Estate strategy
The whole estate assessed: what is held, what it costs, what it earns, and what its potential is. Contextualised within the risks of implementation, and with realistic targets for outcomes.
Finch+Finch is an independent strategy consultancy, built on a real estate platform. We help schools understand their estate and the commercial activity it supports: what it means to stakeholders, what it costs, what it earns and what it could become. Strategy that is built on evidence and directed at long-term, sustainable activity that always serves your core educational purpose.
A school is defined by its history: its founding principles, the heritage of its buildings, its alumni, the performance of the 1st XV last weekend. No school was designed to be the institution it is today; its character and values are formed by the journey it took to get there. And while schools might take a view measured in decades, existential financial pressures are here today.
Fee income is constrained, costs are not, and deferred maintenance has a way of arriving all at once. Meanwhile, non-fee revenue activity remains largely static, simply because there is never time to revisit or review it. Your estate is your most valuable asset and the one most likely to be failing to fulfil its potential.
Commercial activity will always remain secondary to your core purpose, but it has the power to be transformative in economic, educational and community terms. And this requires a change in mindset: not driving profit to the exclusion of other goals, but understanding the levers of revenue and cost. Where time spent delivers impact. Where partnership creates mutual benefit. Where innovation can unlock productivity and efficiency.
What we can do
We work with heads, bursars and commercial teams to understand your assets, define goals and form a strategy to deliver. For governors, we frame the value potential, the risks and capital demands, and build guardrails that keep commercial activity in the service of the school rather than a distraction from it.
Framed and priced before it begins, and completed to the timeframes you need.
Commercial and third-party income
Lettings, sport, holiday use, nursery provision and all other non-fee income reviewed for its impact on the school, financial or otherwise. Comparable metrics to measure relative performance and identify opportunities for growth. Our imagination is limited only by your aspiration – try us!
Surplus land and development value
A financial assessment of what surplus land is worth and a strategy to unlock it. Timescales, capital requirements and risks, set within a delivery plan that maximises proceeds to the school.
Operational asset strategy
An understanding of the existing and prospective capabilities of school operations, from catering to sports coaching to events. Analysis of how services are managed and utilised, and where they could be operating more effectively.
Governance and board support
Support for executive teams and boards to ensure clear reporting and direction, with decisions taken on the basis of evidence and verified data.
Transaction support
Due diligence, legal and financial support across land disposals, acquisitions, development agreements, funding and debt. We negotiate from your side of the table, not as agent but as an independent industry specialist.
What skills we bring
Our network of specialists brings the necessary skills, led by a finance and real estate generalist with a genuine track record in the detail.
Where we work
We have capabilities that are applicable across the market landscape, underpinned by sector-specific knowledge and experience.
Who we are
Tom Finch MRICS
Founder, Finch+Finch
Most recently Chief Investment Officer at CIT Group, a London-based private equity real estate operator, Tom was responsible for deploying private and institutional capital in value-add investment across all sectors.
He founded Finch+Finch to provide the workstream that is too commonly missing: an honest appraisal of what an asset should do next, considered in the widest possible terms and grounded in evidence. With an industry-wide network, financial and analytical expertise and deep experience in hands-on real estate practice, he has both the judgement to ask the right questions and the means to find the best answer.