Principal Consultants and Administrative Staff

SUMS Consulting staff are well-qualified professional people drawn from varied professional and commercial backgrounds. All have an understanding of and an empathy with HE. Their work experience in HE extends across the administrative and business processes and ranges from policy through strategy development to tactical and operational management.

Bernarde Hyde

Managing Consultant

Bernarde joined SUMS Consulting from a leading high street retail organisation. Since joining SUMS Bernarde has focused on Organisational Development and Structures and the Management of Student Administration and Services. Her special interest is the impact of policy change and how universities should respond to growing expectations.

Bob Walder

Deputy Managing Consultant

Bob joined SUMS in 2007. After graduating from Oxford University he joined the Operational Research Executive of the NCB. He worked as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse on projects that included strategy development, process improvement, organisation design and system implementation.

Simon Donoghue

Lead Consultant

Simon brings to SUMS over 20 years senior level professional and academic experience gained within HE. Previously Simon was Head of the Strategy Project Group at the University of Leeds. He has worked on major projects for a variety of organisations in the areas of strategy implementation, process transformation and organisational change. He has a keen interest in helping universities successfully implement strategic transformation programmes.

Andrea Buttle

Principal Consultant

Andrea joined SUMS Consulting in 2001. After graduating from Imperial College, Andrea worked for BOC who later sponsored her MBA. Her career at BOC spanned engineering and operations before moving into IT programme management. Andrea specialises in reviewing IT services and timetabling. More generally, Andrea is always looking to help clients make the best use of administrative systems.

Agnes Gibson

Principal Consultant

Agnes joined SUMS Consulting in 2004, having previously worked for RAC Motoring Services, Bywater Consulting and Axon.  Her assignments have included the student lifecycle and support, HR, Finance, and commercial services. Her professional interests include strategy, process and change management.

Fiona Lloyd

Principal Consultant

Fiona joined SUMS Consulting in 2000 and brings commercial experience from senior Finance roles at Babcock, Max Factor and L’Oreal. She has undertaken a wide range of assignments at SUMS covering the student experience, progression, libraries, commercial activity, costing and resource allocation. She is the SUMS lead on value for money.

Claire Taylor

Principal Consultant

Claire joined SUMS in 2006.  After graduating from Oxford she spent four years with Procter & Gamble working in IT Systems Management.  She then spent four years as an international cricketer. Claire's particular interests lie in comparator studies and she has worked on a wide range of consultancy assignments.

Kathy Petersen

Company Secretary

Kathy joined SUMS in 2009. After graduating from the University of Manchester she gained her accounting qualification with Ernst & Young in London. She has worked in various commercial finance roles for Diageo, PepsiCo and Maritz Research and more recently for an educational charity in Windsor. Kathy is the Company Secretary and Practice Manager and is responsible for company finance and administration.

Jacqui Goodman

Administrative Officer

Jacqui joined SUMS in 1999 from the University of Reading where she had spent nine years as a secretary in the School of Animal and Microbial Sciences. She is responsible for the general day to day running of the office and is the first point of contact for members contacting SUMS or requesting copies of reports.

Jay Vadgama

Administrative Assistant

Jay has worked as a Management Accountant at NHS, Siemens; Project Manager at Quintiles; and various accounting roles in Multinational Companies. Jay joined SUMS Consulting as Assistant Administrator, providing support to the Company Secretary and Practice Manager.