Stories of our impact

All hands on deck

Supporting Maersk as it recovers from a global cyber attack

The cyber attack that hit the container business was initiated by a previously unseen type of malware that destroyed all of Maersk’s Windows computer capability, stopping most operations around the world. When Maersk called us for support, we were able to scramble a top team and be on the ground within hours. Over the coming days and weeks this team grew to over 130 professionals working in shifts 24/7 as a united Maersk/Deloitte team to restore systems and get the organisation back up and running. A global effort While we worked with Maersk’s IT team to restore its systems, we also focused on reverse engineering the virus. We provided security intelligence within hours of being on site, giving critical insights on how to stop the virus from re-infecting and thus damaging any recovery effort. Our support helped ensure Maersk’s network was protected against a similar virus attack and enabled recovery of business service operations. There was also a joint UK, Dutch and India team providing security validation for all new server builds, processing over 1,200 servers across the globe in 10 days. Dan McMillan, one of the first Deloitte team members on the ground, said: “The most important things to do in such a situation are to first understand what you’re dealing with, and second, to call for the right kind of help. Maersk did both. They handled the situation professionally from day one.” Getting ships on the move We combined Maersk’s IT team with a global Deloitte team that comprised skills in crisis response, cybersecurity, the dark web, large-scale infrastructure delivery, risk advisory, consulting, forensics and financial services to restore control of Maersk’s central IT systems. In five weeks we had successfully supported Maersk in rebuilding its core IT capability, including 60,000+ laptop builds, a global upgrade to Windows 10, reconstruction of its server infrastructure, access to world class security monitoring, and restarting the world's most automated terminal in nine days. Importantly, Maersk had its ships – and world trade – moving again.

A match made in the market

Transforming how companies raise finance globally

Inspired by the speed of change across the financial markets, Rob wanted to help Deloitte clients access liquidity from anywhere in the world. Tom then took that seed of an idea and created a working prototype that has secured interest from three of the world’s biggest banks. Here’s their story. Going global Robert had been curious as to why some manufacturers in parts of the world are capital constrained, while the UK, US and Asian markets are awash with cash. Could it simply be put down to ‘cultural differences’? No, it was nothing more complicated than a lack of transparency – potential lenders and borrowers didn’t have access to one another. And that’s what led to the development of Vault, Deloitte’s new technology platform that brings borrowers and lenders together. Spoilt for choice The past ten years have seen an explosion in the number and range of companies lending money. As well as the traditional options like the major banks, you’ve now got other players like private debt funds, pension funds and insurance companies. But with choice comes confusion and wasted time, as borrowers have to scour the market to find potential suitors that might invest in businesses like theirs on terms that meet their needs. So what makes Vault different? Playing matchmakers Vault simplifies things, using digital technology to marry up corporate borrowers with appropriate lenders that offer the right money under the right conditions. To do this it collects data from over 400 recent deals to show what terms lenders have typically offered to different types of business, including debt, pricing, fees and repayment terms. It then uses artificial intelligence to break this down into over 250 data fields that capture the complexity of the lenders’ standard terms, and translates them into user-friendly information that we use to advise clients on who lends on the parameters they need. By giving lenders information on all their deals in a single platform, it allows them to cross-reference terms and understand what they are offering elsewhere. The result is a faster and smoother process that gets new funds to borrowers and new business to lenders. And each party can be based anywhere in the world. Looking to the future Sharing knowledge and best practice across borders has traditionally been limited in an industry reliant on spreadsheets. And with average credit agreements running to around 250 pages, variations in terminology have also worked against cross-jurisdictional lending and the opening up of new markets. Vault will change all this. The artificial intelligence used by Vault to populate the data fields will make it faster and easier to pick out variations in credit agreements and assess the impact of them – saving time and creating further opportunities for lenders. Vault has already attracted interest from the world’s biggest banks, and countless debt funds and private equity borrowers too. As the Head of Leveraged Finance at a Fortune 500 client says: “This is a potential game changer for us. Right now we’re using spreadsheets, and they just don’t work for an institution of our scale. This sort of system would change the very way we work.”

When the steaks are high…

Helping Hawksmoor nail the perfect location strategy

A perfect storm It’s no secret that the restaurant business is highly challenging. A perfect storm of rising costs, market saturation and consumers spending less on eating out means operators face tough decisions on where to open, where to close, and how to best allocate their capital. Hawksmoor seems to have weathered that storm and is an incredible success story in London. Widely recognised as one of the best restaurant brands in the UK, it is now looking to expand across the country, with its first regional restaurant opening in Manchester in 2015. But because it invests so much on setting up and running each of its outlets, the choice of location is always critical to success. That’s where LocationEdge comes in. Our tool crunches multiple data sources on supply and demand, offering clients a visual analytics dashboard that improves and accelerates their location-planning decisions. LocationEdge now even includes data from our partnership with Visa, providing anonymised and aggregated transaction data to the analysis. Access to this data means we can give clients like Hawksmoor vital insights into consumer spending patterns in countless local markets. Labour of love Over eight weeks, we looked at the trading performance across all of Hawksmoor’s existing restaurants to determine the key drivers of performance. We used this information to help prioritise the locations Hawksmoor might look at, including a forecast of revenues for every square metre of each potential new site. LocationEdge now forms the cornerstone of Hawksmoor’s estate strategy. Using the tool, senior management recently picked their second regional location, in Edinburgh’s St Andrew’s Square. The new restaurant opened in July this year. So what’s next? We have more exciting developments planned for LocationEdge, including the introduction of aggregated consumer movement data, which enables detailed footfall information including time and day of the week, reason for visit, demographics – even down to web interest and activities.

