The role of the bursar is constantly evolving and developing to meet the growing commercial and business aspects of running a modern school. Jeff Davies is bursar at Arden School Specialist Language College and explains the breadth of the job: “I look after the finances and resources of the school. That includes every aspect of running the school including all the buildings. In addition I have responsibility for the non-teaching staff and I also manage the commercial side of the school such as the generation of sponsorship. But it's a role that is changing all the time.” For Davies, one of the best ways to succeed within this environment is by building a stable and long-term relationship with a finance partner.

Two years ago Arden school, with its 1,200 pupils, was in desperate need of an IT overhaul. It was decided that a completely new system would be installed, including 400 PCs. Davies put the job out to tender to various equipment suppliers who would also have to put together a finance package as part of their application. “I already knew about finance company Syscap, and when their name came up in one of the tender documents I decided to find out more about what they could offer us.”

Syscap is the UK's leading independent IT finance provider, specialising in flexible finance solutions for the education sector. Davies invited two other finance companies to pitch for the business, but Syscap was the obvious choice. “Syscap achieved what we wanted in terms of the costing, and also I felt very comfortable with them,” says Davies. “You want a finance partner you can trust: Syscap are obviously a sizeable and stable organisation and another local school used them and gave us a positive reference.”

Like all schools, Arden strives to offer its pupils the very best technology solutions to help them receive the best possible education. The government provides money for schools to invest in IT, but spending that money wisely is the job of bursars like Davies. “We are not told we have to use finance, but I know that leasing is the best way to get the equipment we want as soon as we need it. We could have started saving up, but it's important to improve the facilities for pupils at the college now, it's not right that they should miss out because the money isn't available.”

When choosing a finance partner, Davies knew he was looking for a long-term relationship rather than a quick fix solution. “Syscap has advised me on several important matters including the removal of old equipment in line with current regulations. Our agreement with Syscap has also evolved quite considerably over the past two years as we have upgraded our systems twice. Now our account manager is helping us plan for a very exciting building project.”

The college currently doesn't have its own sixth form (post 16 education), but this is set to change by the end of 2005. Naturally, Davies is looking into the best ways to finance the project and has once again turned to Syscap. “We will be getting competitive quotes, but when I took Syscap on I discovered they were going to be flexible enough to engage in other projects outside just our IT requirement, so they are the obvious place to start.”

Syscap's ability to meet its clients' broad finance needs was one of the key deciders for Davies when he was first choosing a finance partner. “The degree of flexibility they showed was really impressive. I don't want to have to find a different finance provider for every different type of project. Syscap was the only company we looked at that was keen to finance our post sixteen building as well as our complete IT infrastructure.” Davies expects the job of bursar (business manager) to grow and change more in the coming years as schools like Arden embrace the more competitive and commercial aspects of the education system. But however diverse their job descriptions become, bursars like Davies will still have to focus on balancing the books and making the most of tight budgets. “It is vital for all schools to have IT and the best possible facilities so that we can develop the way we teach them and improve the way they learn. When you need a piece of equipment you need it that term, not next year. With that in mind, finance is simply the best way for the school.”