Hello colleagues,
While Ann is away, we will be updating you through the bulletin every month. As ever, please reach out to either of us if you have any questions.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the One Leeds Green Paper. The White Paper has now been published and we’ll update you on continuing FD involvement in University plans as we move forward.
A couple of dates for your diary
On 9 June at 11am there will be an online FD Town Hall where overall results from the Employee Engagement Survey will be shared. There will also be a general update from one of us. You should have an invitation but if not, please contact esoffice@leeds.ac.uk.
On 10 June, the University Benefits Fair takes place in Parkinson Court, 10am-4pm. This is a great initiative and we hope you’ll make time to pop along.
FD successes
There’s plenty to celebrate this month including the opening of the fantastic new learning space at the Health Sciences Library. This was a collaboration between Capital Development and Libraries and we think you’ll agree it looks amazing. It’s offers up different types of spaces for students, adding to their choices on campus, and has been particularly welcome during the assessment period. Congratulations to David Oldroyd and team.
Congratulations also to the Catering team: the Refectory has just been awarded ‘Gold’ by Green Tourism for its sustainable practices. To earn the Green Tourism Gold certification, the Refectory had to meet a range of criteria related to energy conservation including waste management and water usage. You can read a blog post about it on the Great Food at Leeds website.
Campus Reimagined mini projects: Vote or Veto and win an iPad!
Over the next ten days you’ll be hearing a lot more about your chance to vote for your favourite Campus Reimagined mini projects. Twelve have been shortlisted from hundreds submitted by staff and students during the Campus Reimagined Live! festival in February, and from 9-15 June you’ll be able to vote for your top six. These will be developed alongside the substantial work to reimagine campus in the longer term. There’s also a prize draw to win an 11-inch iPad if you vote!
If you haven’t already, sign up to the Campus Reimagined newsletter to keep up-to-date and keep an eye on the Campus Reimagined website and Instagram.
Open Days
With Open Days on 13 and 14 June we know that many teams are working hard to put on a great show for prospective students and parents, carers or guardians. It’s so important that we all work together to encourage student recruitment, including making sure that campus and our facilities look as smart and inviting as possible. We know you’ll all make a great effort with this.
Planon update
The FD has been developing the Planon system it uses to help manage the way we schedule maintenance activities across our estate and react to building and estates issues when problems occur. Currently the system is used for desk booking, property leases and space management.
In a major milestone, the system is now live for planned preventative maintenance jobs. Further details about Planon and its benefits will be shared shortly, but for now we want to send our congratulations to the team.
Staffing update
Jill Roberts has now left her role as Head of Cleaning Services. Through her six-year tenure, Jill consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and made an outstanding contribution to the University. She inspired the Service to gain accreditation as a British Institute of Cleaning Science Accredited Training centre, helped ensure that the team were resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that this brought, and her involvement in delivering English Language Functional skills to team members showcased her commitment to fostering an inclusive culture.
Jill would like to pass on the message below to you all: “It is with great sadness that I leave the university due to ill health, I am extremely proud of the cleaning team and all we achieved together. I enjoyed my time working at the University and wish everyone all the best for the future.“
Michael Longstaff, Deputy Director of Campus Services and Engagement, is reviewing next steps and will update us in due course.
We are continuing with the recruitment of an Interim Deputy Director of Infrastructure, Hard Maintenance and Utilities, with interviews being held on 6 June and we expect someone to start by the end of July. At the same time, we are proceeding with recruitment of a permanent Deputy Director, reporting to Rob. As a reminder, the Development team (led by David Oldroyd) now reports into Jen Wilson.
We’ve had feedback that people would like to know more about the structure of our senior management team (SMT) meetings. There are two regular meetings that take place in order to review progress, share information and make decisions:
- FDSMT weekly meeting: this is a forum for FD directors and business partners (representatives from Finance, HR and Marketing & Comms) to make urgent operational decisions for that week.
- FDSMT + business partners monthly meetings: in this meeting we receive reports from heads of services which inform discussions on the FD Business Plan and provides an opportunity to regularly review FD finances and shape the FD’s role with University initiatives.
We’re always happy to answer any questions about how these meetings work.
Operational Excellence
The team have now got a Viva Engage channel where you can keep up-to-date on their initiatives to improve service delivery. It also introduces the OpEx team and outlines how their work supports the FD Business Plan.
In a recent initiative, a new consumable stores hub has been implemented centrally on campus to support the maintenance teams. Previously, staff could only access essential materials from the Generating Station Complex, which often involved a lot of travel time. Now staff can collect items quickly and efficiently between jobs. Great work!
Staff Voice update
Staff Voice have recruited a new cohort of Ambassadors and Champions totalling 36 from across all services. They have also formed ten sub-groups to address requests and suggestions including one to run FD Staff Social events. Congratulations to the team for a successful and enjoyable first event on 13 May.
If anyone would like a member of Staff Voice to attend a team meeting to talk through the work of the group, please email fdstaffvoice@leeds.ac.uk
Regards,
Jen and Rob
Jen Wilson, Director of Campus Innovation: Masterplanning, Asset Management & Sustainability
Rob Wadsworth, Director of Campus Innovation: Campus Services, Experience & Commercial
FD Bulletin – June 2025
/by Darcy TomlinsonHello colleagues,
While Ann is away, we will be updating you through the bulletin every month. As ever, please reach out to either of us if you have any questions.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the One Leeds Green Paper. The White Paper has now been published and we’ll update you on continuing FD involvement in University plans as we move forward.
A couple of dates for your diary
On 9 June at 11am there will be an online FD Town Hall where overall results from the Employee Engagement Survey will be shared. There will also be a general update from one of us. You should have an invitation but if not, please contact esoffice@leeds.ac.uk.
On 10 June, the University Benefits Fair takes place in Parkinson Court, 10am-4pm. This is a great initiative and we hope you’ll make time to pop along.
FD successes
There’s plenty to celebrate this month including the opening of the fantastic new learning space at the Health Sciences Library. This was a collaboration between Capital Development and Libraries and we think you’ll agree it looks amazing. It’s offers up different types of spaces for students, adding to their choices on campus, and has been particularly welcome during the assessment period. Congratulations to David Oldroyd and team.
Congratulations also to the Catering team: the Refectory has just been awarded ‘Gold’ by Green Tourism for its sustainable practices. To earn the Green Tourism Gold certification, the Refectory had to meet a range of criteria related to energy conservation including waste management and water usage. You can read a blog post about it on the Great Food at Leeds website.
Campus Reimagined mini projects: Vote or Veto and win an iPad!
Over the next ten days you’ll be hearing a lot more about your chance to vote for your favourite Campus Reimagined mini projects. Twelve have been shortlisted from hundreds submitted by staff and students during the Campus Reimagined Live! festival in February, and from 9-15 June you’ll be able to vote for your top six. These will be developed alongside the substantial work to reimagine campus in the longer term. There’s also a prize draw to win an 11-inch iPad if you vote!
If you haven’t already, sign up to the Campus Reimagined newsletter to keep up-to-date and keep an eye on the Campus Reimagined website and Instagram.
Open Days
With Open Days on 13 and 14 June we know that many teams are working hard to put on a great show for prospective students and parents, carers or guardians. It’s so important that we all work together to encourage student recruitment, including making sure that campus and our facilities look as smart and inviting as possible. We know you’ll all make a great effort with this.
Planon update
The FD has been developing the Planon system it uses to help manage the way we schedule maintenance activities across our estate and react to building and estates issues when problems occur. Currently the system is used for desk booking, property leases and space management.
In a major milestone, the system is now live for planned preventative maintenance jobs. Further details about Planon and its benefits will be shared shortly, but for now we want to send our congratulations to the team.
Staffing update
Jill Roberts has now left her role as Head of Cleaning Services. Through her six-year tenure, Jill consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and made an outstanding contribution to the University. She inspired the Service to gain accreditation as a British Institute of Cleaning Science Accredited Training centre, helped ensure that the team were resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that this brought, and her involvement in delivering English Language Functional skills to team members showcased her commitment to fostering an inclusive culture.
Jill would like to pass on the message below to you all: “It is with great sadness that I leave the university due to ill health, I am extremely proud of the cleaning team and all we achieved together. I enjoyed my time working at the University and wish everyone all the best for the future.“
Michael Longstaff, Deputy Director of Campus Services and Engagement, is reviewing next steps and will update us in due course.
We are continuing with the recruitment of an Interim Deputy Director of Infrastructure, Hard Maintenance and Utilities, with interviews being held on 6 June and we expect someone to start by the end of July. At the same time, we are proceeding with recruitment of a permanent Deputy Director, reporting to Rob. As a reminder, the Development team (led by David Oldroyd) now reports into Jen Wilson.
We’ve had feedback that people would like to know more about the structure of our senior management team (SMT) meetings. There are two regular meetings that take place in order to review progress, share information and make decisions:
We’re always happy to answer any questions about how these meetings work.
Operational Excellence
The team have now got a Viva Engage channel where you can keep up-to-date on their initiatives to improve service delivery. It also introduces the OpEx team and outlines how their work supports the FD Business Plan.
In a recent initiative, a new consumable stores hub has been implemented centrally on campus to support the maintenance teams. Previously, staff could only access essential materials from the Generating Station Complex, which often involved a lot of travel time. Now staff can collect items quickly and efficiently between jobs. Great work!
Staff Voice update
Staff Voice have recruited a new cohort of Ambassadors and Champions totalling 36 from across all services. They have also formed ten sub-groups to address requests and suggestions including one to run FD Staff Social events. Congratulations to the team for a successful and enjoyable first event on 13 May.
If anyone would like a member of Staff Voice to attend a team meeting to talk through the work of the group, please email fdstaffvoice@leeds.ac.uk
Regards,
Jen and Rob
Jen Wilson, Director of Campus Innovation: Masterplanning, Asset Management & Sustainability
Rob Wadsworth, Director of Campus Innovation: Campus Services, Experience & Commercial
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