Medicine and machines

Our data scientists are giving critical time back to doctors

It’s a tough landscape for the NHS and it doesn’t help that highly trained consultants spend hours on admin. So, since autumn 2017, we’ve been exploring whether artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics could put doctors back on the front line. Colleagues from across the UK and the Netherlands with expertise in data science, AI and robotics, plus clinicians with extensive hospital knowledge, have created three proof-of-concept solutions to tackle major NHS challenges. And, so far, the prognosis is excellent. Innovate to automate The gastroenterology department of Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital receives up to 40 electronic GP referrals a day. Each one must be assessed by a consultant – a task that’s crying out for automation. To speed up the triage process, we built a model that uses natural language processing to read referrals and categorise patients’ symptoms and urgency level. This involved taking almost 22,000 letters sent over a five-year period and creating a dictionary of the most frequently used words and phrases. When these terms appeared regularly in referrals, it pointed to a patient needing a specific type of care. The model has been able to identify with 96 per cent accuracy, for instance, when the referral was classified as suspected cancer, suggesting a huge future for AI in the NHS. The team is also looking at whether it could be used to reduce long waits for routine appointments and match, more closely, resource with patient need. Dr Ronen Gordon, our Clinical Lead for AI, says: “We believe this is just the start of an exciting journey. AI is growing and people are doing fantastic things, but this is addressing what’s really going on in a classic NHS hospital. It shows we are able to blend technical skills with real-world experience.” Model behaviour Western General isn’t the only success story – two other models have shown how machines can ease the burden on the NHS. At a major teaching hospital in London we used technology to assess clinical letters and determine, with more than 90 per cent accuracy, a patient’s status, from referral to treatment. This has the potential to clear a massive paperwork backlog. Another model, created for a Yorkshire-based group of hospitals, can automate the coding process that takes place when patients are discharged. Typically, large teams use electronic data and paper-based medical notes to assess the type of care the patient received and generate a code, which is then used to calculate hospital payments. AI could transform this labour-intensive system and, to date, our technology has proved more than 99 per cent accurate. There is still a long way to go but Ronen is excited. “The numbers are unbelievable – we’re really thrilled,” he says. “Developing intelligent automation techniques will help hospitals in the UK and across the globe to devote more time to patients.”

A helping hand for Phoebe

Our Chief Disruptor uses 3D printing to help a girl born without her left hand

Her story began in October 2016 when her aunt Claire Handby, a director in our Financial Advisory Real Estate business in Manchester, visited a 3D printing event organised by the creative folks at Deloitte Digital. There, she held a prototype adult hand – an emotional experience as the technology offered so many possibilities for people like Phoebe. She also met Ed Greig, our Chief Disruptor, who suggested they make her niece’s missing limb together. A priceless moment Ed and his team joined a WhatsApp group with Claire and Phoebe’s parents, Keith and Julie, to swap information. He also engaged with Enabling the Future, a vibrant worldwide community that shares knowledge and templates of 3D-printed hands. In April 2017, Ed sent Phoebe a white plastic prototype, along with a set of pens so she could add her own designs. The hand worked using kinetic energy from Phoebe’s elbow and featured fishing line for ligaments. “To see her shake my brother’s hand with her left hand, for the first time in their lives, was priceless,” says Claire. “It’s something our family will never forget.” Over the next six months, the team created two more prototypes, with Phoebe helping to design each one. Her ideas – Princess Poppy from Trolls, coloured plastic, snowflakes – have challenged the printing techniques available, which motivates Ed and his team. Claire continues: “Phoebe has gone from being the child that is identified as a victim to the cool kid – her friends say they wish they had a hand like hers. And everything has been done with such kindness, it has epitomised Deloitte’s values.” Testing the tech The latest hand is lighter and more robust. It’s easier for Phoebe to fit and has grips on the fingertips, so she can use scissors. For the next one, Ed will explore a pivot in the wrist, so Phoebe can hold a drink to her lips. He also wants to harness kinetic energy from her wrist rather than her elbow, so the plastic doesn’t need to cover so much of her forearm. The entire project has been based on collaboration and every piece of feedback has helped Ed to evolve the design, increasing the potential to take it to a wider market. Each limb costs just £20 to make and production is far less intensive than other solutions, so they are easier to replace as children grow. This could lead to benefits, for instance, within the NHS. “We’re very excited about the possibilities,” explains Ed. “Our goal now is to look at how we take this further and broaden the impact. I think we have a really good chance of doing that.”

