Managing School Business Operations

Jo Marchant, author of the bestselling The School Premises Handbook, has worked in school business leadership and management for the past 15 years. She has been responsible for leading school business operations in local authority-maintained schools and a multi-academy trust, in special education and mainstream settings. Jo's expertise covers strategic leadership, finance, HR, estates, health and safety, IT, sustainability, procurement, business continuity and risk management.

Jo has an MBA and an MA in Leadership and is a qualified health and safety officer. She also holds qualifications in accounting, HR, procurement and school business management. Jo is a School Resource Management Adviser and a Specialist Leader of Education. She is a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) and serves on the steering group of the Trust Network for school estates professionals.

In 2016, Jo was awarded an ISBL Chief Executive Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Development of the SBM Profession for 'raising the profile of special schools and contribution to international research'. In 2021, Jo became the first school business practitioner to have her empirical research into school business leadership published in a peer-reviewed journal. Jo is a regular speaker at national conferences and writes articles for school business publications in the UK and the US.
Jo was awarded an MBE for services to education in the King's birthday honours list in June 2024.