School Lettings Solutions

School Lettings Solutions (SLS) was an operator in the UK's facility management market, specializing in unlocking revenue streams for educational institutions by managing the rental of their facilities. The company was founded in 2012 by Scott Warrington and Paul Andrews. Their professional paths converged at Westleigh High School in 2005, where their experiences in community and sports development laid the groundwork for the business. Paul Andrews served as the Community Development Manager, handling community lettings, while Scott Warrington was the Sports Development Coordinator, overseeing the same area. This background gave them direct insight into the challenges and opportunities of utilizing school properties outside of academic hours.

SLS provided an end-to-end management service to schools, academies, and colleges, allowing them to generate income from their facilities, such as sports halls, pitches, classrooms, and theatres, during evenings, weekends, and school holidays. The company's business model was designed to be at no cost to the partner schools; it operated on a revenue-sharing agreement based on the profits from lettings. SLS handled all operational aspects, including marketing, booking management, invoicing, payments, and providing on-site staff to manage security and cleaning, ensuring facilities were ready for school use the next day. This comprehensive service catered to a wide range of clients, from local sports clubs and community organizations to national governing bodies for sports. By 2019, the company was working with over 300 schools and had generated nearly £5 million in revenue for them in the 2018/19 academic year alone.

The firm's trajectory was significantly impacted by external events. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in March 2020 brought business to a halt overnight. With facilities closed and no clear timeline for reopening, the company faced insurmountable financial pressure. Despite efforts to use the government's furlough scheme, the business model, which relied on active facility use, was unsustainable during the lockdown. In August 2020, School Lettings Solutions went into administration, leading to the loss of 93 full-time and 890 casual jobs.

Keywords: school facility rental, community lettings management, school income generation, sports facility hire, school venue booking, educational facility management, community access to schools, UK school lettings, Paul Andrews, Scott Warrington, facility hire service, school premises rental, community sports access, school booking system, venue management for schools