INTO University Partnerships’ (INTO) recently released Report and accounts made up to 31 July 2022 point to the impact of the pandemic, global student mobility changes and the financial health of pathways. There are also three new board appointments in the past three months to consider in a higher education recruitment environment where talk of consolidation is gathering pace. The court case with the University of South Florida is noted as a contingent liability.
And The Tide’s Gonna Turn1
Starting with the Board appointments, there is reason to celebrate as INTO moves from being a board of six men in the previous year’s Report to a smorgasbord (pun intended) of seven men and three women in January 2023. That makes the group board bigger than the INTO Executive team of nine – four men and five women. At the date and time of writing the new Board Directors haven’t appeared on the corporate website which is a bit of a shame as two were appointed at the start of November.
It’s not clear whether the new appointees signal a reshaping of strategic direction for INTO. Annalisa Gigante started at Bain&Co and one profile highlights that “..her key focus areas are sustainability, digital technologies including AI and IoT, new business models, and building high performing teams.” Nicholas Adlam was at Bain&Co for five years (not overlapping with Annalisa) and held a number of management roles before joining INTO as “growth and transformation” consultant in 2020. I am guessing that Tamsin Todd is the same individual as the CEO of Find My Past but INTO is not listed on her LinkedIn profile and I can find no supporting announcement of the appointment.
Another Year Older and Deeper In Debt2
Turnover for the year to 31 July 2022 is shown as an adjusted figure improving by £15m to £138m but its worth remembering that the adjustment removes discontinued operations. For reference the adjusted turnover was shown as £194m in the Report to 31 July 2019. Back in the Report for 2017 the Group turnover was shown as £276.5m which suggests that the closure of partnerships and the pandemic may have halved its size since then3.
To try and put some sense of the changes since then the 2017 Report noted the “Number of INTO partnerships” as 24. In the most recent report there appear to be 50% holdings in 11 operational ventures plus 51% in INTO Newcastle and 100% of INTO SLU. The relationship with Hofstra University is not noted in any form in the current Report.
What has continued to mount is the debt owed by joint ventures to INTO University Partnerships. The year-on-year increase in debt is over £8m with the majority of the change reflecting the longer-term trend of partnerships in the US becoming increasingly indebted. This reflects the challenges facing US pathways in recent years.
How Long Can This Go On?4
New faces and the end of the pandemic could lead to a reset and INTO certainly seems in need of it. The US operation saw the return of David Stremba as SVP of Partnership Development, North America and the UK leadership team was re-jigged last year with a seeming change in focus across Russell Group and non-Russell Group universities in the portfolio. Perhaps a combination of direct recruitment contracts, in person and in country activity through initiatives like the University Access Centres, and the return of student demand from China will see a change in fortunes.
There are, however, headwinds. While the UK has had a boom in international recruitment over the past three years partners like Newcastle University and the University of East Anglia have underperformed the sector. In the US it seems that Shorelight has been making much more rapid progress on direct recruitment and has retained more pathway partners than INTO. The public and apparently acrimonious split with the University of South Florida may be unhelpful to INTO in brokering new deals.
Whether there is some merit or enough financial firepower for a merger, sale or takeover with another operator may be one question to answer. Some form of alliance with a careers/employability focused partner or building/buying a credible online delivery operation might also add some interest to what looks a dated offering. All things for the new board members to ponder.
NOTES
There’s a working theme to the sub-titles.
- A lyric of hope from “9 to 5” by the wonderful Dolly Parton. The song—and film— were released in 1980 and owe their titles to 9to5, National Association of Working Women, an organization founded in 1973 with a mission supporting women working for equal pay, power and participation.
- Slightly adjusted line (the lyric says “day” not “year”) from 16 Tons written by Merle Travis. It is based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Several lines in the lyrics are direct quotes from his brother and father who worked in the mines.
- The adjustment of figures is difficult to follow. Links are given to the source data for those who wish to investigate further and I am always happy to receive and publish an authoritative correction.
- From Working In the Coal Mine which was written by Allen Toussaint and a hit for Lee Dorsey in 1966. Neither had ever been down a coal mine
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay