Joel is an experienced executive leader. He has held leadership roles in commercial consultancies in the advertising industry; in Higher Education as a Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire; and in the charity sector as Chair of FCAT, a ten-school Multi Academy Trust with a turnover of £45 million. Joel has 15+ years of senior leadership experience in the Higher Education sector. He is currently Group Managing Director at the SUMS Group and has led SUMS Consulting through a five-year period of sustained growth.
Joel successfully came through a strong external field of candidates in a process managed by sector specialist executive search firm, Dixon Walter. He succeeds long-standing Chief Executive, Bernarde Hyde, who is retiring from role after 32 years with the organisation. Bernarde will transition to the role of Executive Adviser as the SUMS Group implements its ambitious 2030 strategies for both SUPC and SUMS Consulting.
Joel Arber says of his appointment: “I’m hugely excited to be the new SUMS Group Chief Executive. The Group has grown and flourished under the leadership of Bernarde Hyde. I have learned a great deal from working closely with her. The Group is in a really exciting phase of its development. SUPC is in the process of developing a bold new strategy that will see it transform in the coming years. The potential for SUPC to become the leading voice in Higher Education procurement is tremendous. We have equally ambitious plans for SUMS Consulting to grow its market share and membership base while expanding its international reach. Above all, the SUMS Group is a people business, rooted in its values, and I look forward to working with a group of wonderfully skilled colleagues across the business to deliver our ambitious strategies.”
Chair of the SUMS Group Management Committee, Martin Williams, Director of Finance at the University of Bath, adds: “Joel’s knowledge of, and passion for, the SUMS Group came through a strong field of candidates very clearly in the way he articulated his views for both our Procurement and Consulting activities. The organisation provides invaluable services to the Higher Education sector and opportunities to share challenges, solutions and best practices across the membership of both SUPC and SUMS Consulting. Joel’s vision for the future of both sides of the SUMS Group makes me confident that in Joel, we have the best person for the job.”
Joel Arber takes up the new role from 1 December 2024.
The SUMS Group is the trading name of Southern Universities Management Services, a registered charity and not-for-profit membership organisation for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
The SUMS Group comprises the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) – one of the four regional procurement consortia for HEIs in England – and SUMS Consulting, the leading specialist provider of management consulting services to the Higher Education sector.
