Nene Park Trust

Nene Park Trust is a registered charity that manages over 2200 acres of green space in Peterborough, including Ferry Meadows Country Park. Established in 1988, the trust delivers an ambitious programme of environmental stewardship, education, leisure and community engagement.

Their operations span a diverse and growing portfolio, from land management and outdoor activities to fundraising, events and tenant oversight. With a clear long-term vision, the trust aims to become increasingly self-sufficient by growing commercial income streams while continuing to deliver significant value for local communities and environmental projects.

But this wide-ranging remit brings complex financial and operational demands, especially when managing multiple income streams, grant-funded initiatives and a broad network of cost centres. As a result, the finance team needed a system that could deliver real-time clarity, trustworthy data and decision-ready reporting, to support everything from five-year business plans to 50-year land management strategies.

The Challenge: Outdated Systems Limiting Clarity and Confidence

Back in 2022, when Charles Benn joined as Finance Business Partner, Nene Park Trust was already facing a growing need to modernise its finance infrastructure. Their previous system had become a bottleneck, particularly in its ability to generate reliable and flexible reports.

Reporting relied heavily on manual exports and Excel documents, which were slow to produce, difficult to rebuild and often lacked the trust needed by leadership. Team members regularly faced data inconsistencies, broken templates and fragile workflows that delayed reporting and eroded confidence.

“The main thing was the reporting. We needed more reliable information - something versatile that could actually support strategic decisions.”
– Charles Benn, Finance Business Partner, Nene Park Trust

Over time, the system began to feel like a risk. Slow reporting meant slower decision-making, and the trust’s ambition to diversify income, manage grants more effectively and serve its community more broadly was being held back by a lack of insight.

While the need for a new finance system had long been recognised as part of the trust’s strategic vision, it was the arrival of a refreshed Senior leadership team and renewed momentum that created the perfect opportunity to move forward.

The Solution: A Trusted Partner and a System Built to Reflect Reality

Building on an existing relationship through their use of KCPOS and VisiTickets, Nene Park Trust turned to The HBP Group to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. With an in-depth understanding of the trust’s structure, goals and sector-specific needs, The HBP Group was well positioned to guide them through such a big technology change.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was selected after a thorough review of several options. What tipped the scales was not only the capabilities of the system, but the confidence in The HBP Group’s ability to deliver.

The system was tailored to support:

• Granular cost centre tracking across departments and grant-funded projects
• Fast, structured management reporting with Jet integration
• Flexible, self-serve access to data for leadership and operational teams
• Cloud-based infrastructure to modernise workflows and enable secure remote access

The Impact: Trusted Data, Faster Reporting and Smarter Decision-Making

Since the system went live, the transformation has been clear across both the finance function and the wider organisation.

Data the Team Can Trust

For the first time, the team has complete confidence in the reports being produced. Leadership trusts the data and reporting isn’t just faster, it’s more accurate, more visual and aligned to how the trust operates.

“100% — the data is trusted more now. We’re getting great feedback from the leadership team on the quality of the information.”

Reports 3x Faster

Previously, the finance team was producing management accounts by week 2 or 3 of the month. Today, they’re turning them around by day 5, a process three times faster than before. This improvement is helping the trust act sooner, plan better and stay agile.

“The sooner leadership has the information, the better the decisions. That’s been a huge shift.”

Granular Reporting for Deeper Insight

Business Central, alongside Jet reporting, allows the team to pull reports with the level of detail they need, by cost centre, project, fund or team. This flexibility is supporting more strategic discussions across the business, with tailored reporting now guiding planning, budgeting and grant oversight.

Improved Decision-Making Across the Organisation

Teams are more confident, engaged, and aligned. Leaders aren’t just reacting to data—they’re using it to shape strategy. And the finance team now operates more as a strategic partner than a back-office function.

Conclusion: From Reactive Reporting to Strategic Finance

By implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with The HBP Group, Nene Park Trust has gained the financial visibility it needs to deliver on its mission - to protect and develop green space, connect communities and grow sustainably.

With faster, trusted reporting, better insight and a system that reflects the true structure of the organisation, the trust is now equipped to plan for the future with confidence, whether that’s the next budgeting cycle or the next 50 years.