Sheffield Hallam University has used Symplicity UniHub for over a decade — with one brief interlude. After trialling a different platform post-COVID, the team decided to come back. Here’s what brought them home, and why they haven’t looked back.
A Familiar Face at the Right Time
When Sheffield Hallam’s careers platform contract came up for renewal, Helen Armitage, Associate Director of Student Futures and Employability, saw a natural opportunity. The university had history with UniHub — colleagues across careers, work experience, and employer partnerships had used it for years before 2020 and knew it well. Rather than go through a lengthy evaluation process, it made sense to return to a platform they already trusted.
The decision came together quickly. Student-first functionality, familiar workflows, and a clear picture of what UniHub could deliver made the case easy.
“We knew it did the job we needed it to do — so we thought, let’s just save ourselves a lot of time and go back with it,” says Helen. “Once Colin had done a demo based on his expertise, it was very much clear this was the right thing to do. It was easy, it was quick, and we could do it.”
A Smooth Switch — and a Self-Supporting System
Colin Taylor, Digital Education and Service Development Manager and ten-year UniHub veteran at Sheffield Hallam, was candid about managing expectations during the transition. System changes are never without friction, he noted — but this one came remarkably close.
“I think I’m pretty comfortable saying it’s the most intuitive platform to use,” Colin says. “You can go in fairly blind, and as long as you realise you’re not going to break things, you can have the confidence to find your own answers very often.”
Post-launch, Colin expected the usual flood of support queries — the inevitable “rolling your eyes” period that follows any system rollout. It never really came. Team members who had used UniHub pre-2020 quickly rediscovered their footing and became informal champions for newer colleagues. Peer-to-peer support filled the gaps, and formal questions back to Colin were minimal.
Support That Makes the Difference
Both Helen and Colin were emphatic on one point above all others: the quality of Symplicity’s support team has been a defining part of the experience. Colin saved his most direct praise for the close of the conversation.
“Thank you to James Mears and John McMenamin for just fantastic support. A system’s a system — they can be good, they can be positive. But in many ways, any system recommendation you make is based on the support you get, not just when you’re on board and there’s money under people’s noses, but afterwards as well,” he says. “They’re responsive. It makes you confident you’re going to get to a resolution relatively quickly and easily.”
Helen echoes the sentiment, noting that their Symplicity contact James has made it clear that no question is off-limits and no request is beyond consideration.
“The door is completely open from James. He’s been quite clear that nothing’s a daft question, nothing’s beyond the realms of possibility. I fed that back to the team and I think that’s helped them as well — knowing there’s someone there they can go to,” she says.
Building Out and Looking Ahead
Sheffield Hallam launched UniHub in January 2026, with all careers events now live on the platform and a major communications push underway to students and academic staff. The team is also in the process of onboarding graduate appointments, solving a real access problem: their legacy CRM system couldn’t allow graduates to self-book appointments online, creating a barrier for alumni who had moved away from Sheffield or simply preferred not to call.
UniHub removes that barrier entirely.
Colin frames it in terms of return on investment: the upfront cost of a system switch pays back much faster when the platform is genuinely easy to use and the support team is genuinely there for you. At Sheffield Hallam, that payback is already underway.
