Supporting the implementation of a loan scheme

The project

“When I joined my client in June 2020, the Loan Scheme Team had been working non-stop to ensure that all manner of lenders would be able to support businesses throughout this difficult time. The workload had been immense, with over 100,000 applications received by lenders on the first day of scheme launch alone!

My Client Assignment Lead needed me to help them figure out who was doing what and where. Account Managers were spending valuable time each day putting the same basic Excel reports together. We were also being sent data from lenders that wasn’t utilised.

My first thought was to automate the repetitive reports that the Account Managers were spending 10-20 minutes every day putting together. I knew some basic Python, but I’d never used VBA before. Within a week, I had taught myself the basics and automated four repetitive tasks and reports.

I also saw that the daily updates we were receiving from lenders were being filed away and never looked at again. These reports gave us valuable information about how much each bank was lending each day. Using this, we could work out a run rate and predict when lenders would require allocation increases, allowing us to move from a position of being very reactive to being more proactive.”

Role evolution

“Although my role started off as very data-driven, it has now diversified a lot. It incorporates many other activities involved in the transition of a Loan Scheme from a new programme into BAU. This involves devising reporting requirements, creating KPIs, monitoring KRIs and developing and executing an onboarding plan for the new team. However, I still regularly report on insights from the data we receive and monitor lenders using a dashboard I designed in Power BI. In the words of my client’s Managing Director, this has helped us to ‘professionalise’ our Loan Scheme operations and put us on the front foot.”

Exceptional feedback

Laurie’s Client Assignment Lead has been incredibly pleased with his work on client site, saying: “Laurie joined a very new team delivering a product that was new to everybody. This meant joining at a time with very little structure that required a hands-on approach. This is something Laurie did from day one. He joined the team with a very positive attitude and immediately worked to add value wherever he could. Laurie is extremely proactive, so rather than simply wait for work to be assigned, he is able to identify areas for improvement.”

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