Leeds College of Building and leading technology firm Collsys have joined forces to pioneer a new software package for the further education sector. 

The Collsys ‘Academic Suite‘ is designed to track knowledge, skills, and behaviours across all academic disciplines. It combines with their ‘Employability Suite‘ to provide a comprehensive single platform solution including work placement, enrichment, apprenticeships, and careers.

The project began when Leeds College of Building reviewed its existing systems post-pandemic and asked for staff feedback. Increasingly complex requirements and software that was no longer fit for purpose meant that investing in a new college-wide system became a priority.

Steve Connell, Assistant Principal at Leeds College of Building, said:

“As a busy further education college, we deliver a host of construction specialisms from plumbing, carpentry, and brickwork to civil engineering and transport planning. As such, we needed software that could not only track student work placements and enrichment, but also monitor progress, hold Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), link well with maths, English and support areas, hold student reviews and exam results and monitor attendance and punctuality.

“However, little is available to the FE sector which can manage data for both employer placements and student progress, and which is also user-friendly. Market leaders tend to offer solutions for one or the other but not together and can also be difficult to retrieve the correct information. We needed software that would be a one-stop-shop and present data quickly and consistently. 

“Our old systems were labour intensive and lead to silos or pockets of good practice, so I began talking with one of our existing software suppliers, Collsys. Their CEO, Brian Varley, was keen to explore this further and use expertise in his team to expand existing Collsys software parameters.” 

The College Work Based Learning and Employer Engagement teams already used Collsys modules for tracking work placements, enrichment, and employer engagement data. The aim was to extend this to a bespoke management platform used by all Leeds College of Building staff.

Brian Varley, CEO Collsys, said:

“This project has been a great opportunity to enhance our existing Employability Suite offering. Together with Leeds College of Building, we designed the Academic Suite to be easy to use with additional options for tracking ‘Knowledge Skills and Behaviours’ of vocational courses. This means staff can monitor if students are on track at any point in the year and put in earlier interventions. 

“We also included a joint training plan and review system that is not readily available on the market, given products are often not specifically designed with colleges in mind. A benefit of our system is that because we offer our Employability Suite alongside the Academic Suite, all data is in one place. Tutors can easily look at all aspects of a student’s data without having to switch between systems for reports.”

Over the last 12 months, a joint project team spent time researching, developing, designing, testing, and eventually rolling out the Academic Suite project. The new system is now live at Leeds College of Building and manages all aspects of students’ learning. 

Users can drill down to faculty, departmental, course, or individual student level data. Staff can quickly access vital data, generate reports, and view insights using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating to quickly identify at-risk students, monitor progress, and tailor interventions.

Adam Sharpe, system super-user and Leeds College of Building carpentry and Joinery lecturer, said:

“The new system has great potential. The fact that Collsys has been made to suit our needs as a college is really pleasing, as this means that people like me and others within our organisation can make this new system the best it can be. Working with the Collsys team has been a pleasure; they have been so responsive when we have had technical issues and very patient when delivering training.”

Work is now underway on the next phase of development. The project team has hosted drop-in staff training sessions, created champions and super users, and helped with data transfer to the new system. Plans also include a portal and mobile app to allow employers, parents and carers to monitor a student’s attendance, progress, results, and staff feedback.

Steve concluded:

“This was an ambitious project, but it paid off. We’ve never had this level of data before! It’s fantastic to have everything in one place and quickly access data in real-time. It’s very user-friendly and is a much more efficient use of precious staff time. This bespoke platform will be crucial for external assessors moving forward as it ties together all aspects of apprenticeships and study programmes. Thanks to Collsys for listening to our needs and building a bespoke system for us. “

Visit www.collsys.co.uk to find out more about Collsys Academic and Employability Suites or email customerservices@collsys.co.uk to learn how Collsys can support other Further Education providers.

The company closes a 80M€ Series B round with a mix of new and existing investors, bringing the total funding to 130M€ in just three years. The company will use the funding to double its team size, continue to invest in product R&D and expand their valued partner network to drive society-wide electrification. 

January 23, 2024. Monta, the operating platform powering the EV charging ecosystem, today announced the close of its  €80 M Series B round, bringing the company’s total funding to €130M in just three years. Energize Capital co-led the round with GreenPoint Partners and Denmark’s state-backed Export and Investment Fund. The Series B also included participation from returning investors Headline, byFounders, AENU and Creandum and new investor, Quantum Light .

Monta is accelerating the electrification of mobility through its EV charging platform, which serves hardware manufacturers, operators, businesses and EV drivers with one integrated software solution. 

Since its founding in 2020, the company has become the de facto hub for simplifying and streamlining the deployment, use, and management of EV charging infrastructure for businesses and operators. Monta’s platform also assists hardware manufacturers in optimizing their products by enabling them to benchmark charge point brands, provide insights into usage and performance, and speed up troubleshooting and maintenance time. In addition, EV drivers can use Monta’s software to charge on 600.000+ charge points across Europe.    

