Shared Services Forum UK is the only not-for-profit, national membership community for the Shared Services sector. It 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.
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.
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
Lynsey Oakes is our dedicated Operations & Events Manager. Lynsey works to support our SSF UK Board Directors to develop and grow our SSF UK’s member community and wider relevant business communities. Her role is to ensure the smooth running of operational, administration and event aspects of the Forum.
Lynsey is responsible for developing the complete portfolio of all SSF UK face to face and online events, to create a holistic experience for members. This includes managing all SSF UK social media channels, ensuring the delivery of regular, relevant and valuable social media content.
John O'Connor is our dedicated Network & Development Lead. John works to support our SSF UK Board Directors and Operations & Events Manager by keeping all current member organisations up to date and engaged on all Forum activity as well as increasing the growth of our membership.
John works closely with our Network Chairs to ensure our network events are relevant and on topic and also supports the relationship between our Sponsors, Partners & Associates whilst encouraging and creating new collaborations too.
