Ian Buswell

Senior Finance Manager

I joined the Dyson Institute in March 2022 as Finance Lead, I provide monthly reporting and forecasting as well as annual budgeting, statutory financial statements and Office for Student returns. I'm the interface with the wider Dyson group on all finance related matters.

I subsequently joined the senior management team as Finance manager where I have been able to use my extensive board experience to guide the wider management team and embed financial processes in the Institute’s culture. I have a strong belief that finance should enable dynamic organisations to reach their goals rather than control and hinder them.

I started my accounting career at the largest London FE College (City and Islington College) at a time of significant change as FE colleges moved out of local authority control and became independent institutions. The vocational values of educators always appealed and have stayed with me even though I moved on to the private sector as European Finance Director for Intergraph – a global supplier of enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software.

My career was hijacked by a road accident in 2006 in which I suffered a very severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) with three weeks in a coma. My long recovery was an opportunity to indulge my social conscience at Citizens Advice. As a volunteer, I loved offering free independent impartial advice but subsequently as a supervisor I was motivated by managing a large team of dedicated volunteers.

I served as a school governor in Cirencester for 12 years, solidifying an interest in education. So the Dyson Institute presented a unique mix of the education space I have always loved, a safe space where neurodiversity is celebrated and the infrastructure of a multinational organisation that I am used to – it was the perfect job for me and one which I cherish.