The student accommodation finance chief on an exciting acquisition, why IROs need to be good listeners and why analysts are like sports commentators who never played the game
For many students in the UK and further afield, your first year of study is spent in a halls of residence – or purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), as it’s known in the industry. Unite Students is the UK’s largest provider of this student accommodation, with flagship developments in Bristol and Edinburgh plus more locations throughout the country’s universities.
For Mike Burt, the company’s CFO, there is plenty to be excited about. He took up the role in 2023 as Joe Lister was brought in as CEO, with both executives tasked by the board with delivering ‘valuable growth’. Now, in 2025, one key step towards this goal is underway, with the penning of a deal to acquire Unite’s peer Empiric Student Property, pending regulatory approval.
Below, Burt tells us more about that deal and how it highlighted many of the key aspects of working well alongside investors, something he learned in his days as a financial analyst covering the sector. He also reveals how that experience highlighted the value of great IROs.
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