Matt Higgins joined as our new Chief Finance and Resources Officer (CFRO) in July 2022 with a remit covering Finance, ICT, Facilities and Estates and the University’s Health and Safety.

Matt is a senior commercial leader with a career underpinned by a strong finance background, blended with a global career, and extensive experience in the higher education sector.

Brought up in Bedfordshire, he started his career in the textiles sector as a trainee accountant while studying for his professional accounting qualification at the Luton College of Higher Education, known today as the University of Bedfordshire. Matt went on to have a global career with privately owned US agribusiness and food multinational, Cargill Inc., and progressed through senior leadership roles in a variety of businesses and functional areas across multiple countries and cultures.

For the past 13 years Matt has been working in the higher education sector in roles including; Director of Finance (Operations) at the University of Surrey, Chief Finance Officer at the University of Chichester and, most recently Chief Operations Officer for the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), with a portfolio that covered the majority of the professional service departments.