Overview and key points
Loughborough Schools Foundation faced rising operational costs whilst trying to protect staff wellbeing during a period of significant change. Discover how Partners& worked in partnership with the Foundation to review and restructure its private medical insurance scheme, delivering vital cost savings whilst enhancing digital health tools, resulting in a future‑proofed benefits strategy to support staff without compromising value or increasing cost.
Loughborough Schools Foundation comprises of three outstanding independent schools together with a nursery, delivering education for children of all ages.
Challenge
Loughborough Schools Foundation, like many private education establishments, is facing mounting financial pressures. The introduction of VAT on school fees, maintaining and modernising traditional buildings to cater for today’s educational practices and rising staff costs whilst continuing to provide a competitive employee benefits package created a perfect storm. The closure of one school underscored the urgency for transformation and cost control.
Support
James Henson, Client Director, has looked after the private medical insurance scheme for Loughborough Schools Foundation for many years and has a long-standing and valued relationship with their HR team. Working closely with Jayne Hodges, Head of HR at Loughborough Schools Foundation,
James carried out a wide-reaching review of the existing benefit schemes and explored options that would provide a balance between reducing costs whilst continuing to provide valued a private medical insurance scheme.
Following in depth discussions and regular reviews, James negotiated a new contract with Bupa that delivered:
- Significant cost savings (from £200k to £170k annually)
- Profit-share arrangement, returning funds to the school after a year of low claims
- Enhanced digital health tools, including virtual GP and mental health support to improve accessibility without additional cost
James has introduced the wider Partners& Wellbeing, Health and Protection team, offering our additional employee benefit services including group life insurance as well as pension scheme options via our Ecosystem Partner, Integrity365.
We will also be reviewing Loughborough Schools Foundation’s general insurance arrangements in the future and have introduced our wider Ecosystem Partners to provide further support.
Perform
A combination of the restructuring of the private medical insurance scheme and exploring other low-cost wellbeing initiatives, enabled the school to maintain competitive benefits despite financial constraints.
The outcome was a viable, future-proofed private medical insurance strategy:
- Providing comprehensive medical cover for over 220 staff.
- Delivering measurable savings and a profit-share rebate.
- Supporting the school’s HR team through a period of organisational upheaval, including school closure and staff redeployment.
- Enabling the Loughborough Schools Foundation to utilise additional wellbeing resources and Ecosystem partnerships in the future.
"Working with Partners& has been invaluable during a challenging period for our schools. Their proactive approach and clear advice helped us maintain essential staff benefits while reducing costs significantly. The new Bupa arrangement not only saved us money but added real value through digital health services. It’s reassuring to have a partner who understands our sector and works with us to find practical solutions."