Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) is a multi-academy trust which supports 12 primary schools across London and Berkshire. Founded in 2012, BPET is a growing family of autonomous schools that strive for excellence in the communities they serve. Its cross-trust vision – captured under Learn, Enjoy and Succeed – is underpinned by Working together: the BPET way: “We achieve far more by learning, supporting and collaborating within and across our network of schools and communities”.
The Challenge: Moving from spreadsheets to one central system
When Marwa Sadek joined BPET as Director of Finance in January 2020, she spotted an immediate challenge – and strategic opportunity – to develop the trust’s approach to budgeting, forecasting and reporting.
Having previously worked in a large secondary school with a strong budget system, Marwa quickly recognised the opportunity for BPET to streamline processes across its seven schools. She introduced a centralised approach that allowed information, such as pay scales, to be entered once and reflected consistently across the trust, creating greater efficiency and supporting BPET’s continued growth.
During that process Marwa came across a LinkedIn post from IMP Software Co-founder Will Jordan.
“IMP was still in its early stages then, but I started a conversation and was interested straight away,” she said. “At that point, with an eighth school joining BPET, I felt strongly that we needed to have robust software before growing further – one system for finance, one for planning, and full transparency. Reporting from multiple disconnected systems was just not viable. We already had some finance centralisation, but the existing software did not meet our needs.
“I presented the proposal to BPET stakeholders, explaining that achieving accurate forecasting and greater consistency across the Trust required a fresh approach. Open communication and collaboration were central to the process, ensuring schools understood both the long-term benefits and the value of a shared system. By working closely together, BPET successfully implemented IMP Planner across the majority of its schools, strengthening efficiency and supporting the Trust’s future growth.”
The Solution: Embedding financial excellence with IMP Planner
In 2020, BPET completed implementation of IMP Planner, beginning a highly successful six-year (to date) collaboration with IMP Software.
For Marwa personally, this has supported her wider work contributing to the trust’s growth and the successful onboarding of schools. She manages a comprehensive range of financial aspects, including budgeting, accounting, control procedures and statutory reporting, leads on internal and external audits, and offers strategic financial guidance to information to BPET’s Chief Executive, headteachers and trustees.
She commented: “From the start, I had direct access to support; whenever I had a question, someone would respond quickly. Implementation was also excellent – the team supported us closely and trained me, my team, and the finance staff. What made a difference was that they did not just implement requests, they asked why. They wanted to understand the purpose of our requirements and guided us accordingly. Overall, their commitment to ensure that everything was set up properly was outstanding.
“Since then, it has been a brilliant journey. During Covid, we continued expanding the trust, onboarding new schools and training staff, all while using Planner. The support remained consistent throughout the challenging period in 2020-21. Another key strength is continuity. Even as different team members supported us, they always understood our history and set-up. We never had to re-explain everything. That consistency made a huge difference. What is also great is that IMP regularly shares updates through webinars and events like Customer Connect, so we can stay informed at our own pace. It is important my team feels invested in the system and I encourage them to join; they are also great opportunities for networking, sharing ideas and learning how others use the platform.”
Today, Marwa explained that IMP Planner is “part of our daily operations – it is not something that we use occasionally”. She continued:
“IMP sits alongside our financial system as a live working database. We have structured our team so that payroll updates go directly into the system. We reconcile payroll through Planner, comparing forecasts against actuals, before finalising monthly management accounts. In so doing, we always have a live, accurate picture of finances, including contract changes and variations. The team find the system very easy to use, which is critical, and they often recommend it to others. I also regularly review the market but have not found anything that offers more value. IMP continues to evolve, and their roadmap is responsive. With AI now supporting data imports, it has becoming even more efficient.”
The Impact: Leveraging long-term insights to drive strategic decision-making
Now with 12 schools, IMP Planner has directly supported the trust’s senior management and executives to develop three-to-five-year plans, apprise long-term financial decision-making, and ensure sustainable revenue growth.
Marwa reflected: “IMP’s single biggest impact is long-term visibility. The three-to-five-year forecast allows us to have meaningful strategic conversations and make informed decisions. The system links everything together, so when something changes, we can understand why. It is not just about this year’s performance – it is about what is coming next.
“BPET uses Planner to provide stakeholders with clear, data-driven insights that support confident and strategic decision-making across the Trust. By sharing KPIs and reports in advance of meetings, stakeholders are able to review future scenarios, identify trends early, and work collaboratively on proactive solutions. Combined with benchmarking insights, the system helps ensure decisions are informed, evidence-based, and aligned with BPET’s long-term vision for sustainable growth and stability.”
Having personally recommended IMP Planner to “so many colleagues in the sector”, Marwa explained why: “Because it is simple, clear, and powerful. As with any system, the outputs are only as good as the inputs – but if your data is accurate and up to date, the insights are incredibly valuable. It enables trusts to plan for growth, restructuring, and financial sustainability with confidence. It also prompts the right questions, helping you build better budgets.
“For us, managing multiple schools across different local authorities, pay scales and pension schemes, having all the information in one system is essential. IMP makes that possible. It does exactly what we need and more than delivers on its purpose.”
