We are opening the Halveron Service Academy, a programme for managers who run public services. The first cohort of 20 places begins on Tuesday 26 January 2027 at our training centre in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
The academy grew out of our work with councils, housing associations and government agencies over the past few years. Again and again we met capable managers who had been promoted for knowing the service well, then handed budgets, targets and change programmes with little support. Most of them were good at running the service. Few had been taught how to redesign it.
How the academy works
The programme runs for ten months. Delegates attend six two-day modules, roughly six weeks apart, and between modules they lead an improvement project in their own organisation, chosen with their sponsor before the course begins.
The modules cover:
- understanding demand and why people contact a public service
- designing services around the people who use them
- measures that help managers learn rather than chase targets
- leading change with staff, unions and elected members
- making the case for investment and tracking the benefits
- coaching teams to keep improving after the project ends
Each delegate has a Halveron coach for the full ten months. Projects are presented to an invited panel of senior public-sector leaders at the final module in November 2027.
Accreditation and cost
Delegates who complete the programme and their project are assessed for practitioner certification by the Service Operations Institute.
A place costs £4,800 plus VAT, which covers all modules, coaching, materials and meals. We are funding four places in full for organisations with fewer than 500 staff, such as smaller district councils, parish-level services and charities delivering public contracts.
How to apply
Applications are open until Friday 20 November 2026. We ask each applicant for a short description of the service they manage and the problem they would like to work on, plus a supporting note from a sponsor at director level.
"Public services do not lack committed managers," says Daniel Fry, who leads our public-sector work. "They lack time and permission to step back and redesign the work. The academy gives them both, and a project that pays for the place several times over."
To apply or ask a question, email training@halveron.junaid.guru or call our training team on +44 (0)1632 960415.
