School business manager advocates

School business manager (SBM) advocates operate within the nine government regions on behalf of the National College. Their remit is to raise awareness of the SBM profession, promote avenues for career progression and demonstrate how the role can improve school effectiveness. SBM advocates act as a voice of practice on behalf of the College and will develop regional communications networks, including collaborative links with the College's regional leaders.

SBM advocates receive a grant from the National College, and are therefore able to offer this advice and service without charging schools. One-to-one consultancy is available at a rate of £302.58 per day. This payment is not brokered by the College, but invoiced directly by the SBM advocate’s school.

Find out more about the SBM advocates by watching this short film: promoting the role of the school business manager.

To contact your regional SBM advocate, please get in touch via the email addresses listed below. More detailed profiles of the advocates are also available.

Region	SBM advocate(s)	Contact details
North East	Michelle Charlton	michelle.charlton@nationalcollege.org.uk
North West	Dawn Boyes	dawn.boyes@nationalcollege.org.uk
Yorkshire and the Humber	Morag Somerville	morag.somerville@nationalcollege.org.uk
East of England	David Allen	david.allen@nationalcollege.org.uk
East Midlands	Marsha Brown	marsha.brown@nationalcollege.org.uk
West Midlands	Husham Khan	husham.khan@nationalcollege.org.uk
South West	Russell Dalton	russell.dalton@nationalcollege.org.uk
South East	Marian Dunning	marian.dunning@nationalcollege.org.uk
London	Jo Watts	jo.watts@nationalcollege.org.uk

We now also have a support advocate who work alongside the advocates nationally:

Kerry Brimfield, kerry.brimfield@nationalcollege.org.uk

For further information see:

SBM advocates frequently asked questions

Who can be an SBM advocate?

To fulfil the role, applicants should:

possess CSBM, DSBM, ADSBM or equivalent qualification; and
be a practicing SBM (employed by a school)
be a member of the school senior leadership team
be able to provide evidence of promoting the SBM profession (and indicate how grant payment might be used to support this further, ie it may be used to cover the cost of people's time, the cost of events and expences, etc)
have experience of delivering training courses or workshops (physically and online)
understand the goals of the National College and embody its values

Desirable attributes include an appetite for continued learning - ADSBM and SBD and an awareness of research undertaken within the field of school business management.

Successful applicants will receive the following support from the College:

induction to the College and SBM advocate role
facilitate introduction with other College's regional leaders
provide access to information, research and knowledge held by the SBM programmes team
regular communication with the SBM team
National College email address, name badge, business cards and College literature issued

The recruitment process will consist of:

application dates advertised on the College website
application review and strongest candidates will be invited for interview
competency based interview (motivation, networking, collaborating and teamwork, communication and influencing, job specific skills and additional information)
appointments made (split funding used to provide geographic coverage and density of local authorities)
grant will be paid to schools in two instalments
locally co-ordinated induction and handover
National College email address, name badge, business cards and College literature issued

Grants are for fixed periods, covering each academic year (September to August).

Become an SBM advocate

We are not currently recruiting for SBM advocates. Future recruitment details will be published here when available.