11 September 2020: Juniper Education has today announced the acquisition of FS4S, which provides schools, academies and trusts with finance, payroll and HR management services.
At a time when schools are having to meet extraordinary challenges, the move will mean Juniper Education can better support schools with their day-to-day administrative functions, freeing school leaders to focus on the important task of closing the post-lockdown attainment gap.
Following the acquisition, a school, academy, or trust will be able to rely on Juniper Education to deliver a full education focussed payroll solution, as well as support for budget management and any HR issues that arise in the year. These school support functions will sit alongside Juniper’s existing portfolio of education support services, pupil assessment tracking tools, and an innovative management information system.
The addition of the payroll capability completes Juniper’s HR services offering and establishes the company as a full-service education supplier.
Gavin Freed, chairman of Juniper Education, said: “A school’s overall focus is to improve outcomes for pupils. By taking on those essential functions that support the day to day operation of the school, we free school staff up to spend more time focusing on their pupils.”
“FS4S has an excellent track record with their customers and their payroll service and other support functions are a welcome addition to our existing HR and finance services.”
Founded by Lorraine Billis, Andy Madgwick, and Neil Miles, FS4S supports over 100 education establishments in the west of England. Co-founder, Andy Madgwick who will remain at the firm during the transition said: “At FS4S, our aim has always been to put schools at the heart of everything we do. Our fabulous team of staff have embraced these values and made our services to schools second to none over the past 12 years.”
“We are confident that Juniper Education will build on the solid foundations of our company and develop exciting new offerings for schools whilst maintaining the ethos of great customer service that has always been so important to us.”
Simon Hitchcock, managing partner at Horizon Capital, investor in Juniper Education, said: “This acquisition is an exciting development, further establishing Juniper Education as a leading software and services provider in the education market. We look forward to working with the management team as the group continues its growth.”
For further information and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Louise Everett, The Influence Crowd (on behalf of Juniper Education). louise@theinfluencecrowd.co.uk
Tel: 07855 257927
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Notes to the editor
- For more information about Juniper Education, and its broad range of support services for schools, visit https://junipereducation.org/
- For more information about the services offered by FS4S for schools, visit https://www.fs4s.co.uk/
- For more information on Horizon Capital, investor in Juniper Education, visit https://www.horizonpe.co.uk/
- Terms of the acquisition will remain undisclosed
Juniper Education
Juniper Education’s aim is to increase the effectiveness of schools, improve outcomes for learners and enable teachers to teach. The organisation supports more than 7,000 primary and secondary schools with software to bring assessment, attendance, behaviour, pupil, and staff data together into one system and software for tracking pupil performance. Juniper Education provides services to assist schools with financial management, teacher training, HR, governance and school visits planning. Brands within the Juniper Education group include Target Tracker, OTrack, Maze Education, Classroom Monitor and Pupil Asset. Juniper Education is backed by Horizon Capital, a leading investor in high-growth technology and business service companies.
