Cardiff University spent more than £1m on controversial cuts consultants

Martin Shipton

Cardiff University has admitted spending more than £1m in the last year on a controversial consulting firm as part of its ongoing cuts programme.

The Nous Group consultancy has been dubbed “Nousferatu” by critics in higher education internationally for the allegedly vampiric way that it is “extracting the lifeblood from universities”.

The consultants have become influential players in higher education markets in the UK, Australia, and Canada where the advice they sell to universities has often involved stripping back the democratic governance of institutions by academics, centralising control in the hands of Vice Chancellors, and cutting staff and courses.

Figures released in line with the Freedom of Information Act show that Cardiff University has paid £1,085,761.73 to Nous for “Capability Development” between June 2025 and May 2026;

£243,679.45 on “Process Engineering Support” in June and July 2025, believed to include planning for the introduction of a contentious new timetabling system that led to chaos, with many students and staff not knowing where to go for lessons in September 2025; £419,036.85 on “targeted support” to help with the introduction of a system of “hybs” for administrative and professional services staff between November 2025 and January 2026; and £422,045 for ongoing “Transformation Support and Capability Development” between February 2026 and the present day.

The consultants made headlines in Scotland in November 2025 when an investigation revealed that the University of Edinburgh had paid them more than £750,000 amid huge cuts which put thousands of staff at risk of redundancy.

In the same month, Nous Group Chief Executive Tim Orton appeared before Australian lawmakers to deny that his firm uses a “cookie cutter” approach when advising universities. The term refers to a method applied uniformly without considering unique differences.

Cuts at Cardiff University made international headlines in 2025 when it announced that hundreds of jobs, and numerous courses, would be axed in a bid to save money. Staff represented by the University and College Union, and students affected by the cuts, managed to force concessions in a high-profile campaign that drew community and political support.

However, the university’s senior managers are continuing to implement a number of concurrent restructuring exercises relating to academic professional services staff.

Among the critical literature referring to the consultancy’s modus operandi is an academic paper in the Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies entitled ’Nousferatu: Are corporate consultants extracting the lifeblood from universities?, which argues that “consultants and universities are engaged in a mutually dependent relationship designed to sustain each other at the expense of the public”.

A Cardiff University staff member who didn’t want to be named said: ‘This provides more confirmation that the senior leadership of Cardiff University don’t know what they are doing and prefer pricey external consultants rather than drawing on the world-leading experts that they employ on their academic staff.

“When the results of the staff survey are finally published they will no doubt show that the University Executive Board has lost all credibility.’

‘Appalling’

An academic source at the university said: “It’s appalling that so much is being spent on expensive consultants when staff are losing their jobs and everyone who’s left over is stressed as hell, trying to keep the show on the road on a shoestring.

“What exactly are we paying the university’s senior managers their astronomical salaries for, if they are shelling out a million pounds to a bunch of suits to do everything for them?”

A Cardiff University spokesperson responded: “In line with other universities we do employ specialist external consultants to provide advice and support for projects designed to improve services for our staff and students. For example, support has resulted in our new dedicated Hybs which are providing redeveloped study space and in-person support for students across our campus.”

The spokesperson pointed out that the £243,679.45 spent on “Process Engineering Support” wasn’t spent exclusively on timetabling, but was to support a number of different operational areas.