Introducing our latest Senior Advisor recruit – Andrew Burgess. Andrew has over 30 years of higher education experience across campus services, estates, facilities, capital projects and commercial services. Halpin’s Joint CEO Susie Hills gets to know him…
Susie: It’s great to have you on the Halpin team, Andrew. Tell me a bit more about your career path?
Andrew: From my earliest memory I wanted to be a carpenter and joiner, and I undertook an indentured apprenticeship on leaving school in 1980. But on completion of my apprenticeship in 1984, I was made redundant. This was a wake-up call and gave me drive and ambition.
I continued in college and then university part-time as a mature student for 18 years. I had the goal to be a chartered surveyor when I was 20 and achieved this by 30. After redundancy, I built portakabins for a year. I made up my time for day release and paid my own fees, and after a year I was taken on as a surveying technician – staying in consultancy until 1991.
I then joined Lancashire Polytechnic (now UCLan) on a one-year contract as a senior building surveyor, ending up as Head of Estate Management. After seven years, I took the opportunity to be Assistant Director (Facilities) at the University of Southampton, moving my wife and young family south. It was a fabulous four years, although I had to deal with two major floods!
During my time at Southampton, I realised I needed capital project experience so I joined the University of Liverpool as Deputy Director of Facilities. I was involved in a major restructure, appointed a new senior team, and was project director for a new university in China – Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool. Here I oversaw the completion of the Foundation Building over a four-year period and then master-planning the university’s expansion. There are 15,500 students there now.
By then, I had gained enough experience for my first director’s post and moved to Loughborough as Director of Facilities Management, where I remained for 11 years. I had several promotions, including Acting Chief Operating Officer for six months and then the substantive role of Deputy Chief Operating Officer. My brief included all of Facilities, Commercial, Library Services, Health and Safety and Arts. I was responsible for the commercial development of the Loughborough Science and Enterprise Park. I also led the project to establish a new campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, alongside the delivery of an extensive capital programme. I’m proud that during 2015-2018, Loughborough had the highest-ranking Facilities department in the Times Higher Student Experience survey.
In 2018, I decided I wanted to concentrate on Facilities, and also move back to my home county of Lancashire. I became Director of Estates, Facilities and Commercial Services at Lancaster University, I had five amazing years at Lancaster with a fantastic team that kept the campus safe during Covid. We delivered an extensive capital programme that was over £1bn on time, on budget and with satisfied students and staff. I led a substantive review of Sports and produced an Estate strategy with the in-house team that linked our sustainability strategy and carbon reduction targets. The Council lay governors described this as sector-leading and innovative, which was a great way to end my career before retirement.
I have also been a member of the Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE). I was Chair in 2014 and Treasurer from 2017 until my retirement in April 2023.
Susie: What are some of the key lessons you have learnt?
Andrew: Be patient. Universities are big, complex structures, and it takes time to deliver change or achieve results. Never assume, there are always two sides to a story! Let your team get on with it, don’t micromanage them, but remember to select the correct leadership style depending upon the individual. They may need clear direction, simple coaching, or a collaborative or supportive approach. Overall, I’ve learnt that universities are a very rewarding environment to work in and I never take that for granted, I loved my time – all 32 years of it!
Susie: What are the main challenges facing universities in terms of their facilities and estates?
Andrew: There are many. Facilities costs are the second highest after staff, so it’s a challenge to fund the maintenance, services and development, with a tuition fee that’s been eroded by inflation, and universities genuinely struggling to remain solvent. Embracing agile working and adapting the Estate so vacant space can be better utilised requires winning over hearts and minds to implement changes to the use of space. Having robust plans for reducing carbon is important, as is upskilling the team – in particular, the opportunities offered by the digital campus.
Susie: What would you prioritise if you were leading a facilities and estates team today?
Andrew: This is the same answer I would have given 32 years ago. It has to be about providing the best possible physical and digital environment for an inspiring student and staff experience – in the context of the challenges I have outlined above.
Susie: What does Halpin bring to the table in terms of support for facilities and estates colleagues?
Andrew: Estates and Facilities teams are heavily audited because of their financial spend, risks of capital overspend from projects, health and safety risks and customer experience. This is often reactive, requiring teams to respond in a pressurised situation. Halpin offers a comprehensive and very experienced team that can carry out proactive consultancy to help Estates and Facilities teams improve the performance and delivery of services by working in partnership.
Contact us to find out more about how Halpin and our team of HE experts can support you.