23 BEST Central Services is set up to work closely with our schools and nurseries. “We provide essential, responsive services to support their day-to-day running. By prioritising these, we empower our schools and nurseries to concentrate on what they do best – educate learners. Our driving ethos is to help schools and nurseries to improve by providing high quality support in key operational areas. We also deliver value for money due to the economies of scale and purchasing power we command as a trust”. (Mark Liddiard, COO) The key operational areas we work across include: • Finance • HR • Capital and Estates • Health and Safety • GDPR and Data Protection • Policies and Compliance • Communications • ICT • Governance • Procurement • Equality and Diversity BEST Central Services Empowering Schools to Focus on Education Chief Operating Officer Mark Liddiard and Chief Financial Officer Kim Rowe (Stephen Walker from September 2026) lead on these areas and work closely with Principals to ensure all the services provided meet their expectations and function at a high level. The team oversees capital build projects and our estates strategy to ensure all schools benefit from well-equipped, safe and highly effective learning environments that are well maintained and appropriate for their needs. Our services are subject to a rigorous quality assurance system and continuous improvement. There is also a clear risk management process for supporting schools by ensuring they are compliant, especially around safeguarding, GDPR, policies and website activity. We are a small team but the purpose is clear – listen and understand and ask, ‘How can we help?’
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