Is every year a year of both consolidation and innovation? Perhaps, and this year, certainly. Looking at the AUDE year 24-25 we have seen our major events delivered as successfully as ever, with attendance strong. Conference took us to Northumbria. For Summer School we were in Manchester, and for the Big Conversation we made it to the Royal College of Music in the heart of London. Those events have been in the calendar for years now but continue to meet a need for us to gather and learn and share together.
Innovation came in the form of the AUDE Showcase event, held in Nottingham in September 2024. This was a brand new format, and it was great to give a space to our special interest groups to connect with new members and explain their projects and priorities. This year our travels will take us to more great campuses with more for us to learn and think about, including Lancaster, Plymouth and Cardiff. All the relevant booking links can be found on this website’s Events Page. None of us have the luxury of ‘an AUDE day away from the office’ – the task is to turn every AUDE event into a list of actions and directly beneficial tasks for our universities, and the association is determined to provide those addressable points every time we meet.
Continued below.
We’ve updated our Capital Cost Database (add link when ready), to help us make sure we get best value from our biggest capital spends; brought together an update on the Sustainability Leadership Scorecard (add link when ready), so that our net zero carbon work is as impactful and meaningful across campus as it can be in continuing to drive our sustainability ambitions; and published what should be the most collaborative tool of them all – the Estates Management Report, where coordinated work with finance and senior leadership colleagues can help give new clarity to priorities for estates expenditure. Please get up and running with the digital version of the EMR if you aren’t already – there’s real benchmarking value to be had there. As the key consolidated data source on estates, the EMR remains the number one tool in every director’s management arsenal. Engaging with it can be a vital step in facilitating tough financial conversations within your institution.
It has been a great year for other AUDE publications, with new reports on decarbonisation, the management of legacy buildings, the career obstacles facing women in estates, neurodiversity as an aspect of inclusive design, and more. We’ve brought in external expertise to support us with some of these publications, whilst remaining conscious that it is AUDE member money that we are spending on your behalf. All our work, every decision, aims to be a clear investment in supporting university estates teams. Whether consolidating on successes of the past or innovating for the future that remains true. We head into the coming year with challenges on every side, but with AUDE and its network ever ready to help.
Syd Cottle
AUDE Chair (2024-26) and Director of Estates management, University of Liverpool
We offer membership to organisations in the education and private sectors within the UK and overseas. It will provide your organisation with access to over 4,565 influential estates and facilities professionals from 188 UK institutions, estate management reports, tools, resources, networking and conversation.
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Access a targeted audience with buying power AUDE members are leaders and decision makers within their institutions with budget authority for campus planning, capital projects, construction/refurbishment, energy and utilities management, accommodation, commercial enterprise, maintenance, security and much more.
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About AUDEThe Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE) is the representative body for higher education (HE) estates and facilities staff. Its members are the directors of estates and facilities from 188 institutions in the UK, ten oversees institutions and alternative providers and nine carefully selected business partners. In total, we have over 4,565 individual members from across these sectors. AUDE works closely with other sector representatives, charitable, and regulatory organisations for the benefit of its members. It is run under the umbrella organisation Professional HE Services Ltd (PHES). PHES is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and is owned entirely by its member HE institutions. View organisational structure
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*features statistics correct at the time of filming
Driving our sustainability and net zero objectives, this group has produced some flagship reports including a guide to decarbonisation and legacy building guides.
Along with the capital cost database, this group will focus on soft landings, procurement, value for money and sustainability in projects.
Raising the profile of this key profession, the group have produced a report on cleaning benchmarking and several policy templates.
This group be focusing on digital estates and standard space type definitions, space utilisation and driving value for decision makers from the estate management report.
From land, leases, property and accommodation this is the go-to group for all things estate management.
This group have delivered a 12-part series of EDI training, attended by 1500 delegates.
This body tackles the unique challenges faced by small teaching and research institutions.
Encouraging best practice in estates information management, this group will be launching a digital roadmap for estates.
A group to collectively highlight and explore sector risk and compliance and have recently focused on internal audits.
AUDE have awarded 6,001 hours of CPD to members and welcomed 331 delegates at their annual conference programme plus 45 members attended their flagship Summer School residential for aspiring directors.
Our conference committee bring together four days of topical content and headline speakers for AUDE members and sector providers in our flagship annual event.
A key committee who are responsible for the publication of the annual higher educations estates management report and the corresponding digital platform.
AUDE's statement of accounts for the year ending 31 July 2024.
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AUDE would like to acknowledge and thank all those who have given their time and expertise to participate in and support the activities of the association. Special thanks goes to the chair, Umesh Desai and members of the executive committee for their hard work and dedication in bringing the AUDE aims and activities to life. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to our business partners, event sponsors and exhibitors for supporting our work.
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Over 30 years of experience across over 200 Higher and Further Education Institutions.
Multidisciplinary engineering practice Buro Happold works across sectors and scales to deliver sustainable projects and strategies for our clients, with a portfolio including over 100 Universities.
EQUANS improves lives through better living and working environments. We help to balance performance with responsibility, enabling progress in a harmonious way.
LitmusFM provides facilities management consultancy and asset management services to University settings across the UK. We aim to reduce waste and inefficiency in service design, construction, asset management protocols and maintenance and replacement processes, saving money and delivering real value.
Maris Education is a division of Maris Interiors LLP and specialises in providing fast-track, design, fit-out and refurbishment solutions for universities.
Provelio are leading experts in the management, delivery and digitisation of estates, programmes and projects across the property and construction sectors. We specialise in estates management thinking; and seek to do work that integrates space, energy, projects and operations.
Savills is one of the world’s leading multi-sector global property advisers, with an international network of over 600 offices and more than 39,000 professionals across 70 countries.
With over 30 years FF&E experience Southerns Broadstock Interiors offer a consultative approach to ensure we deliver a solution which is tailored to your furniture needs.
SSE Energy Solutions is a division of SSE that delivers ‘Business Energy’ electricity & gas supply as well as ‘Distributed Energy’ infrastructure solutions to public and private businesses across the UK and Ireland.
