Katie Winstanley has been named as the new COO of Manchester’s Vivify.
She moves to the education platform from Morson Group, where she’s spent over 8 years, with almost half of that as its Group HR Director.
In her new role, she’ll join founder and CEO, Russell Teale and CFO, Stephanie Potts on its executive leadership team.
“We’re incredibly pleased to welcome Katie to Vivify. Over the last few years we’ve been intentional about building the right leadership team for the future of the business. Steph has built a finance function capable of supporting significant growth, and Katie now joins us to lead the operational excellence that will underpin everything we do,” said Teale.
“We’ve built a business that has grown quickly because of an exceptional team, an ambitious vision and an unwavering focus on delivering for schools. The next chapter is about scaling that success without losing what makes us different.
“Katie brings exactly the experience we need. She has an outstanding track record of leading transformation, developing leaders and building organisations that can scale successfully. Just as importantly, she shares our values and our belief that commercial success and social impact go hand in hand. I know she’ll play a pivotal role in helping us achieve our ambitions over the coming years.”
READ MORE – How I Became: Russell Teale, CEO and Co-founder, Vivify Venues
Vivify works by helping schools “unlock the full value” of their facilities. Backed by Arete and the William Currie Group, it uses to technology to help schools generate additional income through their assets – and create opportunities for local communities to access sport, health and wellbeing activities.
“Russell and I met a number of years ago and from my first conversations with him, it was clear that Vivify is building something genuinely special. The combination of commercial ambition, technology-led innovation and a clear social purpose is incredibly compelling,” said Winstanley.
“I’m excited to join Russell, Steph and team at such an important stage of the company’s journey. My focus will be on strengthening our operations, investing in our people and building the systems, capability and leadership that allow Vivify to continue scaling while delivering an exceptional experience for every school, customer and colleague.
“Vivify has already built an outstanding reputation, and I’m looking forward to working alongside the team to help shape the next chapter of the business.”
As Chief Operating Officer, she will lead Vivify’s operational delivery, people strategy, customer experience and business transformation, helping the company scale.
