This event is now SOLD OUT - please send any queries to events@bufdg.ac.uk
The Scottish Universities Finance Conference will take place on Thursday 28 May at the University of Glasgow.
(please note this event is now SOLD OUT - please send any queries to events@bufdg.ac.uk)
Registration from 08.30am with a prompt start at 9am. The event will close by 4.30pm.
The conference will once again be a full day event with a number of plenary sessions for all and additional breakout sessions (see below) which you can choose from.
Who will be attending: Finance and procurement staff (across all levels) within Scottish universities.
Cost: The event is free to attend and food and refreshments will be provided during the day.
Programme:
08:30 - Registration, refreshments, and networking (Reception)
09:15 - Welcome to the conference (Main Room) - Gregor Caldow, Executive Director of Finance, University of Glasgow
09:25 - Backing Scotland’s Universities: Partnership, Innovation, and the Future Economy (Main Room) - Barclays
10:05 – Refreshments (Reception)
10:35 - The Quantum Journey - From idea to exploitation (Main Room) - Prof. Miles Padgett, University of Glasgow
11:15 – Breakout Sessions (Breakout Rooms) – See breakout options below
12:00 – Lunch (Reception)
13:15 – The Imitation Game (Main Room) - Karel Thomas, Executive Director, BUFDG
14:00 - Breakout Sessions (Breakout Rooms) – See breakout options below
14:45 – Refreshments (Reception)
15:15 - Passport Control: Navigating the Tax & Financial Risks of TNE (Main Room) – PwC
16:00 - Closing comments and event close (Main Room) - Gregor Caldow, Executive Director of Finance, University of Glasgow
16:10 – Social Event at the Grosvenor Café - (24 Ashton Ln, Glasgow G12 8SJ)
MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS
1. Strengthify Ltd – Leading Lasting Change in University Finance
A practical case study exploring how strengths insight and Appreciative Inquiry supported meaningful and sustained change in a finance department. This session will share a real example of change in practice, drawing on Strengthify’s work with the University of Brighton Finance Team. Grounded in real experience rather than theory, it will offer practical and relevant insights for Finance Directors and senior leaders looking to lead lasting change within their own institutions. Including:
- Context and challenge
A brief overview of the pressures facing university finance teams, and the specific challenges the Brighton team were navigating. - Introducing a strengths-based approach
How strengths insight was used to shift conversations, behaviours and ways of working across the team. - The role of Appreciative Inquiry
How Appreciative Inquiry helped create a more constructive and forward-looking approach, building on what was already working and supporting momentum for meaningful change. - From insight to action
What the team did differently in practice, including leadership behaviours, team conversations and day-to-day decision-making. - Impact and outcomes
The difference this approach made for engagement, collaboration, confidence and performance within the finance function. - Reflections and learning for finance leaders
Key takeaways and practical insights that Finance Directors and senior leaders can apply within their own institutions.
2. RSM UK Audit LLP - Driving Financial Sustainability: Approaching cost reduction and innovative risk reporting
- This session will cover cost reduction versus transformation programmes and the key challenges and barriers to reducing cost in a higher education context. Richard Leach will draw on his experience of working alongside operational leaders to identify cost drivers and practical areas where cashable savings could be unlocked, particularly within support and professional services.
- The session will also explore how dynamic risk reporting can support more informed, efficient decision making, helping leaders to focus effort and resources on the risks that genuinely threaten delivery of cost and transformation objectives. By linking evolving risks, mitigations and performance impacts, the session will demonstrate how risk reporting can be used as a practical management tool rather than a compliance exercise.
- The session should be thought provoking and practical for leaders grappling with challenging cost reduction targets while seeking to maintain or improve the student experience.
3. Keyridge Asset Management - Cash, Fixed Income and the Market
In the last 27 years we have seen Y2K, 911, GFC, the European sov crisis, Brexit, Covid, Liz Truss, Liberation Day and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Iran. During and in between these crises, other asset classes have their day, but also carry risk of volatility. In our session we will cover how Money Markets are not impervious to risk and volatility but represent a far more stable option and with surprisingly reasonable returns and where returns were lower, their low volatility proved beneficial.
4. RBS - Doing More With Less: A Smarter Model for Student Financial Support? (also available PM)
- Student financial support is essential, but in many universities the way it is delivered remains unnecessarily manual, fragmented, and costly.
