LEARNERs’ Trust is an 18 school-MAT supporting nursery, infant and primary schools in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Its mission is to create choices and enrich lives by enabling the best learning experiences possible, provided through the best possible teaching.
The Challenge: Software “not fit for requirements”
In November 2021, LEARNERs’ Trust was given a financial notice to improve by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
When new Chief Financial Officer Gary Mizler took up his position in late 2022, the Trust was in the middle of a turnaround on its finance and reporting. He soon identified a need for specialist MAT finance software that would support these functions more effectively.
“In summary, we didn’t have straightforward accounts here, and the software we were using at the time simply didn’t meet our requirements,” Gary explained. “We focused heavily on improving our reporting and made significant progress in a short period. However, we reached a point where a different approach was needed to accelerate our progress, so we sought a more strategic solution.”
The Solution: Multiple fixes through IMP Planner
As Gary was new to the education sector, he attended a MAT conference, and it was there that he met with Warren Porter (Head of Education Strategy, IMP Software). Having had a demonstration of IMP Planner, LEARNERs’ Trust signed up in July 2023, and after six weeks onboarding the unified tool for better budgeting, forecasting and reporting was fully operational and used by the trust.
“We honed in on the finer details, and the level of granularity we achieved during that period was exceptional,” Gary recalled. “Even Warren and Will Jordan (Co-founder of IMP Software), were impressed by the level of detail. They worked tirelessly with us to integrate our APIs with IMP, especially around scheduling. The support from them and their team has been outstanding, and the benefits were immediate.”
Previously, consolidating accounts was a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Gary elaborated: “While we now publish our accounts on the 20th of every month, the quickest we’ve achieved is the 8th – saving us five to seven days on average thanks to IMP Planner. In the past, monthly movements required manual coding, which we would then consolidate at the Trust level. Now, IMP automates this entirely, enabling us to compare different forecasts seamlessly.
“Budgeting used to be a monumental task,” Gary admitted. “But with IMP, the granularity is phenomenal. The software projects forecasts three to five years ahead, rather than just nine to 12 months as we were previously accustomed to. The payroll reconciliation function is a game changer – it’s vastly improved with IMP Planner – and the reporting tools are fantastic. Importantly, all of this is achieved without relying on manual Excel spreadsheets.”
Having had four business managers across six hubs responsible for accounts, through which consolidating and reporting was Gary’s responsibility, now LEARNERs’ Trust has just two colleagues looking after 18 schools between them. “I can now sit back and do the strategy piece,” he said. “It is all in IMP so I can focus on reporting, including freeing up capacity for Trustees. It has released a week of my time.”
The Impact: Financial oversight, and larger reserves
Within its underpinning strategies, LEARNERs’ Trust is committed to “seek continuous improvement and disruptive innovation”. Gary outlined how, with the input of IMP Planner, the trust is taking its support for schools to the next level.
IMP has significantly streamlined trust processes. “We’re now able to operate more quickly and establish benchmarks across schools with ease,” Gary shared. “My role has shifted from firefighting to advising schools on how to allocate their budgets effectively. When I joined, we had just £50,000 in reserves. Today, that figure has grown to £2 million. It’s been a dramatic turnaround.”
This financial stability has allowed the Trust to focus on centralised purchasing, driving value across schools. “The emphasis is now on spending wisely and ensuring funds are allocated to the right priorities,” he added.
“Equity and equality are at the heart of what we do,” Gary emphasised. “We don’t use GAG pooling but instead operate a community-funding model. This approach ensures that we can support all schools systematically. If there’s an underspend, we have a fast and efficient process for redistributing those funds through an internal bidding system. IMP Planner has been integral to making this possible.”
This methodology has enabled the Trust to achieve active efficiency in managing time and resources, ultimately improving life for schools. “My focus now is on embedding these processes fully, conducting deeper analysis, and refining our systems to deliver even greater impact,” Gary concluded.
Gary also explained the personal impact of IMP Planner on him. “When I joined the sector two years ago I didn’t know anyone,” he said. “Networking opportunities for finance professionals are very poor, but IMP has introduced me to other people and a few of us have set up our own CFOs group. The new IMP MAT Finance Benchmarking Report is a fantastic concept, a game changer for some people, and the wider snapshot of the sector is such a help. We are all on the same journey, and these are the added benefits.
“The day-to-day support has been incredible. Unlike many organisations where customer support is often poor and slow, making you feel unimportant, IMP stands out. They are committed to resolving issues promptly and effectively, ensuring things get done.”
Case study developed: January 2025
