As I reach the end of my term as AUDE Chair – and this Annual Report is published on day 361 of year two of my two-year time in this role – then you’ll forgive me if I enjoy looking back at recent association highlights. I believe firmly in the aims of AUDE – that together we are stronger as we learn and share and grow alongside each other. As individuals. As estates teams in Higher Education. Learning is at the heart of all we do, and we do this together, so our profession can grow and thrive.
Can I take you straight back to last April as an undoubted highlight, and I don’t mean only because of the tropical weather that briefly hit Cardiff, and was timed precisely by our organising team to coincide with the AUDE Conference? Lancaster in November for our Big Conversation event themed around energy generation – well, perhaps not quite so warm. We were in Plymouth in June for our residential Summer School programme, and Nottingham in September for the AUDE Showcase event. My thanks to all who host us, work hard to make our key events happen, and who speak and share to help us learn. These main events are the visible backbone of AUDE’s programme – and every AUDE member is invited to at least one of these. Supplemented year round by online sessions there is significant value to every member of the association available here – if you choose to take it. Involve yourself. The more you put into the association the more you will take out.
Continued below.
Those free online sessions covered a huge range of themes across the year. Each counts towards your CPD – whether you track that for personal pride or for professional accountability. At a time when universities are looking for every low-cost win then making sure you boost your learning in this way is a must.
Throughout the last year AUDE has continued to publish reports and new tools to help us, often with a benchmarking aspect that allows us to see the strengths and weaknesses of our own approach to an issue, and to learn from those that are further ahead. The latest Estates Management Report is a case in point, and I know most of you are now using EMR Digital, the online version of the report that allows you to build your own comparison data. We updated the Capital Cost Database in 2025; launched the AUDE Self-Assessment Tool or AUDESAT; published our ‘Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Guide’, and the ‘digital roadmap’ document ‘How to Digitise and Visualise Your Estate - Bringing Estates Intelligence to Life’. All of these are high-quality practical interventions designed to support you and your team. They are provided free to you through your university’s membership of AUDE: your money reinvested into tools that help you do a better job.
Looking back over two years there has been much more in this vein – helping you practically but also helping you to think about your role and ways in which we can all improve together. Projects of this kind include our reports on legacy buildings, on decarbonisation and on women in estates. A final major theme for me has to be our collaborative work with colleagues in peer organisations across the world – in the United States, in Southern Africa and also in Australasia. It has been a privilege to meet with and learn together with international colleagues. And with early relationships now established with European peers too there are interesting new paths opening up for AUDE in that direction too.
Thankyou for your support for the association. As has been said many times, if AUDE did not exist then we would have to invent it. We can only be glad not to have to start from scratch and make the most of it each and every year. I’m proud to be able to share this Annual Report with you as a record of this year’s association activity.
Gold members are our Higher Education Institution members from Great Britain and Ireland.
Silver members are made up of organisations that are not HEIs, such as further education colleges, NHS institutions, local authorities, business partners and international partners.
Please scroll through and rediscover AUDE's events, launches and activities by clicking on the dates (white circles) on the timeline below, or by using the black arrows.
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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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 186 HEIs in the UK, plus 36 oversees institutions, alternative providers and carefully selected business partners. In total, we have over 5,000 individual registered members from these organisations. 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 EDI group have delivered a 12-part series of EDI training, attended by 1500 delegates.
Encouraging best practice in estates information management, this group will be building on the successfully launched digital roadmap for estates.
AUDE have awarded nearly 7,000 hours of CPD to members and welcomed 331 delegates at their annual conference programme plus 51 members attended their flagship Summer School residential for aspiring directors.
Looking at ways of leveraging the asset value of of estates and building commercial and financial literacies into university estates leadership.
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 2025.
Full set of accounts
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, Syd Cottle 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.
AUDE selects partnerships based on the value and insight they can offer our member estates and facilities directors and their teams across the UK and beyond. They are carefully selected by the AUDE Exec.
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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.
A global, independent construction, property and management consultancy, providing a full range of services to maximise value in all areas of the built environment.
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.
Sheppard Robson is one of the most established architecture, interior design and masterplanning practices in the UK, with a long track record across the higher education sector.
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