Catalyst IT Europe is pleased to announce a new partnership with the University of Buckingham, one of the UK’s smallest universities, known for small-group teaching, close academic relationships, and strong pastoral care.
Founded on the principle that higher education can be delivered differently, Buckingham takes a focused approach without unnecessary complexity.
For Buckingham, digital systems are foundational. They underpin teaching, assessment, and the student experience, and they need to work consistently, every day.
As a small university with a lean IT team, Buckingham wanted a stronger operating model around Moodle: keeping the core platform robust and well managed, while protecting internal capacity for work that adds value.
Building the partnership
Buckingham was looking for a Moodle partner who could bring specialist Moodle expertise, dependable performance, and the reassurance that the platform is being actively managed day to day.
Mike Foster, IT Service Delivery Manager, University of Buckingham, said:
“Students in a modern university expect access to digital systems in the same way they expect heating or hot water. It simply has to work. Moodle sits at the centre of our academic delivery, so reliability and performance are not optional. We were looking for a genuine partner who understands both the technical complexity of Moodle and the importance of making the most of our investment. Catalyst demonstrated that from the outset.”
He added:
“I was genuinely impressed by the open and collaborative way Catalyst approached the project, particularly Jasmin’s willingness to understand the distinctive nature of our University. It was clear they appreciated that Buckingham operates differently. Their suggestions around value-added features, including a branded app and access to their wider Moodle community, showed that this was about more than hosting. It was about helping us unlock more from a platform we have already invested in, while giving us the reassurance of UK cloud hosting and specialist expertise on hand.”
A partnership built for confidence
For universities under constant pressure to do more with less, the goal is not complexity; it is confidence.
This partnership is focused on:
- A reliable, high-performing platform, because teaching and assessment cannot wait for outages
- A clearer operating model for how Moodle is managed and improved over time
- Reducing operational load, so specialist effort goes into improvement rather than maintenance overhead
Jasmin Davies Hodge, Business Development Manager, Catalyst IT Europe, said:
“From our very first conversations, it was clear that Buckingham cares deeply about getting the experience right for its staff and students, and about making Moodle work for them in a simple, dependable and future-focused way. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know Mike and the team during the process, and I’m delighted they have chosen to trust Catalyst as their Moodle partner. We cannot wait to welcome them into the Catalyst community and to focus on what really matters now that their Moodle platform is fully supported and in safe hands. With the flexibility of open source Moodle and no proprietary lock-in, Buckingham has the freedom to shape its digital roadmap around its strategy, rather than designing its strategy around its LMS. We are excited to support them on that journey.”
If you are reviewing how Moodle is hosted and supported and want reliability without growing internal workload, talk to our team about managed Moodle hosting and ongoing optimisation.
We are proud to welcome the University of Buckingham to the Catalyst community. We look forward to supporting Moodle day to day and helping the team get even more value from the platform over time.
