David is a seasoned operations and transformation professional with extensive leadership experience across higher education, government, and international trade. Since joining SUMS in 2016, he has played a pivotal role in driving member value and ensuring that the SUMS membership community has access to the services and products they need, at the highest levels of quality.
Prior to SUMS, David held senior operational leadership roles at one of the UK’s largest universities, where he oversaw performance improvement activity across a professional service base of 1,600 staff. His achievements include delivery of strategic mergers of academic schools and creation of efficiency programmes that generated millions of pounds of recurrent savings, in addition to substantial capacity release of staff through leaner business processes and a greatly enhanced student experience.
David’s expertise in developing and delivering target operating models in different sectors, his background in organisational design, and his strategic approach to business development have made him an invaluable asset to SUMS. His work in establishing long-term client partnerships, as well as championing continuous improvement within our own operations, ensures he is ideally placed to take on this crucial role.
Reflecting on his appointment, David said: “I’m delighted to take up the role of Chief Operating Officer with the SUMS Group. These are challenging times for the sector and it’s vital that our universities can access the services they need from a company which shares in their values and their mission-based purpose. I’m privileged to have already played a role in the exciting journey which we’ve been on in recent years, and with new, bold strategies in place for both SUPC and SUMS I know there are even more exciting times ahead. I can’t wait to get started.”
David’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for SUMS Group, reinforcing our commitment to delivering sector-leading insights and solutions to support our members and clients.
