Shared Services Forum UK is the only not-for-profit, national membership community for the Shared Services sector. As such, we keep the interests of our members at the heart of everything we do.

SSF UK launched in its current guise in 2010, having originally formed as the North West Shared Services Forum back in 2000. It was the brain-child of a group of like-minded leaders in the Shared Services industry, including two of our Directors today, who recognised the core value of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. We put sharing at the centre of our membership community and year on year the Forum continues to grow and evolve.

COMMUNITY - A closed membership group, where members can share knowledge and exchange best practise tips and views freely within a safe environment. We work with trusted partners, sponsors and associates, where relationships have been built over a long period of time.

LEADERSHIP - We source the latest innovations in technology, explore the current trends, provide legislative updates and encourage the thought leadership our members have come to reply upon. We are a community made up of leaders and we use this as a resource to ensure our members have access to cutting edge insights.

EVOLUTION - Will the UK continue to lead the way for Shared Services? how is artificial intelligence (AI) impacting the way we work? As Shared Services continue to process and cost efficiencies, the key functions and characteristics of Shared Service centres are continuing to progressively evolve. We keep our agendas topical, responsive and constantly evolving in an environment where we respond, adapt to change, fuelled by even greater levels of global disruption and uncertainty in meeting the needs of our members.

BECOME A MEMBER

Shared Services Forum UK is the only not-for-profit, national membership community for the Shared Services sector. As such, we keep the interests of our members at the heart of everything we do.

We are an independent member organisation with a growing network, reaching out to thousands of SSC practitioners throughout the year across the UK. We offer an extensive package of member benefits – ranging from leaders’ meetings and practitioner networks through to online knowledge sharing and our flagship annual conference. Our members operate in a variety of professional roles, from both public and private organisations, representing numerous business sectors, all with a common interest in the evolution and sharing of best practices in multi-functional shared service centre and global business services operations.

Honesty is a key pillar of the forum: our ethos is one of candidly appraising the current business picture, reflecting what is really happening in our industry and debating aspirational, workable and attainable solutions. We consider this approach to be crucial as digital technologies emerge to challenge and progressively change the environments we operate in. Our agendas are topical, responsive and constantly evolving as we respond to the real-world business needs of our members.

Our networks connect you with like-minded practitioners in the industry, predominately from the SME tier, bringing together a wealth of cross-functional experience and opinion. To date, more than 100 public and private sector organisations have helped shape the Forum and our membership is wonderfully diverse across the sectors. We are always interested to hear from organisations and practitioners who have case studies to share that provide value to our members.

To find out more about membership please contact our dedicated Member Relations Manager, Meg Bell.

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INTRODUCING THE NETWORKS

The Shared Services Forum UK Networks were set up in response to member feedback. All member organisations are welcome to send delegates to one or all of the meetings. The agility of the Forum allows members to take part directly in creating and setting up practitioner work-shops or meetings to discuss relevant case studies which stimulate and drive debate around challenge and opportunity, which span from topics like, best practice operating models to systems & enablement to deliver efficiency & effectiveness. We encourage all members to host a network meeting to enable you to showcase your achievements!!

Each Network has dedicated Network Co Chairs and together they collaborate to set highly topical agenda's, including member contributions and source the best speakers in their field. We are extremely grateful to our past and current Chairs who give their time and energy to ensure the success of their individual Network.

THE NETWORK CHAIRS:

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE - Scott Worth, Central England Co-operative & Robert Lancaster, Premier Foods
PURCHASE TO PAY - Diane Bamford, Lonza, Paul Wilkins The Co-operative Group
HR - Jenny Roberts, Places for People & Lisa Dennis SPX Flow
PAYROLL - Michelle Goodwin, Sodexo & Helen Dibb, Yorkshire Water Services Ltd
ORDER TO CASH - Martin Kirby FCICM & Duncan Trubody SPX Flow
FA&R - Lubnah Alam, J Murphy & Sons Ltd & Mark Beckwith, ENGIE
DIGITAL - Simon Appleyard, Yorkshire Water & Anne Charlotte Taylor, McBride Business Services

EVENTS AT THE SHARED SERVICES FORUM UK

We pride ourselves in providing relevant, best practice, networking and knowledge-sharing events, which consistently receive excellent feedback. Our flagship two-day annual conference sits at the pinnacle of our events’ calendar, with members benefiting from five delegate tickets so the experience can be shared within each member company - offering a superb learning & development opportunity.

We hold our events in prestigious venues such as The Hilton Manchester Deansgate, The Tower of London, The Lowry Hotel, Imperial War Museum North, Aintree Racecourse, The Concord Suite at Manchester Airport, and The Houses of Parliament, to name a few - as well as at our member organisation Shared Service Centre's, which helps bring the Shared Services experience and sharing to life.

We also run online events, these are shorter more topic related sessions and each online event is recorded and available to view from the website.

Speakers at our events include thought-leaders from within the Shared Services industry and beyond, across sectors including business, innovation, science, media, technology, politics and sport.

For information on any of our events or social media coverage, please contact our dedicated Events Manager Lynsey Oakes.

EVENT INFORMATION

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our Board consists of senior professionals from the world of Shared Services and Global Business Services, who support the Forum by committing their time, experience and expertise. Their involvement ensures we deliver relevant, consistently high-quality events, networking and learning opportunities to our members. They share a passion and vision for Shared Services Forum UK, and give significant amounts of their time and commitment to driving the Forum forward.

MEET THE BOARD

MEET THE TEAM

BECOME A MEMBER

Shared Services Forum UK offers an extensive package of member benefits including the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals, whose passion is the pursuit and deployment of business excellence in Shared Services.

Member Benefits

Share, explore ideas and get best practice advice and news with unlimited access to our curated Network Hub and exclusive members only website.
Receive a limited number of delegate places to our flagship Annual Conference.
Invitations to three Leaders’ Meetings per year for learning, debate, and high-level networking in first-class surroundings.
Become part of our 7 Practitioner Networks and attend quarterly Network Meetings with your team. Network with industry leaders and organise valuable and informative site visits.

If you’re passionate about the pursuit of business excellence and are eager to join in and engage with our lively community, then we want to hear from you.

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