EDUCATION

Higher Education

The UK’s 150+ universities operate in an increasingly complex financial environment. Funding pressures, balance sheet constraints, ambitious capital programmes, and the demands of a competitive student accommodation market require finance teams to make well-informed, strategic decisions – often with limited internal resource and under time pressure.

QMPF provides independent financial advice to university finance directors, CFOs, and governing bodies across the full range of corporate finance challenges. Our team has advised universities for over 20 years and brings deep sector knowledge, active lender relationships, and a track record of successful delivery that few advisers can match.

Debt Funding & Treasury Management

Universities have access to a broad range of debt funding options, and the appropriate financing strategy depends on an institution’s financial profile, credit position, existing facilities, and capital requirements. QMPF provides genuinely independent advice – we have no affiliation with any lender or funder, and our recommendations are driven solely by what is in our clients’ interests. We have raised over £3bn from institutional and bank markets for university clients and have advised on more than 16 private placements, with further mandates ongoing.

Our debt advisory capability covers:

Financing strategy – assessment of the full range of funding options and development of a financing strategy aligned to the institution’s investment programme, balance sheet, and covenant position

Private placements – QMPF manages competitive processes among UK and international private placement investors to achieve optimal pricing and terms, with experience across both fixed-rate and index-linked structures. We advised King’s College London on the UK higher education sector’s first sustainability-linked private placement (£125m, 2021)

Bank facilities – arrangement of revolving credit facilities, term loans, and capital investment facilities from commercial banks, including management of competitive tender processes. In the last three years we have supported eleven universities raising approximately £500m in bank facilities and have several live RCF mandates ongoing

Public bond issuance – advice to universities on whether public bond issuance is appropriate, including assessment of the rated versus unrated market and the implications of a debut issuance

Income strips – for universities seeking covenant-efficient or real estate-based financing, QMPF has experience of structuring and arranging income strip transactions for student accommodation and other campus assets

Refinancing – assessment of existing debt portfolios, covenant renegotiation, and advisory on refinancing where this offers cost or flexibility benefits

Interest rate hedging – advice on hedging strategy, fixed-rate breakage cost analysis, and management of interest rate risk

Retained treasury advisory – QMPF acts as retained treasury adviser to a number of universities, providing ongoing covenant monitoring, liquidity benchmarking, Bloomberg-sourced market data, and annual treasury strategy reviews

Financial Sustainability and Covenant Advisory

The UK higher education sector is under significant financial pressure, although remains a generally attractive proposition for commercial lenders. Evolving market conditions and fluctuations in recruitment performance are testing the financial resilience of many institutions. For universities managing financial covenants across multiple lenders – including legacy bank loans, private placement noteholders, and EIB facilities – the risk of covenant breach, or the need for proactive renegotiation, requires specialist advice.

QMPF has supported a number of universities through covenant renegotiations, restructurings, and consent solicitations, often in parallel with new debt raises or refinancing of existing facilities.

Our approach is to work proactively with clients to develop a clear, evidence-based proposal for funders – rather than waiting for lenders to set the terms. This typically includes preparation of robust financial forecasts and sensitivity analysis; assessment of proposed covenant amendments and development of revised definitions acceptable to both banks and private placement investors; management of funder engagement across multiple counterparties, including North American PP investors; and consideration of debt restructuring options, including refinancing, early repayment, and breakage cost analysis.

[link to University Debt advisory page]

Student Accommodation

Student accommodation is one of the most complex and consequential financial decisions a university finance team will face. It also presents a range of financing opportunities based on the appeal of the income generation to institutional investors. The range of available structures, from short-term nomination agreements through to long-term “DBFO” partnership projects and other joint ventures, carry materially different implications for the balance sheet, university cashflows, and the accounting treatment under the new HE SORP.

QMPF advises universities at every stage of the student accommodation decision-making process:

Options appraisal and financial modelling, including rent strategy and viability assessment

Commercial deal structuring for nomination agreements, operating leases, and JV/SPV arrangements

Procurement of new accommodation through private sector partnership projects, including Design Build Finance and Operate (“DBFO”) models

Benchmarking of rents, capital costs, and operating costs

Negotiation support with developers, operators, and funders

Financial advice and support on existing projects, on aspects such as rent setting, refinancing or restrictive covenants

Student Accommodation – Advice to Universities – QMPF

Strategic & Commercial Advisory

Beyond debt and accommodation, QMPF provides broader corporate finance advice to universities including:

Business cases and options appraisals for major capital projects

Energy, sustainability strategy, and net zero project financing

Joint venture and commercial partnership structures

Overseas campus and international partnership advisory

What our Clients Say

“From our initial interactions with the team at QMPF to closing the deal and drawing down the funds, we continued to be impressed by the team’s knowledge of the market, their sound and impartial expert advice, and the quality of the information they provided. QMPF were always quick to respond to our needs, which we found essential to ensure that the process ran smoothly, assured key stakeholders, and met our timescales.”

Deborah Harry, Chief Finance & Planning Officer, Sheffield Hallam University

Debut £70m private placement, 2022

“QMPF provided excellent advice and support throughout this project, helping us with commercials, covenant considerations, and deal structure. They were always available to provide an experienced voice on our behalf, specific sector-relevant input, and did a superb job in helping us manage the various interested parties to the eventual deal.”

Simon Cruickshank, Chief Accountant, King’s College London

UK higher education’s first sustainability-linked private placement, £125m, 2021

“I would like to thank QMPF for their advice throughout the process, in particular their ongoing engagement with the College’s Refinancing Subcommittee and support during the competitive tender process, which resulted in the College obtaining such great terms. I was really impressed by their sector knowledge and understanding of our requirements, which made the process so much easier.”

Amanda White, Chief Financial Officer, Royal College of Art

£45m revolving credit facility, 2023

“On behalf of Aston University, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the QMPF team for your expertise and guidance. We value your partnership approach and professionalism through this project and look forward to continuing to work with QMPF.”

Craig Jones, Executive Director of Finance, Aston University

Retained treasury adviser; £105m refinancing, 2025