Centralising Estates and Compliance Management at Leigh Academies Trust

1. Executive Summary

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT), one of the UK’s largest and most established Multi-Academy Trusts, needed a scalable, intuitive solution to centralise estates and compliance management across its 33 schools. With a rapidly growing estate and a wide user base ranging from frontline staff to senior leadership, LAT partnered with us to implement a system that would improve visibility, streamline processes, and support safe, compliant operations trust-wide.

2. About the Customer

Leigh Academies Trust operates across Kent, Medway, and South East London. Formed in 2008, LAT, as of July 2025 the Trust includes:

• 14 primary academies
• 16 secondary academies
• 1 all-through academy
• 2 special academies

Together, these sites serve over 20,000 students, supported by a dispersed and diverse estates function responsible for maintaining safe, legally compliant, and fit-for-purpose learning environments.

3. The Challenge

LAT faced a number of challenges typical of large, complex educational organisations:

• Estates teams withvarying IT confidence required a system that was intuitive and accessible.
• Compliance activities were managed using fragmented tools and manual processes, making central oversight difficult.
• A lack of real-time data limited the trust's ability to make informed decisions about risk, maintenance, and investment.

Estates and operations leaders sought a solution that could support both daily task execution and strategic planning at trust level.

4. Project Requirements

LAT needed a modern, web-based estates and compliance management system that could evolve alongside the trust. Core requirements included:

Flexibility and Access Control

• Custom data fields to adapt to evolving needs
• Role-based permissions for individual users and groups
• Intuitive user interface to support adoption across all staff levels

System Integration and Accessibility 

• Single Sign-On (SSO) via Microsoft or Google
• Contractor access to upload records and engage directly with the system
• Easy data export in Excel and PDF formats

Training, Onboarding and Support

• ‘Train-the-trainer’ model for super-user empowerment
• On-demand training resources (videos, manuals)
• Dedicated account management to support ongoing system development and adoption

Comprehensive Functional Coverage

• Compliance Tasks & Planned Maintenance: Templated and custom tasks, contractor record uploads, automated notifications, and remedial tracking
• Health & Safety and Risk Assessment: Standardised inspection forms, risk mitigation tracking, and reportable outcomes
• Reactive Maintenance: Unlimited self-service user access, real-time updates, SLA monitoring, and internal/contractor management
• Asset Management: Track fixed and mobile assets, with maintenance history accessible via barcode/QR scanning
• Reporting & Analytics: Live dashboards, scheduled reporting, and integration with Power BI and Google Data Studio
• Contract Management: Lifecycle tracking of all contracts with notifications and linkage to assets
• Curriculum Compliance: Controlled access for teaching staff to manage education-specific H&S tasks
• Multi-Level Access Views: Academy, cluster, and trust-wide visibility tailored to user roles

5. The Solution

From the outset, we worked closely with Leigh Academies Trust to fully understand their operational needs, estate structure, and compliance priorities. Through a series of consultations with key stakeholders, we developed a prototype solution configured to reflect the Trust’s workflows, terminology, and user access requirements. This prototype was piloted with a select group of academies and central trust staff, enabling real-world testing and feedback.

Based on pilot outcomes, we made a number of refinements—including bespoke development to support specific use cases—before launching the fully configured system across the Trust in September 2022.

Following the initial rollout, we continued to work in close partnership with Sam Thomas (Infrastructure Operations Manager) and Simon Woodridge (Deputy Director, Service Delivery) to evolve and enhance the system.

Key components of the solution included:

• Custom Configuration: The system was tailored to reflect LAT’s organisational structure, user groups, and data requirements, including academy, cluster, and trust-level views.
• Planned Maintenance and Compliance Tasks: LAT designed and implemented their own bespoke templated task forms for in house and contractor led activities ranging from full Health and Safety Assessments and Fire Risk Assessments to weekly flushing and call point testing. These were scheduled across the entire estate with automatic notifications and reminders for overdue tasks.

• Reactive Task Helpdesk: An unlimited-user, browser-based request portal allowed staff to raise issues without the need for additional software or logins. Tickets were automatically triaged to school/team specific inboxes with staff alerted to new jobs by email notifications. Automated updates and agent messaging streamlined communication between estates teams and site/curriculum staff.

• Reporting and Analytics: Live dashboards and scheduled reports provided visibility of task completion, SLA adherence, and compliance across the trust. Reports and data from Compliance Pod forms the core of the estates services monthly performance summary delivered at the trust monthly board meetings.

• Training and Support: A 'train-the-trainer' model equipped users at each site and key system administrators were trained and supported to oversee the configuration and day to day operation of the system across the Trust. Sam Thomas was nominated as the in-house project leader, and she was assigned a dedicated account team who worked closely with her to shape and refine the platform over time.

6. Results and Impact

Following the implementation of Compliance Pod, Leigh Academies Trust saw measurable improvements across its estates and compliance operations:

Full Trust-wide Visibility:
Estates and compliance data was centralised, enabling both strategic oversight and day-to-day operational control.

Improved Compliance Confidence:
With automated reminders, documented audit trails, and robust reporting, LAT was able to demonstrate compliance more easily during audits and inspections.

Greater Staff Engagement:
The user-friendly interface and unlimited user access encouraged widespread adoption, including among less IT-confident staff.

Efficient Task Management:
Thousands of planned and reactive tasks tracked through a single platform—streamlining communication, improving SLA performance, and reducing administrative burden.

Future-Proofed Estates Management:
The platform’s adaptability and ongoing partnership approach ensured it continued to evolve alongside the Trust’s needs.

“Compliance Pod has been transformative for our facilities management. It provides us with full visibility and streamlined management of all our statutory and non-statutory preventative maintenance. Thanks to its integrated helpdesk system, we are able to offer a complete and efficient facilities management service to all our academies.”  

Sam Thomas - Infrastructure Operations Manager, Leigh Academies Trust

7. Why It Worked

The success of this project was rooted in a collaborative approach. Leigh Academies Trust was not only a customer but a strategic development partner—shaping key elements of the Compliance Pod platform based on real-world needs.

Key factors in success included:

• Partnership-led Development: The platform was refined in close collaboration with LAT, ensuring functionality aligned directly with operational realities.
• Ease of Use for All Users: Intuitive design meant that staff at all confidence levels could engage with the system effectively, with minimal training barriers.
• Flexible and Configurable Architecture: The system adapted to the Trust’s structure, not the other way around—supporting custom workflows, asset hierarchies, and reporting lines.
• Dedicated Support: The account management team acted as an extension of LAT’s internal team, offering responsive support and continuous improvement.

“Our previous, manual approach to facilities management, while functional, was very limited. Compliance Pod's implementation was a game-changer, significantly improving our ability to track and report on compliance, and ultimately better support our customers. The Compliance Pod team possesses a deep understanding of the FM world and how their system can be optimally utilized by schools.”

Simon Woodridge — Deputy Director (Service Delivery), Leigh Academies Trust

9. Summary

By implementing Compliance Pod, Leigh Academies Trust gained a powerful, intuitive platform that centralised estates and compliance management across its diverse estate. The project delivered real operational improvements, improved visibility, and positioned LAT for sustainable, compliant growth. It’s a clear example of how technology, when combined with real partnership, can simplify complexity in the education sector.

“We can’t thank the team at Compliance Pod enough for the work they put into supporting us on our improvement journey. They were an integral part of our team, developing the system together to best serve our academies.” 

Simon Woodridge — Deputy Director (Service Delivery), Leigh Academies Trust