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The Manchester and Trafford School Business Leader Forum was formed in 2009.  The forum originated as two separate borough groups which were subsequently merged when the Chair of the Trafford forum moved to work in a Manchester school. 

The forum has historically been run by a volunteer school business leader, however, due to increasing workloads and more and more demands being placed on business leaders the forum members made the decision to appoint Redrambler Limited to provide administration and management support to the forum from January 2020.

At present we have over 75 members, and we continue to grow!

The members highly value the group and it has often been described as a lifeline due to the support and networking opportunities it has offered over the years.

‘Your network is the people who want to help you, and you want to help them, and that’s really powerful’  Reid Hoffman

Our vision and aims are:-

• To continue to provide a local network of Bursars and School Business Leaders who work together to support each other
• To provide opportunities for:-
• Sharing good practice
• Joint CPD events/workshops/keynote speakers
• Collaborative purchasing
• Negotiating discounts/special prices
• Income generation ideas
• Providing feedback from our region to local and national bodies
• Signposting information/relevant CPD opportunities
• Mentor support to new Bursars/SBM/SBLs

We achieve this by offering:-

• A secure online forum for SBL's to share their knowledge and ideas
• Termly morning face to face network meetings at member schools
• Access to a wider national online forum of over 600 SBL's
• Access to UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) Operations group online forum
• Opportunities for members to deliver presentations at our termly meetings
• Forum Chair is a member of the DfE National Network Leaders Forum and UKSSN co-chair.

Membership is open to anyone who works within a school business environment in the Manchester or Trafford area, in any phase or type of school e.g. maintained, academy, primary, secondary etc. No matter what your job title is, School Business Manager, Finance Manager, Director of Finance – you are welcome to join us!

We also have a forum within the online portal for Finance Managers, Site Managers, HR Managers and IT Managers.  This will enable them to start networking and benefiting from all the opportunities listed above.

Please note – SBL’s will have access to all forums. Finance Managers, Site Managers, HR Managers and IT Managers access will be restricted to their respective forums.

We are affiliated with The Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL).

***UPDATE - OCTOBER 2024***

We are now offering regional group membership of ISBL included in the annual subscription fee.

This includes:-

• Full ISBL membership for all forum members (worth £149 per year)
• Discounts on ISBL events and training
• Access to the ISBL self-assessment tool

We look forward to welcoming you.

Gemma, Helen, Claire, Suzanne, Angela and Jackie

Manchester and Trafford SBL Forum committee members and Redrambler Limited