How St John's Innovation Centre Transformed Their Expense Management with Kinabase

St John's Innovation Centre's expense claims lived in scattered spreadsheets, soaking up staff time and blocking its Business Growth team from higher-value client work.

They piloted Kinabase's flexible expenses workflow - rolling every claim, approval and report into one self-configured system backed by responsive support.

The result was a significant reduction in administrative time spent on expense management, freeing the Business Growth team to focus on delivering client support.

Founded in 1987 by St John's College, Cambridge, St John's Innovation Centre (SJIC) was Europe's pioneering innovation hub, designed to foster knowledge-based businesses. Today, it provides flexible office spaces, comprehensive business support, and facilitates networking, strategically positioned within Cambridge's vibrant tech cluster.

SJIC's impactful support has nurtured notable successes like Autonomy Corporation plc, Jagex Ltd, and Owlstone Ltd.

Before Kinabase, SJIC struggled with managing expense claims efficiently. Their reliance on spreadsheets created inefficiencies, draining time from their administrative and Business Growth teams.

The lack of integration hampered seamless workflows, calling for a modern, unified solution to replace the outdated system.

SJIC chose Kinabase for its flexibility and ease of implementation. The centre's team highlighted that Kinabase's adaptability was pivotal: "The ease of implementation by ourselves and the flexibility of the product were major factors."

Furthermore, Kinabase's responsiveness to SJIC's needs, customising features and promptly addressing requests, sealed the deal. As one SJIC representative put it, "Even when a feature was not available, we could count on a quick fix."

Another key reason was the alignment in scale and support. SJIC valued Kinabase's approachability, noting, "We had great support from the Kinabase team ... and a clear roadmap was there to implement what we needed down the line."

SJIC's unique proximity to Kinabase (based in the centre) reinforced their decision: "We were keen to be early adopters to explore further Kinabase Collections as both our organisations developed."

SJIC's initial focus was on expense management, chosen to pilot Kinabase in a controlled, low-risk manner. This step proved successful, resulting in a significant reduction in admin time and smoother expense claim handling.

This success has sparked interest in expanding the use of Kinabase across other business functions.

The shift has empowered SJIC to allocate more resources to their core mission—supporting high-growth businesses. "Kinabase has increased the productivity of our Business Growth team, allowing more time to focus on delivering client support," noted SJIC.

This shift has enabled the team to prioritise strategic initiatives over routine operational tasks.

A key takeaway for other organisations: appointing an internal champion can make all the difference. SJIC successfully designated a lead to liaise between their users and Kinabase, facilitating smoother adoption.

SJIC enthusiastically recommends Kinabase for its customisability and user-friendly interface. Their advice:

Please check out St John's Innovation Centre and the work they do over on the St John's Innovation Centre website.