Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Issue 44 | Page 19

CLASS ACT
10 out of 10 as firm marks a decade of making a difference in schools
A Newton Aycliffe-based company providing support services for
schools is looking to expand as it looks ahead to its 10th anniversary.
Peter Barron talks to the two women behind the success story…
A
s they prepare to celebrate their tenth
anniversary as business partners in the
challenging world of education, Sarah Monk
and Julie Sowerby can take justifiable pride in passing
the test with flying colours.
A decade on from launching Aycliffe-based Avec
Partnership, the North East businesswomen employ
around 40 staff and provide vital support services for
hundreds of schools.
And, having grown the business every year since
they started, Sarah and Julie are now looking to take
the business to new heights after becoming part of
national services provider Educational Personnel
Management (EPM).
“In the end, it’s all about supporting school leaders
so they can focus on giving pupils the best education
possible,” says Julie. “We know the difference we can
make so, if we can go on growing, we can ultimately
have a bigger impact on the life chances of more
children.”
The foundations of the pair’s business venture can be
traced back to the introduction in the 1990s of Local
Management of Schools, which delegated control to
governing bodies.
The friends found themselves working for
Darlington Borough Council – Sarah as head
of education finance, Julie as head of education
human resources – and shared a passion for helping
school leaders to manage change in an exciting but
challenging new era.
They formed a formidable natural partnership at
the local authority, applying their joint expertise for
the benefit of schools while building their experience,
knowledge and connections.
“We were empowered to develop services with a
commercial angle and we always put the schools at
the heart of everything we did – always asking how we
could make it better for school leaders,” says Sarah.
Their careers continued to develop, with Sarah
becoming vice principal of the Education Village in
Darlington, working under high profile principal,
Dame Dela Smith, and carrying out national work for
the National College for School Leadership.
Meanwhile, Julie joined the School Improvement
Team, working on workforce reform, which was
unheard of for a non-teacher. She also worked for the
Training and Development Agency for Schools.
After a period of “doing their own thing”, they came
back together to work on joint projects in 2010 and
launched Avec Partnership in September of that year
– taking the name for the French word for “with” to
underline their commitment to work side-by-side with
school leaders.
“Being a school leader can be a lonely job and a lot
of what we do is take the pain away, be a sounding
board, and provide solutions. We are a critical friend,”
says Julie.
Initially, Sarah and Julie rented a room at Carmel
College, in Darlington, but by the beginning of 2011,
Avec was gaining faster than expected momentum –
winning its own contracts and having to recruit staff
to manage the growing workload – so the company
relocated to the town’s reborn Lingfield Point business
park.
Three years ago, it moved again to new premises on
Aycliffe Business Park and hasn’t looked back, despite
being anxious about leaving Darlington. With clients
stretching from Northumberland to the East Riding,
transport connections were crucial and the offices in
Parson’s Court at Aycliffe fitted the bill perfectly.
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 19