TreeHouse Trust
A client of Sayer Vincent since 1999 TreeHouse Trust is the national charity for autism education. The charity runs a non-maintained special school in London. It was founded in 1997 by parents of children with autism. TreeHouse was the first school in the UK to use the principles of ABA (applied behavioural analysis) to teach children with autism. TreeHouse’s vision is to transform through education the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.
Having occupied six temporary buildings in nine years, TreeHouse desperately needed a permanent building to enable the organisation to achieve its aim to transform the educational opportunities for all children with autism. Building work was completed in late 2008 with the formal opening in spring 2009. TreeHouse had to raise £12 million to construct a permanent building. The amount needed would have been up to 17.5% more – but Sayer Vincent helped TreeHouse to obtain zero-rating for the VAT element of the building costs. We also reviewed business plans and projections to support their application for loans to part-fund the construction.
By 2008, TreeHouse had grown significantly and was depending more and more on information systems and technology. In September, TreeHouse asked Sayer Vincent to review its approach to IT. Specifically, TreeHouse wanted to look at:
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The extent to which the current systems and standards were still appropriate, given the strategic ambitions of the Trust
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Whether TreeHouse had the right systems and structures in place to meet its requirements for information management
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Whether the Trust’s procedures for information security (including business continuity) were adequate
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How the charity could ensure it had adequate and robust arrangements in place for support
We planned and carried out a tailored programme of meetings and discussions with managers and staff; our consultants identified the business issues facing the organisation which we analysed and reviewed with the senior managers at TreeHouse, the in-house IT staff and with the third party company supplying support. Our final report laid out the steps TreeHouse needed to take to establish the right balance of in-house and third party support for IT, and also identified the priority areas for further strategic planning and the practical improvements that could be made in the short term. We helped TreeHouse begin the process of implementation by discussing the recommendations with the managers and staff involved and reaching a clear consensus. Throughout the process we aimed to balance our technical expertise with the right level of involvement by managers and staff at TreeHouse. As a result we were able to produce a set of sound technical recommendations and the organisation was ready to implement them.
Sayer Vincent provide on-going audit and advice to the staff and trustees, helping TreeHouse to improve the opportunities for children with autism. Having been their auditors since 1999, we have provided support and advice as the charity and its financial expertise has grown and developed.
"We are consistently impressed with the high quality of service and delighted with the VAT outcome."
Martin Atkinson, Finance Director