An industry-first for AstraZeneca

Using technology to free up scientists’ time

Part of this is being creative in the way they optimise their processes. One such innovation is Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which uses software ‘robots’ to automate business processes.We partnered with AstraZeneca to deliver a major productivity boost for its patient safety teams through an industry-first RPA solution – and in doing so set a precedent for increased automation across the whole industry. Safety first Each year, pharmaceutical companies receive hundreds of thousands of what are called ‘Adverse Event’ (AE) reports relating to their medicines (an AE is simply any untoward effect, sign or symptom associated with the use of a pharmaceutical product, which may or may not be related to the administered product). Following up with healthcare professionals to understand such reported events is a legal requirement, and a critical part of what pharma companies do to help regulators monitor the safety and efficacy of medicines. For AstraZeneca, in common with the pharmaceutical industry as a whole, this process was largely manual with lots of associated paperwork, including letters and emails to patients and physicians. Our team advised AstraZeneca to consider RPA. The technology really comes into its own with routine, repetitive processes like this, mimicking what humans would do by following simple rules to make decisions. The benefits can be spectacular – RPA solutions typically save huge amounts of time, improve accuracy and allow staff to focus on activities that deliver greater value to customers. The twist in this case was that, as a regulatory compliance process, any RPA solution for automating AE follow-up would need to undergo full validation before deployment – something for which there was no industry precedent. Rise of the robots boosts productivity (and job satisfaction) Not only did the combined client/Deloitte team deliver this fully validated, industry-first RPA solution successfully for AstraZeneca – we did it in just six weeks. In doing so, we delivered 20 times greater productivity, without increasing costs, compromising quality, or jeopardising compliance. The solution has also improved job satisfaction (who wouldn’t love having less admin to do!) and improved response rates from healthcare professionals. By redefining what is possible, we have set a precedent for increased automation in the industry, allowing pharmaceutical companies to liberate highly-skilled scientists from administrative tasks to focus on pushing the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients who need them. We’re now working with AstraZeneca to expand the solution into its international markets. Make an impact for clients, people and society We couldn’t put it any better than Nigel Soanes, Medical Information & Pharmacovigilance Director for AstraZeneca in Europe: “Through this project, we have been able to simplify, standardise and automate a regulatory process sitting at the heart of our licence to operate. Successful delivery would not have been possible without Deloitte's support. It has given patient safety teams more time to focus on brand-supporting activities, it will offset some of the future resource demand we are expecting in coming years, and it will expand the knowledge base for our marketed drugs, benefiting our people, our company and society as a whole.” The project also received the "Highly Commended" prize in the Digital & Technology category at the Management Consultancies Association’s 2018 awards.

A seed of an idea…

Using tech to transform agricultural productivity

Agribusiness Syngenta produces seeds and agrochemicals for farmers and growers around the world and lately this question has been keeping its 28,000 employees busy: how do you grow more crops for an expanding global population, using fewer resources and in a more secure, environmentally sustainable way? Find out how we have helped Syngenta use digital technology to transform agricultural productivity. Finding the cream of the crop For years, good crop yields depended mainly on a farmer’s intuition and practices learnt or passed down from generation to generation. Then came mechanisation – where farmers moved from manual and animal labour to machinery – eventually followed by the green revolution where the use of science really started to drive step changes in yields. Today, however, many of those gains have reached their peak. We’ve therefore been working with Syngenta on the next evolution of farming: digital. Working collaboratively and with our digital know-how, together we are transforming how Syngenta interacts with its 500,000 farmers and growers around the world, getting the right products to the right farmers faster, and unlocking significant sustainable productivity benefits at the same time. Harvesting digital technology To do this, we’ve helped connect the processes, major technology platforms and digital assets that integrate Syngenta’s operations across its commercial, production, supply, research and development (R&D) and support functions – ultimately transforming the business through digital. These changes not only help Syngenta better engage and serve its customers, they help the company manage and predict its business activities by having more accurate, real time data at its fingertips. A good practical example of this was a mobile app developed for field agents to use when they visit customers. It gathers data on what the farmer has been growing, their farming experience, the conditions of their farm and the market for their crops, all of which allow Syngenta’s field agents to gain more insight into that grower and the specific issues they face. They can then provide the farmers with the appropriate package of seeds or chemicals to help grow and protect their crops. In turn, Syngenta can also analyse this data with machine intelligence to make predictions and plans for the grower, giving them insight that they would not otherwise have. This example of working closely with Syngenta, and drawing on experience from across our global network of member firms – including teams from Switzerland, the UK and Belgium – highlights how together we’re changing the way Syngenta engages with its customers, differentiating itself from its competition, and positioning the company as a pioneer in digitising agribusiness.

BEAT this...

Voice analytics tool helps companies better understand their customers

In plain English, BEAT is a tool that helps our clients understand what their customers are really thinking and feeling. It does this by analysing on a real-time basis phone calls and other interactions with call centre staff, and mapping what it ‘hears’ against quality assurance guidelines. BEAT then applies a risk-related score to each call, based on a range of language and behavioural indicators such as voice pitch and frequency of certain words That means you can better understand your customers to deliver consistently improved service, reduce regulatory risk and lower operational costs. It also means the information can be used by compliance teams to ensure that conduct quality standards are met. Let’s see how it was conceived and how it’s helping financial services companies reduce risk for their customers. The fallout from failure The timing of this technology couldn’t be better. The global financial crisis of 2008 prompted a regulatory crackdown on financial services (FS) companies across the world, leaving banks, insurers and asset managers facing more (and ever-more-complex) rules – many of which focus on how firms treat their customers. For the UK, these new rules, regulations and codes mean increased responsibilities and therefore costs, along with a need to repurpose old IT platforms and processes. So, when a large life insurer was called on to review nine years’ worth of customer data (that’s 90,000 individual cases, comprising over 250,000 hours of call recording and 3 million associated documents) to identify if it had broken the rules around treating customers fairly, it turned to us for help. Man versus machine There were two ways we could do it: we could put a team in a room to do it manually, which would take too long to complete, or we could turn to technology. And that’s how BEAT was born. We created a team that looked quite different to what you might expect from a firm that’s most famous for employing accountants: computer programmers, audio engineers, data scientists, and world-leading academics who study how people communicate both semantically and cognitively. The result is a product that’s delivering 99 per cent accuracy for the client – where a team of humans could only achieve 80 to 85 per cent – and in a fraction of the time. What’s more, we’re also using BEAT in ‘business as usual’ at the client, which means we’re analysing new calls as they come in to check for vulnerability straight away. This is leading to great leaps forward with customer satisfaction as well as significant operational efficiencies for the client. With an FS provider’s licence to sell financial products at risk if they don’t get this right, the impact of BEAT’s support can’t be overstated. In the client’s words: “The voice analytics solution that Deloitte has developed is a fresh approach to identifying high-risk interactions with customers. Its intelligent, machine learning platform allows for prediction of a customer outcome using a combination of language and behavioural indicators.”

