occupied some of the most senior positions in UK Higher Education and its associated organisations. We are also experienced in public affairs and government relations. Where the team requires additional professional advice and support, it can draw on well-established relationships with legal and accountancy firms and professionals. Moreover, our UK team is augmented by the wider Wells Advisory team to provide additional consultancy support.