“EVs and charging infrastructure are a cornerstone of the global shift towards decentralized electrification, and Monta’s software platform is the backbone enabling this critical transition in energy and mobility,” said Casper Rasmussen, CEO and founder of Monta. “Our differentiator is that we take on the entire value chain of the EV charging market – from the grid to hardware to business and drivers – with a tool that streamlines and simplifies charging operations for all participants, bridging the gap between energy providers and end users. With one million monthly charging sessions and 130,000 charge points on the Monta platform, our growth is a testament to this market nearing an inflection point, and we’re thrilled for the support from Energize and all our investors to help us further our mission of democratizing mobility electrification.”

In 2023, Monta increased its annual recurring revenue by 600%, opened two new markets including new offices in Paris and Barcelona, and nearly doubled its employee headcount. This growth has been supported by the addition of several new strategic partners including Siemens, EGG, Rolec and Uno-X, which rely on Monta’s platform to manage their fleets, home and work charging needs in addition to leveraging the company’s extensive roaming network of more than 600,000 charge points. Combined with hitting targets 14 months in a row, investors have been keen to empower Monta to continue its momentum.

“The market for electric vehicle charge points continues to expand on an impressive trajectory – over 40% annual growth – and is demanding a modern solution to manage the increasing volume and complexity of touchpoints between electric vehicles and charging infrastructure,” said Juan Muldoon, partner at Energize Capital and a member of Monta’s board of directors. “With a business model that touches participants across the EV ecosystem to connect the dots and enable scale, Monta is that solution. The company has solidified leadership in this market with an exciting magnitude of growth – our research indicates Monta is the fastest-growing startup at its scale in the EV space. We are thrilled to double down on our investment in Monta and continue partnering with their team to accelerate the transition to electric mobility.”

Monta will leverage this investment to double down on its successful ecosystem strategy by strengthening investments in product R&D, expanding its partner network across all markets and together with the industry creating a sustainable charging infrastructure to give operators and EV drivers more control over their energy consumption. Monta’s extensive partner network will continue to play a crucial role in accelerating the mobility sector’s sustainability transformation and building the infrastructure for a decentralized electrification system.

Award-winning housebuilder The Hill Group has released its financial accounts for the year ended 2021. The UK’s second largest privately owned housebuilder posted record revenue of £753m an uplift of 15% on the year before, and net profits of £65.1m, up 47% on the previous year. The results display how the company has successfully evolved into a highly productive and resilient organisation primed for continued growth, completing 2,318 homes in the past year, and a healthy 8,300 homes in its development pipeline.

The Hill Group has an ambitious five-year business plan to increase the size of its business turnover to £1.2bn by 2025. The accounts for 2021 show that the organisation is well-placed to achieve those objectives with a strong balance sheet showing £163m of net cash, with net assets having grown to £273m.

In the past year, The Hill Group made a series of structural changes to the business to create a platform for sustainable growth, with substantial headroom in financial and operational capacity for continued growth in the pipeline. In December 2021, the housebuilder completed refinancing its revolving credit facility via a sustainability-linked loan (SLL) valued at £220m, with interest tied to the company’s sustainability performance. Hill’s new SLL is a clear demonstration of the confidence leading banks have in the company’s business model and its reputation as one the UK’s leading sustainable developers.

Hill’s commitment to sustainability is further underlined by the introduction of a progressive Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) strategy, now embedded within its core business principles. The strategy sets out a number of ambitious targets – including net zero carbon in business operations and net zero operational carbon in the homes built by 2030 – and ensures full, ongoing transparency in its annual reporting.

Further structural changes include the formation of an Executive Committee. This draws upon the experience of seven directors from across the business, including four members of its current Holdings Board and finance, operations, and sales and marketing. As the company continues to expand, the new structure ensures Hill remains dexterous across all operational areas, while retaining the leadership agility of a privately owned company.

All regional operations continued to perform remarkably well during 2021 despite the many labour and material issues faced by the industry. Hill’s Bristol based team is now on site mobilising its first projects, and the housebuilder plans to continue expansion with a further regional operation being set up in the Midlands over the coming months.

Residential sales have continued to exceed expectations across the whole portfolio, with exceptional results achieved in Cambridge at both Knights Park and Marleigh, to name but two developments where demand has outstripped supply.

This impressive momentum has been carried into 2022 – where financial performance is expected to be similar to that of 2021, in line with Hill’s business plan – before sustained growth resumes towards the 2025 targets as the housebuilder enters its next period of planned growth.

Andy Hill, Chief Executive Officer of The Hill Group comments: “Performance has once again been strong in our core business, bringing high-quality housing to market, either as a private developer, joint venture partner, or as a partner to various residential providers. This year has also seen us bidding for, winning, and delivering more extensive and ambitious projects – especially widescale regeneration schemes – which will assist in driving our planned growth.”

“The excellent performance we have achieved this year, coupled with our new leadership structure and embedded ESG strategy, ensures we can be confident of achieving our growth targets and succeeding in our vision to be the UK’s most trusted housebuilder creating exceptional homes and sustainable communities.”

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