Championing diversity

Our progress on improving the gender pay gap

The need for transparency We were one of the first companies to report our pay gap; doing so voluntarily back in 2015. We have since collaborated with Timewise to produce: A Manifesto for Change: A Modern Workplace for a Flexible Workforce and sponsored the Institute of Public Policy Research’s report ‘Demystifying the gender pay gap’ - both of which seek to recommend ways to drive greater gender balance in business. This year, to further increase transparency, we also published our total gender earnings gap, which includes the earnings of both equity partners and employees. It is important to note that this isn’t a like-for-like comparison with our formal gender pay gap reporting since our employees and equity partners have different remuneration structures and therefore the government guidelines cannot be applied. However we wanted to find a way to represent total earnings across our whole firm - and this is a metric that we have now committed to publishing on an annual basis. You can see the full breakdown of our gender pay and bonus gaps – and our total earnings gap - in our metrics pages. The importance of an inclusive culture We know that our gender pay gap is driven by a lack of women in senior positions and we’ve worked hard in recent years to address this imbalance. In 2014, we put in place a gender balance action plan, spanning all parts of the career lifecycle from recruitment through to promotion. We have also established an industry-first Return to Work internship programme (now in its fourth year), created sponsorship programmes for female senior managers and directors, and monitor female talent pipelines for our director and partner roles. We know, however, that programmatic interventions aren’t enough without an inclusive culture. Thus, we focused on ensuring that we provide an inclusive working environment that is underpinned by respect at all times – one where everyone can thrive, develop and succeed. We’ve put 6,000 of our most senior people through inclusive leadership workshops and created Respect & Inclusion advisors so our people can voice any concerns to a trusted colleague. Our message is clear: diversity is not possible without inclusion and inclusion is not possible without respect. Alongside this we have embedded agile working, which enables our people to balance their work and other interests. No quick fixes We have always been clear that there is no quick fix to diversity in business – meaningful and sustained change will take many years. But we’re starting to see some results of our actions. We’re now recruiting more women at both student and experienced hire level, and seeing a significant decrease in the number of women leaving the firm after returning from maternity leave. The proportion of our partners who are female now stands at 19 per cent, compared to 12 per cent in 2012, and we’re committed to hitting our published targets of 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2030. We’ve also been recognised externally for our diversity efforts; being listed in the past three years as one of the Times Top 50 employers for women in the UK. Several factors, such as maintaining a focus on inclusion and agile working and using targeted interventions, have helped our progression. But just as critical for success is having visible leadership support – our people know that diversity is a business imperative.

Army vet turns tax expert

A former infantryman talks life in business

Having completed a 36-year career in the army, I am not your typical Deloitte experienced hire! I was excited to explore new challenges, but leaving the military was tough and I thought it would be a daunting task to find a similarly rewarding career.From my very first experience of Deloitte at one of their Military Insight Days, it was clear to me that the firm puts real substance behind its commitment to assist veterans through its Military Transition and Talent Programme (DMTTP). When moving from the army into the workplace, I was given some valuable advice: look beyond the task of what I want to do, to think about who I want to work with. Once I met the Deloitte team, I quickly realised these were people I would enjoy working with as they genuinely seemed to understand the military and never patronised me. Instead, they helped me work out how my skills and experiences could best be used by the firm. New job, new team To the amusement of many of my friends and ex-army colleagues, after nearly four decades as a very non-technical infantryman, I am now working on the global tax digitisation programme. During my work experience, I was introduced to Philip Mills, the Global Business Tax Lead, who spotted the potential of my extensive project management and stakeholder management skills, which he knew were essential for the role. A year has passed in a flash, during which I’ve been on a steep learning curve – my project management and stakeholder management has certainly been tested and I’ve learned many technical elements of the role on the job. Surprisingly, the cultural shift has been the easy bit, and that’s down to the people. Although it’s a very different environment, there’s a robustness and sense of humour that I didn’t think I would find outside the army. A film debut to debunk some myths Not long after I joined the firm, I took part in Veterans Work: The Films. Supported by Business in the Community, Deloitte teamed with film creators, Drive Project, and The Officers’ Association to produce a three-film series on research findings from Deloitte’s Veterans Work research report. Amazingly my film debut wasn’t cut during editing, and I’m really pleased the films have been watched over 15,500 times. To date there have been 13,859,234 Twitter impressions of #veteranswork, and the films have been played at the opening night of the Newcastle International Film Festival, an event at the Institute of Directors, and at client events internally and externally. Both the film and research have brought to life the idea of transitioning from the army to the workplace, whilst providing substantial advice to debunk many of the myths that abound.

