About KCG

 

Overview

KCG is an in-house shared services Consortium in Higher Education (HE), formed on 1 August 2005 as an Unincorporated Association by the founding Member institutions:

• Goldsmiths, University of London
• Heythrop College, University of London
• Kingston University
• London Metropolitan University

 

From 1 August 2006, the four founding Member institutions were joined in the KCG Consortium by four additional Higher Education Institutions (HEIs):

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London
• Royal College of Music
• Royal Veterinary College, University of London
• School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

 

From 1 August 2007, the KCG Consortium admitted an additional two Member institutions:

• University of Westminster
• School of Pharmacy, University of London

 

The KCG Consortium has continued to expand its membership, admitting the following institutions at the dates indicated:

• 1 August 2009 : University of Kent
• 1 August 2010 : Southampton Solent University
• 1 August 2010 : University of Roehampton
• 1 August 2010 : Bournemouth University
• 1 August 2011 : Regent's College London

 

The KCG Consortium is jointly owned by each of the Member institutions within the requirements of the Consortium Agreement. All staff of the KCG Consortium are jointly employed by the Members of the Consortium in the provision of professional services between them. These services are delivered on a shared cost and not for profit basis. Kingston University is currently the host Member institution of the KCG Consortium, providing all administrative and infrastructure support for the provision of services across the membership. The KCG Consortium has an established Board of Management (the KCG Board) with representation from all of the Member institutions, each of which has equal voting rights. The KCG Board is led by the Chair of KCG, who is appointed annually, and which governs the strategic direction of the Consortium and also provides oversight of the Consortium’s business planning arrangements, management processes and procedures, financial management, and appointment of the Consortium’s executive Directors. The Consortium's management arrangements are led by the KCG Managing Director who reports directly to the KCG Board.

 

 

The Establishment of KCG - A Brief History

Kingston City Group (KCG) was formed on 1 August 2005 by the founding Member institutions to serve the internal audit and management assurance needs of HEIs in London and the South East on a shared services and shared cost basis. It operates only within the HE sector and is owned by the Member institutions. It was established to address concerns raised by a number of HEIs in the region, through the London Universities’ Purchasing Consortium (LUPC), regarding the general quality of internal audit service provision through both outsourced and in-house arrangements.

 

The formation of the KCG Consortium required a number of prerequisites for success, including an initial minimal critical mass of institutions with shared expectations and high standards for internal audit, the creation of the KCG Board that represents the Consortium's membership, and a Member institution to support the administrative arrangements. The KCG Consortium was established on the premise of long term partnership with and between the Member institutions, who have shared vision for high quality service provision. It has successfully combined the strengths and advantages of both outsourced and in-house models and minimised the associated weaknesses.

 

The KCG Consortium was formed as an Unincorporated Association jointly owned by the Member institutions. This arrangement has allowed all of the Member institutions to be actively involved in the strategic direction and planning, governance, management, and operations of the Consortium's business, to share in all benefits, and to generate savings on VAT costs associated with staff resources. The Consortium’s Member institutions (ie those institutions that join the Consortium as full Members) share all costs in proportion to those benefits received.

 

All staff of the KCG Consortium are jointly employed by the Member institutions in the provision of internal audit and management assurance services between them. This arrangement not only drives the achievement of VAT savings for the Member institutions from the provision of services across the membership, but also allows the KCG Consortium audit teams to be genuinely embedded within the Member institutions on an "in-house" basis for service provision. The KCG Board is now well established, with senior representation from each of the Member institutions.

 

The Members of the KCG Consortium have also established Kingston City Group Limited, a Company Limited by Guarantee, to deliver services to non-Members of the Consortium (ie those institutions that have not joined the Consortium as full Members and are serviced on a fully outsourced basis with VAT charged on the full cost of service provision). KCG Limited has been dormant since its establishment, with all non-Member transactions accounted and analysed separately within the KCG Consortium’s annual financial statements. The provision of services to non-Members is expected to increase significantly in the next three years; KCG Limited may become active in this period.

 

Kingston University is the administrative centre for the KCG Consortium as the host Member institution, accommodating the Consortium’s Head Office and supporting all aspects of central administration and infrastructure. Kingston University receives an annual “management charge” intended solely to cover the cost of the provision of these administrative services to the Consortium membership. It is the paymaster for all jointly employed staff and acts as agent on behalf of the membership. The recovery of monies by Kingston University from the other joint employers is not subject to VAT as it is treated as a disbursement.

 

The KCG Consortium also continues to develop its collaborative partnership arrangement with a top 10 accountancy and audit firm, RSM Tenon, for the provision of additional and specialist staff resources on a call-off basis as and when these are required by the Consortium to support its operations.

 

Since its establishment in August 2005, the KCG Consortium has grown from four founding Member institutions to 13 Member institutions in 2011-12 with combined total annual income of over £1 billion. The KCG Consortium’s turnover is now approaching £1.5m per annum from the delivery of over 2,200 audit days for Member institutions and commercial fee-based services for non-Members. The Member institutions are bound by the provisions contained within the Consortium Agreement and Deed of Adherence, which is updated annually on the admission of new Members. The KCG Consortium currently employs 13 permanent members of audit staff and additional administrative staff operating from a number of audit offices within the larger Member institutions across London, Canterbury, Southampton and Bournemouth. It is now widely recognised across the HE sector as an innovative service provider of internal audit, risk management, governance, and advisory services that offers high quality service and value for HEIs in London and the South East at reasonable cost. The KCG Consortium has already built a national reputation with a growing brand.

 

The KCG Consortium is not profit-making from its membership. The Member institutions are charged a composite daily rate for services delivered, which is intended solely to recover operating costs. Surplus funds have been established for re-investment purposes from the provision of additional services to Member institutions at membership cost rates and from services provided to non-Member institutions on a commercial fee basis.