Manchester-headquartered School Letting Solutions (SLS) has brought on board its 200th school, passing an important milestone for the company and underlining the strength of its business model.
Founded in 2012 by Scott Warrington and Paul Andrews, SLS provides a full letting solution for schools, academies and colleges to maximise the use of their facilities to the local community during evenings, weekends and school holidays. The business now has a turnover of more than £10 million and employs 850 people across the UK.
Its 200th school was Bishop Challoner Catholic Federation of Schools in Tower Hamlets, London, which boasts extensive sports, drama and conference facilities.
SLS has seen consistently strong demand as schools throughout the country deal with a series of challenges including funding and staffing pressures. Its support in generating additional revenue has never been more critical and was underlined by the Chancellor’s meagre provision for “little extras” in the recent Autumn Budget.
Schools working with SLS hire their facilities for a diverse range of activities, from weddings and birthday parties, through to cheerleading classes, language schools and Jedi training programmes, along with the more conventional football, rugby and dance classes.
Scott Warrington, Director and co-founder of SLS, said: “The support we provide has never been more valuable – lack of funding continues to put strain on schools, so the hire of facilities provides many with a valuable additional revenue stream. However, although we know for a lot of schools, while the additional money is important, the priority is building links with their local community. The schools we work with are passionate not just about pupil attainment, but about aspiration – participation in team sports and other leisure activities encourage that so making school space available is important to them.”
He continued: “The business has continued to grow quickly, now employing more than 850 people throughout the UK – that’s really illustrative of the need for what we do and the knowledge and professionalism of our team.”