Piloting next generation advertising

Connecting with consumers through gaze-tracking tech

Unlocking the potential of gaze-tracking technology The team at London City Airport knew that if they could measure the impact of advertising, their proposition would be even stronger. So a team from Deloitte Digital and Market Gravity[2] worked with the airport to develop outdoor advertisements with gaze-tracking technology, which measures how long people look at advertisements and information on display in the airport. The software provides advertisers with previously unavailable analytics on which media is best to show at different times of day. This allows brands to ‘test and learn’ which ads are gaining the most attention in real-time, allowing them to adapt advertising campaigns for maximum impact - quickly. So far, we’ve experimented with static and video content, as well as quizzes, on a media wall in London City Airport. The analysis produced some interesting results: people spend more time watching the content on the media screen when the airport is quieter, with engagement falling off by one third when the space was busier, questioning the traditional advertising model of paying more for advertising in areas of higher footfall. Quiz style content, where questions are on the screen for ten seconds before an answer is shown, performed the best, with engagement of these screens rising by around 10 per cent. With this software, we have brought the best features of digital advertising into the traditional out-of-home model. Pairing advertising and analytics in this way can help ensure brands have a genuinely connected, interactive campaign. A new place to test your ideas Within the airport, Deloitte Digital and Market Gravity have opened a lab called The Innovation Gateway, to help brands apply a more experimental ‘test and learn’ approach. The Innovation Gateway can be used for exploring multiple business challenges, from how to appeal to new customers to how to engage them with new advertising, while allowing real-time testing of the content created. Passengers simply brief the Market Gravity team on their challenge before they fly, and then the team gets to work finding ways to solve it. By the time the passenger has returned, the team will have a customer-tested concept ready to share. A number of clients have already given it a go - so next time you're travelling via London City Airport, pay the lab a visit at Gate 7. [1] Out-of-home advertising is any advertising that reaches the consumers when they are outside their homes/offices. For example in airports, on the road, train stations etc. [2] Deloitte acquired Market Gravity, the proposition design consultancy, in 2017

Talking can change lives

Natalie's story of helping refugees learn English

"Talking can change lives. It seems such a simple thing, to spend an hour with someone, once a week. However, it can have a profound impact, as I discovered when I volunteered to talk to refugee women at the English Conversation Club. Changing lives over tea and biscuits "Our lives are all so busy that it's easy to think there’s nothing we can do help to those who have been forced to flee their homes - especially when the refugee crisis is sometimes presented and imagined as happening so far from home. Yet over tea and biscuits (well, this is Britain!), I was lucky enough to be able to make a difference to a group of women who desperately want to build new lives and rebuild careers. "According to Deloitte’s report, Talent Displaced: the economic lives of Syrian refugees in Europe, 84 per cent of refugees surveyed revealed that speaking the local language is their greatest barrier to accessing employment. Yet, it quickly became clear that many of the women we talked to rarely spoke to anyone outside of their immediate family or friends, so they had very few opportunities to practise their English. As we talked about our families, swapped recipes and discussed our plans for the future, it struck me that despite all they had been through, they still had the same family concerns as you and me. They had been to university, worked hard their whole lives, had families to care for – but they had been through so many things we will never be able to comprehend. This was not lost on any of us. It was humbling to hear that in their home countries they had been happy, flourishing and successful. All they wanted now was a chance to improve their English, so that they could look for work or resume their careers here in the UK, and contribute to their new communities. A conversation worth having "That is why I am so glad the Deloitte Manchester office decided to pilot the Conversation Club programme. Many of us had read the harrowing stories of refugees escaping from war-torn countries, and wondered what we could do to help. So it was no surprise that we received lots of volunteer offers – with 30 of us helping around 50 refugee women over three one-hour sessions. The initiative was clearly something that we were all really passionate about. "The feedback has been so positive, Deloitte is now planning to continue the programme in partnership with Caritas Diocese of Salford. Caritas International offers disaster and displacement relief in around 160 countries. The aim for Deloitte in Manchester is to bring even more refugees and volunteers together, this time including both men and women in our Conversation Clubs and volunteer pool. I will be one of them. Talking changes lives and I plan to keep on talking."

Audit: past, present, future

Our investment and work to improve audit quality

The public’s confidence in auditors has deteriorated and the industry is facing intense scrutiny from all angles. Calls have risen once more to break up the Big Four. It’s clear we are at a cross-roads and, as a leading auditor with public interest responsibility, we have a significant role to play in restoring the public’s trust. Our next steps will be critical and we must be relentless in our approach to enhancing audit quality. The role of technology Auditing is an age old profession and some have argued 20th century techniques are still being used to audit today’s companies. With many businesses built around innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), automation and robotics, we have evolved our work to ensure our audits can match the complexity of organisations today. We have already made big strides by introducing new audit models based on analytics as well as cognitive technologies and we are continuing to invest in this area. We have also conducted detailed analysis to ensure we have appropriately identified and addressed critical risks around complex areas like pension balance auditing. Our people have applied agile project management techniques to our audits so we can be quicker to challenge, respond to and resolve issues in real-time. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as we look to broaden the skillset and mix of our audit team’s capabilities beyond traditional roles ranging from data scientists to cognitive technology specialists. No standing still Looking ahead, the audit profession will be as critical in the years to come as it is today. We have a choice to either stand still or embrace the development of new skills and technologies to make our audits fit for the future. There is no question what our response should be. Our audit work is a foundation of trust and confidence in the capital markets and we must always do more to provide assurance to external stakeholders and the wider public.

