Meet Melissa Browne, new Chair of the CUBO Executive Board

We are delighted to introduce Melissa Browne as the new Chair of the CUBO Executive Board, taking up the role from 1st August 2025. Melissa has been an active and valued member of the CUBO community for many years, and brings both deep sector knowledge and a clear passion for supporting our members. In this Q&A, Melissa shares her reflections on the sector, her vision for CUBO, and what motivates her in her work.

1. What are you most looking forward to in this role?
   
   I’m honoured to step into the role of CUBO Chair. Having been connected to CUBO for over 15 years and serving on the board for three, I’ve seen how the association helps our sector adapt and thrive and it has certainly been a key element to shaping my and other career development over the years. What excites me most is connecting with our wonderful members—listening to their innovative ideas, learning from their best practice, and sharing those insights more widely. Equally, I know how important it is to create space for members to bring their challenges. Just as CUBO did so powerfully during the COVID pandemic, I want us to continue being that safe, supportive forum where we come together, pool our expertise, and resolve critical issues across the sector.
   
   I’m also looking forward to strengthening collaboration with organisations—such as TUCO, BUCS and AUDE to name a few—and to deepening engagement with our fabulous and committed corporate partners. They are an essential part of our community, our members and by working with them more collaboratively we can ensure they support the changes within our sector while helping us enhance services for our students, staff and visitors.

2. You’ve been involved in CUBO for some time – how has the organisation evolved in your view, and what do you hope to build on during your tenure?
   
   Over the years, CUBO has grown from being a supportive peer network to a real strategic force—shaping best practice, providing commercial insights, and influencing the wider sector. One of its greatest strengths has always been bringing people together: to share, to support, and to innovate. During my time at the University of Kent being a CUBO member has supported me immensely when I need to design a sports strategy with my team or oversee feasibility studies of various aspects of my department, I was able to speak to so many members and have debates/roundtables discussing the different aspects of strategic ideas and most importantly the impact.  I want to continue to build on this concept of supportive and shared experience across the sector by ensuring members continue to feel connected, heard, and empowered—whether they are celebrating successes or working through challenges— we can do this together.
   
   I also see real value in deepening partnerships—with organisations, and with our corporate partners. By treating corporate partners not just as suppliers but as collaborators, we can co-create solutions that respond to sector-wide challenges and open up fresh opportunities for innovation and growth and personalised experiences.

3. What do you see as the key opportunities and challenges facing campus and commercial services over the next few years?
   
   The challenges are clear: financial pressures, rising costs, changing student expectations, and the need to embed sustainability and inclusion into everything we do. But within those challenges are real opportunities—to rethink our business models, use data more intelligently, and embrace innovation and celebrate diversity.
   
   I believe the key lies in collaboration. (There’s that word again!) When members share ideas, test new approaches, and support each other through challenges, we all get stronger. CUBO can and should be the vehicle for that collective learning—just as it was during COVID, but now applied to the financial, environmental, and inclusion pressures of today.
   
   Corporate partners also have a vital role. By engaging with them strategically, we can ensure they are part of the journey—helping us to innovate and enhancing the services we provide for our students and institutions.

4. What do you hope to bring to the role of Chair, and how would you describe your leadership style?
   
   My leadership style is collaborative, inclusive, people-focused and action focused – I don’t believe in just talking, we need to do something. I believe in creating space for diverse voices, creating brave spaces for difficult conversations and then working together to find practical solutions.
   
   At the same time, I bring strong commercial experience. During my career and currently at the University of Kent I’ve led large-scale projects, managed multimillion-pound budgets, and overseen transformations that balance financial rigour with service excellence. As the next CUBO Chair, I want to support members to feel confident in all aspects of leadership—developing people with empathy whilst they make sound commercial decisions, that can sometimes be difficult and I will always be encouraging them to be their authentic selves.
   
   

5. Tell us a little about your background – what brought you into the sector and what keeps you passionate about it?
   
   My professional background began in financial management, which gave me a strong foundation for understanding the commercial realities of running complex services. Since 2009, I’ve worked across campus and commercial services, from student accommodation to catering, facilities, and estates. Today, as Deputy Director of Commercial Services & Estates at the University of Kent, I lead operations that combine financial sustainability with a commitment to student experience.
   
   What keeps me passionate is that this sector allows me to bring together both sides of my professional identity—the commercial strategist and the people developer. I love seeing how our services directly shape the student journey, and I’m equally motivated by supporting colleagues to grow and by working with peers and partners to push the sector forward.

6. The sector is going through some difficult challenges and there is a lot of pressure on commercial and campus life practitioners. How do you unwind and relax from your full-time role at your university and other board responsibilities?
   
   This is a demanding sector, and the challenges can feel relentless at times. For me, unwinding means reconnecting with family, my two boys who are 24 and 22 and friends, enjoying food and creating space to reflect. I have recently started running and I would have completed my first 10k when this goes out - wish me luck!!!  I am deeply involved with a community called Woman Within UK – it’s a community that is dedicated to helping women empower themselves and embrace their true potential- as a trained life coach this gives me immense pleasure to support women to be the best version of themselves. I also find energy in connecting with peers— I feel incredibly lucky to know and have the support of many across the sector. Sometimes the best way to recharge is by talking openly with colleagues who understand the pressures and can share ideas or simply listen. That’s why I truly believe in the value of communities like CUBO: we’re not just solving professional challenges together; we’re also supporting each other personally. That balance—commercial resilience, professional growth, and personal well-being—is what sustains a long and rewarding career in this sector.