- Finance teams are facing sustained pressure on cost, capacity and control, and student payments often represent hidden operational drag: high-volume, low-value transactions that consume resource, create friction and offer limited visibility.
- This RBS and JS Group hosted session will explore how universities are reducing overheads, strengthening governance, and delivering faster, more targeted support to students without adding complexity while improving the student experience and maintaining robust financial control.
- 86% of institutions are already reporting that the Aspire platform has simplified processes and materially reduced staff time, join us to discuss what a smarter, more scalable model can look like in practice and how Aspire, a quick and simple to implement platform, can unlock both efficiency and impact at a time when both are under intense scrutiny.
5. Flywire Payments Ltd - Data-Driven Decisioning: Transforming Payment Insights into Institutional Resilience
As global markets shift, finance’s role is evolving from historical reporting to forward-looking strategic intelligence. This workshop explores how Scottish institutions can unlock the untapped potential of the payment data already sitting within their Flywire dashboards.
We will move beyond simple reconciliation to demonstrate how granular payment trends serve as an early-warning system for global student mobility shifts. By analysing real-time flows, finance teams can provide recruitment stakeholders with the data needed to target high-conversion regions and pivot away from emerging risks.
AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS
1. AAB Business & Tax Advisory LLP - Transformation & Managing Change
The industry is going through a generational need for change to meet the challenges of today and designing a sustainable future. This will require a different thought process and adopting new ways of working, structures and systems, including digital transformation. Delivery of transformational change programmes can be a daunting task - what is the best approach, what team do we need, how do we make it happen? This session will explore key elements in delivering successful transformation with people at the heart of it. Delivering change is the start, embedding change will be fundamental to your success.
2. QMPF - Funding Capacity, Covenants and Options in a Challenging HE Environment:
- Interplay between volatile international recruitment, inflationary cost pressures, and covenant resilience
- How credit committees view universities in 2026
- Re‑baselining “normal” surplus, EBITDA and liquidity assumptions
- University governance and scenario-based planning
- Lessons from recent financing exercises
- Where does this leave Net Zero?
3. Cazenove Capital - Navigating a More Uncertain World: Are equity markets fragile or fearless?
- The global investment environment has entered a new and more complex phase. Heightened geopolitical tension across regions, including the recent Middle East conflict, and renewed pressure on supply chains have reintroduced inflation risks just as markets were beginning to look ahead to easier financial conditions.
- The session will provide an update on the economic and market outlook, setting current developments firmly in context. We will explore what heightened geopolitical risk means for inflation, interest rates and asset markets; how recent volatility should be interpreted by long‑term investors; and where risks and opportunities are emerging across asset classes.
- We will also focus on strategic implications for charity portfolios, including diversification, liquidity, and maintaining discipline when headlines are unsettling. Drawing on real‑world experience working with Charities, Foundations and Endowments through periods of stress, we will discuss how trustees and executives can remain focused on long‑term objectives while retaining the flexibility needed to respond to changing conditions.
4. RBS - Doing More With Less: A Smarter Model for Student Financial Support? (also available AM)
- Student financial support is essential, but in many universities the way it is delivered remains unnecessarily manual, fragmented, and costly.
- Finance teams are facing sustained pressure on cost, capacity and control, and student payments often represent hidden operational drag: high-volume, low-value transactions that consume resource, create friction and offer limited visibility.
- This RBS and JS Group hosted session will explore how universities are reducing overheads, strengthening governance, and delivering faster, more targeted support to students without adding complexity while improving the student experience and maintaining robust financial control.
- 86% of institutions are already reporting that the Aspire platform has simplified processes and materially reduced staff time, join us to discuss what a smarter, more scalable model can look like in practice and how Aspire, a quick and simple to implement platform, can unlock both efficiency and impact at a time when both are under intense scrutiny.
5. BUFDG - Tax Update
An overview of the key tax developments affecting finance teams in higher education, including the latest sector‑specific updates and areas to watch.
Travel & Venue
- The event is taking place at the James McCune Smith Learning Hub, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QW
- A campus map can be found here.
- Travel directions can be found here.
- Please note that onsite parking is limited to permit holders. Car parking in the areas around the campus is extremely difficult. There are various pay & display parking spaces around the local Byres Road and Kelvin Way areas but spaces are limited. You may want to consider using the city's Subway Park & Ride scheme. This service costs £8.15 and Kelvinbridge subway station has parking which is only 5 minutes walk away.