Banking on digital

Creating an award-winning app for Metro Bank

The first UK high street bank to open in more than a century, the company made its debut in 2010 and has been racking up the accolades ever since. But, with branches concentrated in London and the South, it wanted to overhaul its website and mobile banking app to extend its reach. It also needed to compete with – but stand out from – the bigger brands. Our creative minds at Deloitte Digital grasped the challenge. A revamped website was launched in 2016 and a state-of-the-art app followed in early 2017. New features included a fingerprint verification log-in and a facility to temporarily block and unblock payment cards. Then, in February 2018, a combined Deloitte and Metro Bank team took it one step further and achieved something truly remarkable – the ability to open a new and unrestricted current account, from anywhere in Europe, in under ten minutes. Opening an account is complex and involves multiple regulatory and fraud checks. Creating a simple, slick process called for the latest user experience and design know-how. We also joined forces with US-based FinTech Jumio to enable identity verification via document upload and a selfie photo. Fast, convenient, secure, accessible – everything we believe people want from a mobile banking app. And it appears that others agree. Here's just a few of the awards Metro Bank has won in the past year: Best mobile banking app - Moneywise Customer Service Awards, 2017Most trusted financial provider - Moneywise Customer Service Awards, 2017Bank of the year - City A.M., 2017Best digital onboarding strategy - Retail Banker International, 2018 Digitally enhanced Our designers, developers, testers, strategy and operations experts and business analysts worked alongside the client as part of an integrated team. As well as creating the app, we helped Metro Bank find its own in-house specialists to tackle future tech challenges. “Deloitte worked with us to not just design and build specific solutions, but to be our partner on our digital transformation journey,” explains Martyn Atkinson, Metro Bank’s Chief Information Officer. “With Deloitte’s help we have been able to stand up our own digital team so we can deliver continuously for our growing fan base, whose expectations are constantly increasing when it comes to digital banking.”

How smart is your city?

Putting a value on TfL’s open data policy

That’s where Transport for London’s open data policy comes in. They release a huge amount of data around timetables and service status, free of charge for anyone to use. The upside for the commuter and passenger seems obvious – stress-free journeys to work, play and home. London and the UK have earned a reputation as a leader in open data and the digital economy. But what is the value that open data can bring to London’s economic and social aspirations? We got our economists and public sector team together to investigate. Keeping London moving TfL is the organisation responsible for keeping our capital city moving. Since it launched its open data policy ten years ago, TfL has been working with a range of professional and amateur developers, from start-ups to global innovators, to deliver the product customers want. Some hard-hitting numbers: 13,000 developers now have access to over 80 data feeds There’s nearly 750 apps powered by TfL data used by 42 per cent of Londoners 89 per cent of Londoners use TfL’s websiteOur researchers found a range of benefits of releasing this data, from simply saving passengers time, promoting the Mayor’s active London agenda encouraging cycling or walking where possible, to improving safety by ensuring people aren’t waiting for long periods in quiet times. Open data for good But the benefits of open data go far beyond a happy commute home. Our research showed the potential economic benefits to be worth £130m every year to the London economy. That’s through saving time for passengers, supporting innovation and creating jobs. The data creates important commercial opportunities for third party developers, helping them grow revenues, supporting many small and medium-sized businesses. So what’s next? At this year’s London Tech Week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to support the vision of London as the world’s smartest city[1]. The Mayor is committed to opening up the capital’s data to help drive better decision-making throughout London. At Deloitte, we believe cities need to make the most of data, in particular its ability to design better services for citizens and break down barriers to the future of transport and mobility. We’re working with UK and global cities to use data to keep pace with rapid urbanisation, population growth and enable innovation.Simon Dixon, Deloitte Lead Client Service Partner for Transport for London, concludes: “Deloitte is pleased to demonstrate how London has led the global movement for adoption of open data, benefiting London by £130m each year. This is one of the reasons why London is recognised as a global leader for innovation in the Deloitte City Mobility Index.[2]” [1] Moving beyond just connected infrastructure and smarter things, the smart cities of tomorrow engage governments, citizens, visitors, and businesses in an intelligent, connected ecosystem. The goal: better city services and a higher quality of life. This will enhance citizens’ experience and city decision-making using data, digital, and (user) design. [2] The Deloitte City Mobility Index goes beyond present-day transportation issues and looks to the future by offering a comprehensive review of key aspects of mobility in cities around the world. The Index sets out to create a new and better way for city officials, transport operators and public planners to gauge the readiness of their transport networks to embrace the rapid changes occurring in the transportation ecosystem, known as the Future of Mobility.

