New brand identity for IMP Software as company steps up mission to support smarter MAT finance

Education sector leader IMP Software, which supports over 220 multi-academy trusts (MATs) with its budgeting, forecasting and reporting software, has unveiled an exciting new brand identity as it approaches its fourth anniversary.

The company, which was co-founded by Will Jordan and Dave Hall in February 2019, has revealed a new logo, brand colour scheme and fonts, and website to reflect its transition from “a plucky start-up” to a fully established systems provider now serving one in three large Trusts and around 20% of the overall MAT market.

Having doubled its customer base and staff headcount year-on-year for the past three years, IMP Software is now preparing for the next phase of its journey supporting smarter MAT finance. This drive is boosted further by the team growing to 40 people for the start of 2023.

“Our company logo and branding were pulled together back when we were starting out as a ‘two-man band’ and, whilst they have served us well until this point, as a business we are maturing and will be adding to what we do in the coming months, so we wanted to take the opportunity to ensure our visual identity truly reflected us as an organisation, yet also gave us scope to evolve further in the coming years,” Will said.

“Whilst we are changing our visual identify, our core values and the way that we do things will not, so our customers can be assured that we will of course remain dedicated to the continual development of our products and delivering excellent customer service and support. As the market grows and matures, so must our offering to continue to provide a five-star service (as evidenced by Trustpilot reviews). This is an exciting time for everybody at IMP and I would like to thank everyone for helping us along the way this far.”

IMP Software, which is based in Exeter and Peterborough but operates as a virtual team nationwide, provides finance solutions to more than 2,000 schools in the MATs it is working with – and this is set to grow even further with the Department for Education’s recently-published Schools White Paper requiring every school to be part of a MAT by 2030. The company has also established itself as a partner to the sector through various other initiatives.

• Publication of A Growing Philosophy: How are Multi-Academy Trusts developing their operating models through centralisation? and, later this month, The 2030 MAT Growth Challenge: Effective Strategies and Systems, which offers expert insight on how Trusts can grow effectively to at least 10 schools or 7,500 pupils. It demonstrates practical strategies for growth, lessons learned on the way, and key advice to schools on assessing their options on which MAT to join.
• Launching The Multi-Academy Trust Finance Awards (MATFAs), which provide a unique platform for MAT finance professionals to celebrate their hard work, share best practice and showcase their impact. Now in their second year the winners of the MATFAs 2022 are set to be announced shortly. Categories are MAT Finance Leader of the Year, MAT Finance Team of the Year, MAT Finance Champion of the Year, MAT Finance Rising Star of the Year, and MAT Finance Project of the Year.
• Establishing The MAT Finance Show, which features exclusive interviews with MAT finance leaders, in-depth Trust case studies and ‘how to’ advice to support the wider development of the MAT sector.

Will added: “Our growth has benefitted all our customers through greater support and more extensive and more rapid product development. We are working on other market-first solutions designed to help MAT finance teams deliver effective financial management which we will launch this year. We also pride ourselves on wider knowledge sharing and building connectivity across the sector, as demonstrated through the MATFAs, The MAT Finance Show and our insight reports. Our core values of support, innovation and being MAT-first remain at the heart of everything we do as a business.”