Diverse Academies Trust is a multi-academy trust (MAT) comprising 15 academies – six secondary, seven primary, and two special – located across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. The Trust will also be expanding its family of academies with the opening of a new school, Horizons Academy, in January 2026.
The Challenge: Lack of consolidated MAT reports
The Trust was using a budgeting platform where MAT report consolidation was the biggest issue and the finance team had to find workarounds, mainly in terms of staffing models, which added time and unnecessary complexity to critical processes.
“When we were looking at our system, I felt it was time to find a more MAT-focused solution to provide the functionality that we desperately needed,” said Simon Lowe, Head of Finance at Diverse Academies Trust. “For example, we have a number of staff who are based centrally, but work across all or groups of academies, and we employ a cost-share model by which we apportion these costs. Our previous budgeting system did not handle that very well, and it was not simple or straightforward to get a consolidated position, which is obviously a strength of IMP.
“Having made the decision to move away from our system, we tested the market and decided to get on board with IMP, which as a platform has, in my view, become the class leader in MAT finance. With IMP Planner, reports are automatically consolidated and can be generated for individual schools, the entire Trust, or selected groups, significantly saving time, and this was the main draw for me.”
The Solution: Trust-wide insight and strategic decision-making with Planner
In July 2024, Diverse Academies Trust started the implementation of IMP Planner, and immediately the Trust began to see the benefits.
Simon explained: “The initial project delivery was great, very well orchestrated by IMP, and with really good communications through the build phase and early stages. We had fantastic support from the team during that period and it has gone really smoothly ever since. Whilst we are only 12 months in, and there are aspects of IMP which we are still learning and I would like us to develop, I am very happy with it.
“It has been an excellent all-round experience, and there is already a time gained benefit. With our previous system, I had to consolidate 15 spreadsheets manually; with IMP it’s in the system and we can compare different scenarios at the click of a button. The reporting is a real eye-opener. I have run one or two reports that I have never thought of before, the numbers are all in there, and these are brilliant. I have shared these with our finance managers and have used these as a platform for discussion.”
More widely, the Trust has developed, introduced and embedded effective financial planning and management processes, systems and procedures – placing its students at the heart of curriculum planning whilst ensuring all the requirements set out by the DfE and are met and maximum value for money is achieved. Simon emphasised the importance of “reliable systems like IMP” in supporting those objectives.
“Pay award percentages are a really good example of where IMP has helped us,” he revealed. “There is trust in the system, giving us accurate information, but it is the timeliness of that information that is arguably more important. It means I can give this to our Executive Leaders to support their decision-making around key issues such as staffing and the deployment of resources. That ties very much into our objective around financial stability and financial health.
“From my perspective, I also like running a six-year forecast. When you get beyond year three, there is an element of ‘pie in the sky’, but it does give you a broad indication of what is to come in terms of financial health – and IMP helps us to understand anything we need to drill down on. IMP’s ability to forecast this far forward is a real advantage and underlines what you can do within, and what you can get out of the system.”
The Impact: Accurate reports for key stakeholders from “best on the market” IMP
Simon highlighted the holistic impact of IMP in supporting Diverse Academies Trust’s core drivers for financial planning and management, including achieving financial stability and governance oversight.
“Our Trust has SchoolMark accreditation in recognition of adopting best practice, running an efficient financial model and delivering an effective strategy that puts children and young people at the heart of school resource management,” he said. “That speaks to operational excellence and the software we use is at the forefront of that.
“We have looked at the whole spectrum of how we budget, how we allocate resources and accountability across the organisation, and IMP has definitely supported that, primarily through its ability to create and share very clear reports to our accountable officers. Going back to the main driver for switching to IMP, it is because the reports are consolidated and I do not have to pull together numerous strands of information from here, there and everywhere, that I am able to report in a more timely way to the people who really need that information.
“As stewards of public money it is vital that our approach to resource planning and utilisation has best value for money at its core; and if we can say we are stable and healthy, and quite clearly see that the systems and processes of which IMP is part of have assisted and underpinned that, then that is a successful outcome. The bottom line, though, is that we need to use a budgeting tool, and as far as I am concerned IMP is the best on the market. Is there really any more of a testimonial than that?”
Simon also reflected on IMP’s wider contribution to the trust sector: “They are only interested in providing what MATs need, and how they can develop that with trusts. The Personalised MAT Benchmarking Reports, and MAT Finance Sector Insights Reports, that IMP makes available to the MAT community are so valuable.”