Back to the lab

Teach First’s Russell Hobby on his journey to CEO

You’ve gone from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) to being head of Teach First – what made you want to take the leap? When I was General Secretary of the NAHT, I kept hearing the same concerns from Head Teachers and other school leaders. Funding was a recurring issue, recruiting and keeping talented staff was another, especially for those schools situated in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. Teach First acts at the heart of this challenge – getting great people who might not have thought to teach, into schools who might not get them. This is one of our most important levers for ensuring fair access to education, and I was really excited to have the chance to lead the very organisation that could tackle the concerns I’d heard during my seven years at the NAHT. You became CEO at Teach First, one month later you took up the offer from Deloitte to participate in our CEO Transition Lab. What were your expectations? I didn’t really know what to expect but the Lab came along at a good time for me. I’d been in role for a few weeks and I’d had the chance to have a lot of conversations with stakeholders and schools and I had many ideas and thoughts bubbling around. The Lab was well-structured and having a whole day with several people focused solely on supporting me and talking about my issues felt quite indulgent! I had the freedom to explore ideas with people unaffected by my decisions, so I could really test things out. The Deloitte team were objective and gave me valuable input and constructive challenge to instil my ideas into a plan of action. How useful was the Lab in helping you face the challenges of being a new CEO? Before I even arrived at their offices, the Deloitte team had already spoken to eight of my stakeholders at Teach First, which meant they had a good understanding of my qualities but also the areas I needed to develop. For me, the best bit was being able to talk about time and talent. I could share my thoughts on how to structure my senior team and discuss how to target my time to different areas of the role, from designing strategy to ensuring good governance to driving performance. Because I had the time and space to formulate my thoughts it made my ideas more coherent, and as a result I can move more quickly and decisively. You make an interesting point about targeting your time. How has the Lab helped you here? During the Lab, the team shared the framework of the five dimensions of the CEO: ambassador, strategist, driver, architect and guardian. Each CEO will operate across all these dimensions, but how much time is needed on each will depend on the company’s situation, the expectations of the board, as well as the CEO’s experience, style and skill set. Having that lens was helpful for me to strike the right balance in terms of where I should focus my time and efforts as the role progresses. After the session, the team gave me a report on everything we discussed and I still refer to it to make sure I’m not neglecting any critical areas. The team also arranged a follow up session a few months later to see how things were progressing, and I was pleased to see how much I’d started to put in place since the Lab! Every new CEO faces their own challenges. What’s been the toughest aspect of transitioning to the role? Moving into the CEO role from outside of an organisation presents inherent challenges. Not moving too fast or too slow is a balancing act – as CEO, you need to be able to stamp your mark and vision on the organisation, but at the same time give yourself the time and space to gather all the facts. People want a sense of who you are, the type of leader you will be, and so you do need to be decisive but you have to recognise that you can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything at the same pace. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity of the Lab, the conversations and the interaction with the team to help me with the transition – it’s made a big difference. Deloitte has been working with Teach First for over ten years, delivering an education programme designed to raise aspiration, support achievement and provide opportunities for students in low-income communities. The programme aims to improve social mobility and support a fairer society by helping young people from under-represented groups develop their ambition and skills whilst giving them the opportunities they need to access professional careers at companies like Deloitte. Our partnership with Teach First is part of One Million Futures, Deloitte’s ambition to support a million people by raising aspirations, improving skills and developing leaders.

We’ve got chemistry

Our Business Chemistry sessions transform how businesses and charities are run

We’ve been delivering Business Chemistry workshops to teach our teams and clients how to effectively build relationships, particularly with those who have a different style. We’re particularly fond of how they’re helping our One Million Futures partners, as well as teams at a not-for-profit that develops antimalarial medicines and students from a high school in West Yorkshire, England. A clash of personalities At its most basic, Business Chemistry helps teams of people understand themselves and each other in a working environment. We designed the tool to allow people to self-assess their behavioural preferences. It then identifies four primary work styles – Pioneer, Integrator, Driver and Guardian – to show team members what actions they could take for better collaboration and to increase the trust needed to deliver success. Think fewer potential personality clashes and tension, and increased trust and productivity. In FY18, our Business Chemistry team led by Jessica Dooley delivered Business Chemistry sessions to over 1,500 people across 100 organisations including financial services, transport and logistics, consumer goods, education and the public sector. Among those organisations was Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a partnership backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which researches and develops antimalarial drugs. We ran an interactive session to help them understand how the different areas of the business – from teams of researchers and scientists, sales and marketing to partners working on the ground in regions of Africa – could work together more effectively. Cue honest conversations about working styles in different teams, and how they could make the most of the diverse working styles across the business to implement the MMV business plan as one cohesive unit, and align around their future growth strategy. We don’t need no education? The behaviour styles that the tool brings to light are helpful in many contexts, not just in the business landscape. Better understanding of how people generate ideas, make decisions and solve problems can be used across areas such as in education. For example, we invited 50 students from our One Million Future partner school – Tong Leadership Academy – to see how we could help them prepare for future employment by using Business Chemistry. Working in groups at our offices, we helped the students think consciously about their own working styles and how these can be flexed in different situations at school or to prepare for entering the world of work. Harkiran Dhillon, a student who took part in the session said “we do presentations in class and knowing how people act and understand has really helped me in the way I create presentations and speak to the audience. I was also able to use this in my personal statement to show the skills I had gained.” Why run Business Chemistry for the students? Christine Webster, Director of Post-16 Education stated “This was an amazing experience to get students to think outside the box and realise that people learn and interpret in different ways. This was especially timely as they look to make their next steps, preparing for university applications, knowing how to present themselves in the best light, and understanding how to respond in a way the other party ‘liked’ could benefit them in the longer term. Out of this cohort we have had more pupils than normal securing part-time employment and getting through interviews and socialising with a wider range of people and maybe the impact of the day is seen here too”. In 2018 so far, the team have run over 70 Business Chemistry sessions, double that of FY17 and in the coming financial year we’re pursuing opportunities to work with University project teams, teaching a wider range of Academy leadership teams, other One Million Futures partners as well as our continued work with private and UK listed companies. For more lessons and stories, check out business chemistry at Deloitte and have a look at 'Practical Magic for Crafting Powerful Work Relationships', which draws upon extensive research and thousands of interactions with our clients.

