Operations
PfS operates a multidisciplinary approach to delivering BSF projects across each of England's 150 local authorities. On entering the BSF programme, a local authority is allocated a Project Director who will guide the authority through the BSF process, harnessing wider specialisms and expertise from other parts of the organisation as needed. This means that local authorities will have one relationship manager throughout BSF, including for repeat projects.
Project Directors work on a regional basis and belong to one of three teams managed by Regional Operations Directors. The Regional Operations Directors report to the Operations Director.
Sal Wilson, Operations Director
Sal has been involved in BSF since before its formal launch in February 2003, including the early development of the standard documentation. She is an experienced government sector programme/project manager, and for the last ten years has been particularly focused on delivering Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement projects, predominately in the education sector.
Prior to PfS, Sal successfully delivered a variety of complex PFI/PPP projects through the full procurement lifecycle from business case to financial close, including: an early grouped schools PFI project; several Local Education Authority intervention contracts; two local authority technical services outsourcings; and a strategic ICT partner. This experience has been gained through both a public sector delivery role and as an adviser working for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sal's early career was in social care and therapeutic work with children and young people. This led her into local authority management and, later, corporate policy development and project implementation at senior level. Major projects included the 1997 Local Government Reorganisation in East Sussex County Council when the Brighton & Hove Unitary Authority was formed.
The Operations Director is supported by the Regional Operations Directors:
David Burns, Regional Operations Director (North)
David joined PfS on secondment from Partnerships UK (PUK) in August 2003, and as a permanent member of staff in August 2006. Involved in the start-up phase of PfS and the early development of the Local Education Partnership (LEP) model and standard contract agreements, he drafted the early procurement documents and guidance notes.
David worked very closely with two of the pathfinder local authorities as Project Director. He was PfS Project Director for the Bradford project up to Financial Close and the establishment of the Bradford LEP, and with Sheffield up to the selection of Preferred Bidder.
In April 2006, when PfS took over the responsibility for the delivery of Academy buildings, David became Academies Programme Director and is responsible for the resource and quality management of the Project Directors working on the individual Academy projects.
Before his involvement in BSF, David worked for the Department of Health, where he helped to establish Partnerships for Health (PfH). He was seconded to PfH for two years and worked with a large number of local authorities and health bodies to deliver their strategic investment programmes.
Mike Coleman, Regional Operations Director (Central & West)
Mike joined PfS as a Project Director on secondment from 4ps in January 2004, joining as a permanent employee in April 2005. In September 2007, Mike was appointed as Regional Operations Director for the Central & West region.
Mike has worked with a number of local authorities, including Bristol, Birmingham and Nottingham. In September 2005 he was promoted to Regional Programme Director, overseeing the delivery of 12 projects across the Midlands. With the recent reorganisation within PfS, Mike became Regional Operations Director for the Central & West region, responsible for 21 projects, and joined the PfS Senior Management Team (SMT).
Prior to embarking on his career with PfS, Mike worked in retailing, and local government with Birmingham City Council.
Harry Scarff, Regional Operations Director (South)
Harry joined PfS in April 2005, as a Project Director working with BSF Local Authorities providing local delivery support. He became Regional Operations Director for the South region in August 2008.
The bulk of Harry's professional experience has been within consultancy. He was partner of a building surveying practice, then became head of a nationwide building consultancy before joining Currie and Brown Consultancy as Divisional Director. where he spent over 10 years working with Public and Private Sector clients, including funders, on a diverse selection of PPP accommodation projects including education, healthcare, MoD, offices, housing and prisons, both in the UK and overseas.
Prior to joining PfS, Harry was involved in the first waves of university accommodation stock transfer projects, and the development of the emerging market positions for the independent tester. He was also been involved in one of Canada's first wave of healthcare PPP transactions, and the emerging PPP markets in mainland Europe.
Qualified as a chartered building surveyor, Harry also has postgraduate qualifications in building conservation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.