# Event Details - **Event Name**: SUMS Annual Conference 2026 - **Event Start and End Date**: Wed, 04 Feb, 2026 at 10:00 am – Wed, 04 Feb, 2026 at 05:30 pm - **Event Description**: Join us for this year’s SUMS Consulting Annual Conference as we explore alternative futures and consider how we rightsize, refocus & rebuildAbout this EventEVENT DETAILSSUMS Consulting Annual Conference 2026Rightsize, Refocus and RebuildWednesday 4 February 2026, 10:00 - 16:30 (drinks reception to follow from 16:30 - 17:30)UK higher education is in crisis, with widespread redundancies and restructures across the sector. Rising costs, poor systems integration, and often overcomplicated academic models have left universities struggling, especially with declining international student income. While the government urges efficiency, many institutions remain trapped in a spiral of short-term fixes rather than pursuing genuine transformation. https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events5/banners/7d1049f0-bcd9-11f0-a21c-5f84b628c251-rimg-w1110-h740-dc171718-gmir.jpg You can’t just cut your way to strategic success. Long-term success depends on aligning institutional ambitions with financial realities and strategic goals. Real change requires understanding the academic portfolio's financial viability, aligning offerings with market demand, and exploring third-stream income. Institutions must rethink their models, simplify their structures, and embrace shared services and mergers where they will deliver long-term efficiencies. The call is to ‘think bigger’—collaborate, consolidate, and create institutions fit for future demand, not just survive current pressures. https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events2/banners/7d3f4930-bcd9-11f0-9774-53901ea914e5-rimg-w1110-h740-dc14161a-gmir.jpg Join us for this year’s SUMS Consulting Annual Conference as we invite delegates to explore alternative futures and consider how we rightsize, refocus and rebuild not just our own institutions, but the UK HE sector as a whole. https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events6/banners/7d83a530-bcd9-11f0-a21c-5f84b628c251-rimg-w1110-h740-dcf1f0f0-gmir.jpg Agenda?: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AMDelegate Arrival, Registration and Exhibition?: 10:30 AM - 10:50 AMWelcome & Sponsor?: 10:50 AM - 11:15 AMOpening Session Host: Dr. Rhiannon BirchInfo: Discover how SUMS and AHUA members are using the new Organisational Efficiency Maturity Assessment tool (OEMA) to drive change, with live examples and a first look at how the tool helps institutions to adopt a common approach to assessing efficiency and benchmarking costs. Rhiannon will guide us through practical applications, showing you how to harness OEMA’s insights for your own transformation journey. ?: 11:15 AM - 12:00 PMKeynote Session?: 12:00 PM - 12:20 PMBreak and Exhibition?: 12:20 PM - 01:10 PMPanel Session 1Host: Helen Baird (Chair)Info: Is the UK HE sector's situation truly unprecedented? Do shared services and mergers really fail to deliver value? This panel brings together leaders from the NHS, local government and further education to share their transformation stories, exploring the successes, setbacks, and surprising solutions that emerged under similar financial pressures. Discover which cross-sector strategies really worked and might translate to the HE context. ?: 01:10 PM - 01:55 PMLunch and Exhibition?: 01:55 PM - 02:45 PMFacilitated networking session - HE World Café Info: How do the morning's insights apply to your institution? Join this interactive networking session to explore the hottest topics affecting universities today. Facilitated by the SUMS Consulting team, we'll work together to shape what meaningful transformation could look like for you, and help connect these ideas to practical support. Share your suggested ‘hot topics’ for the session by email to: consulting@sums.ac.uk. ?: 02:45 PM - 03:10 PMBreak and Exhibition?: 03:10 PM - 04:20 PMPanel Session 2Host: Aya Ferguson (Chair)Info: What does successful transformation look like when universities lead it themselves? From institutional mergers and shared services to transnational education (TNE) partnerships and curriculum redesign, SUMS members are pioneering their own solutions. This panel showcases real transformation journeys, exploring what's working, what conditions enabled success, and how homegrown approaches are delivering sustainable change. ?: 04:20 PM - 04:30 PMWrap-up and Close ?: 04:30 PM - 05:30 PMDrinks Reception - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539 - **Event Categories**: business, exhibitions, conferences - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: GBP ## Event venue details - **city**: London - **state**: EN - **country**: United Kingdom - **location**: Woburn House Conference Centre - **lat**: 51.52582899999999 - **long**: -0.129473 - **full address**: Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square, London, United Kingdom ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: SUMS Annual Conference 2026 - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events7/banners/7aa2f03cc473b1f76c57bc7f1be3f4295bdef54bc6e602201ab095fc5f961d95-rimg-w900-h500-dc000000-gmir.png?v=1762630279 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is SUMS Annual Conference 2026 being held? - **A:** SUMS Annual Conference 2026 takes place on Wed, 04 Feb, 2026 at 10:00 am to Wed, 04 Feb, 2026 at 05:30 pm at Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square, London, United Kingdom. - **Q**: Who is organizing SUMS Annual Conference 2026? - **A:** SUMS Annual Conference 2026 is organized by SUMS Consulting. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** SUMS Annual Conference 2026 is ideal for professionals, entrepreneurs, startup founders, and networking enthusiasts eager to grow their connections. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in London, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If SUMS Annual Conference 2026 sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "SUMS Annual Conference 2026", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events7/banners/7aa2f03cc473b1f76c57bc7f1be3f4295bdef54bc6e602201ab095fc5f961d95-rimg-w900-h500-dc000000-gmir.png?v=1762630279", "startDate": "2026-02-04", "endDate": "2026-02-04", "url": "https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Woburn House Conference Centre", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "Tavistock Square", "postalCode": "WC1H 9HQ", "addressLocality": "London", "addressRegion": "EN", "addressCountry": "GB" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "51.52582899999999", "longitude": "-0.129473" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Join us for this year’s SUMS Consulting Annual Conference as we explore alternative futures and consider how we rightsize, refocus & rebuild", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "2026-02-04", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "url": "https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539", "price": 0, "name": "SUMS Consulting Member Institutions" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "url": "https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539", "price": 0, "name": "SUMS Non-Member Institutions" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "url": "https://allevents.in/london/sums-annual-conference-2026/100001334974457539", "price": 0, "name": "SUMS Staff and Speakers Ticket" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "SUMS Consulting", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/sums-consulting/23581019", "description": "SUMS Consulting is a higher education consultancy that provides both strategic and operational management support across areas as diverse as improving the student journey, driving increased efficiencies, and implementing transformation and change programmes." } ] } ] ```