Multi-academy trust consultancy

The leaders, trustees and expertise your trust needs to move forward.

Propelo works with multi-academy trusts and single-academy trusts across England at the moments that shape them: appointing a chief executive, strengthening the board, preparing for growth, or steadying the organisation through a period of change.

We recruit trust executives and trustees, and we provide the consultancy and leadership capacity to help boards act on what needs to change.

We work only in education, and only with state-funded schools and trusts. Every hour of our time goes into the sector your trust operates in.

Executive recruitment for multi-academy trusts

Trust executive appointments are high-scrutiny, high-risk decisions, and the right leader can shape a trust for a decade. We run executive search for the roles that hold a trust together, each with its own approach, timeline and expectations.

MAT CEO recruitment

Chief executive appointments for trust boards, whether you are replacing a founding CEO, appointing your first chief executive as a growing trust, or bringing in new leadership after a period of challenge. Find out about MAT CEO recruitment.

MAT CFO recruitment

Chief financial officer and finance director appointments, with a clear understanding of the Academy Trust Handbook, financial assurance and the realities of trust budgets. Find out about MAT CFO recruitment.

MAT COO recruitment

Chief operating officer searches covering estates, HR, IT, governance and compliance across the trust. Find out about MAT COO recruitment.

If you are appointing a headteacher rather than a trust executive, our headteacher recruitment service is the right place to start.

Trust board, trustee and chair recruitment

A strong board is the foundation of a strong trust. As trusts grow, boards often need skills they did not need before, in finance, law, HR, estates, school improvement or risk, and a chair with the experience to lead a larger organisation.

We help trusts with multi-academy trust board recruitment in three ways:

• Chair recruitment: finding a chair of trustees with the judgement, time and sector understanding to lead the board and support the chief executive.
• Trustee recruitment: identifying the skills your board is missing and approaching people who bring them, rather than relying on whoever responds to an advert.
• Board effectiveness: helping the board understand where it is strong and where it needs to develop, so that each new appointment strengthens the whole.

Multi-academy trust consultancy

Propelo is not a traditional management consultancy. We advise, but we can also put experienced people into your trust to lead and deliver the work. Our trust consultancy covers:

• Growth and readiness: an honest view of whether the trust is ready to take on new schools, what growth will change, and what needs to be in place first.
• Governance and board support: board reviews, support for the chair, and advice on structure, schemes of delegation and the relationship between the board and the executive.
• CEO performance and development: designing and supporting CEO appraisal that holds the chief executive to account while helping them grow.
• Central capacity and organisational design: shaping the central team so the trust has the right expertise in the right roles, including fractional specialists where a full-time post is not yet needed.
• Support through challenge: experienced help when the trust is responding to an inspection outcome, a concern raised by the Department for Education, or a difficult period in a school.

For school-level improvement, SEND, behaviour and inclusion, see our education consultancy services.

Why trusts choose Propelo

Education only

Our team does not split its time between commercial sectors and education. We understand trust governance, the Academy Trust Handbook, inspection and the pressures your executive team faces day to day.

Search, consultancy and interim capacity in one place

Some trusts come to us with a clear permanent brief. Others need interim leadership first, or advice on the shape of the role before it goes to market. We handle all of these without handing you between providers.

Safer recruitment as standard

Every leader we introduce, permanent or interim, goes through identity, qualification, DBS and reference checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Relationships that last

Many of the trusts we work with today began with a single appointment. One commission often leads to years of further work across recruitment, improvement and organisational change, because we stay involved rather than simply making an introduction.