Robots making a splash

Helping United Utilities to revolutionise its services – with robots

This isn’t the stuff of fiction – Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is here today and making a real difference to customer services. It’s already being used to speed up home meter applications, to manage engineer availability and to send appointment reminders by text – and that’s just the first stage of a process that will see United Utilities become a digital company fit for a digital world. Read on to see how Deloitte is working with United Utilities to realise and deliver the many benefits that new technology has to offer. From analogue to digital The water industry has been slow to embrace digital technology. Water regulator Ofwat called it an analogue industry operating in a digital world. It has urged water companies to “fully embrace” innovation, and launched a digital campaign around this theme. William Hewish, chief information officer at United Utilities, said: “We have listened to what Ofwat had to say. Installing the software is an important part of our digital strategy. There are a host of different things that we can use the robots for to help us provide an even better service for the seven million customers we serve.” The company plans to automate more tasks and activities across the business in what goes much further than a traditional review of back-office procedures. The changes being introduced will streamline many of the company’s processes, creating a real impact and having a tangible effect on customer services and operations. We are working with them to achieve this, providing technical expertise to set up the architecture and software, coding the automations, and managing the delivery of all the various work streams. What’s more, we’re teaching United Utilities to do it all themselves too, so once a new feature comes online, they’re completely self-sufficient in running it and building the next one. A bright future RPA is providing a platform for future initiatives to deploy AI and cognitive technology. Duncan Barnes from Deloitte in the UK sees RPA as “providing the ‘arms and legs’ to enable the ‘brain’ to act.” What that might mean in the future can be seen from the range of other initiatives United Utilities is investigating. These include automating the management of customer complaints and changes of tenancy, as well as helping to monitor reservoir levels and water pressure in the network, and scheduling daily domestic water samples to ensure the company continues to meet its stringent compliance obligations. There are even plans for an unseen ‘staff’ of software robots to monitor United Utilities’ network for faults, automatically informing engineers of any alerts they receive, so the problems can be located and fixed before they affect customers. The work we’re doing with United Utilities will also extend beyond the water industry. The application of RPA and other digital technologies we’re looking at will radically transform the effectiveness of organisations that adopt them. Many of our clients are already seeing the benefits of this: it’s not just the water industry that these robots are revolutionising.

Rolling a six with DICE

Our technology gives greater insights into lease liabilities

Maintaining a standard IFRS 16 is the new accounting standard that regulates how companies report information on leases on their balance sheet. Given companies’ huge reliance on leasing property, cars, factories and equipment, the impact of IFRS 16 can’t be overstated. So we spent two months developing an Excel-based financial model that could calculate the lease liability of each asset. No sooner had we finished building the model than it was put through its paces: a client with over 3,000 high-value leases on its balance sheet asked us to quantify the potential impact of IFRS 16 over an entire decade. The results for the client were striking – one simple graph showed that a single lease would result in additional balance sheet liability for the group of over $1 billion. Not only did this substantially change the shape of its balance sheet, it also showed how dividend payments might have to be reduced. Our graph showed the benefits of focusing on the long-term impact of the accounting standard, rather than simply on the day it’s implemented. However, our analysis was still a bit slow for our liking – it took over 15 hours to run it and 3 days to process. Better, faster, stronger So we turned to technology to reduce the time from days to hours. We achieved this through developing what we call DICE – Distributed Intelligent Calculation Engine – which is essentially a process that takes a large set of data, splits it into lots of smaller tasks, and executes calculations on multiple virtual computers. The remodelled solution means we can generate almost instant insight, presented through interactive data visualisations. Many companies are now using our solution to quickly quantify the financial impact of their leasing decisions, helping them to concentrate on future strategy rather than reams of data. None of this would be possible without DICE; it’s unique in the market, and will be the cornerstone of much of our future work around IFRS 16 and beyond.

A SMARTer way to do business

Helping companies comply with Country-by-Country reporting

The future is NOW

Helping people land the jobs of their dreams

The organisation is our Northern Ireland One Million Futures social enterprise partner. Based in Belfast, it helps people with autism and learning difficulties to find employment and change their lives. Its work – and Daniel’s story – also inspired Muriel Tafts, our Public Sector Marketing Lead, to pursue a new and exciting path… “I was on the panel to select the social enterprise partner and Maeve Monaghan, NOW Group’s CEO, told us about Daniel. When the organisation was selected as our partner, I didn’t hesitate to volunteer as the relationship manager. I now work with the Group to identify needs and find Deloitte colleagues who can help. In 2017, 33 individuals provided more than £72,000 in pro bono and volunteering time, and through procurement through our supply chain. This equates to new futures for 313 people.” Building a better business “NOW wanted to extend its reach, but needed a robust, sustainable business model. The number of employees had quickly grown from 25 to 75 but it depended heavily on government and European funding. In a post-Brexit world, that might have been challenging. A team from the UK and Ireland – a first for our impact work – advised on a new organisational structure and helped to introduce a senior business development role. It means NOW can generate additional revenue and secure jobs for more people like Daniel. In total, we’ve been able to help around 40 members of staff, including some with learning difficulties themselves, to run their growing business. A new strategy has given them the confidence to expand beyond Belfast and help 50 per cent more people.” Value from volunteering “The client engagement part is great; I love learning more about NOW and its strategic challenges, and coming up with solutions. I also really enjoy offering hands-on support. I’ve mentored NOW’s marketing manager, run workshops to assist the management team in developing a B2B marketing strategy and taken part in employability sessions for NOW’s customers, 54 per cent of whom have gone on to secure paid work or placements. I have enjoyed working with colleagues like Euan Isles, Anne Quirk, Catherine Doran and Andrew Johnston. It’s been a real team effort. I would encourage anyone to think about what you might get from volunteering – it might be skills development, the chance to do something different or the knowledge that you’ve helped to improve people's lives. It really is time well spent.”

A steer in the right direction

Our junior advisory board gets to work!

Steer was set up in September 2017 and the group’s 12 members range from Associate to Associate Director level and from across all service lines. For them, it’s not only a chance to influence top-level thinking, but a valuable opportunity to explore their own potential and champion initiatives that develop others. Here, member Amanda Ruddiman, Assistant Director in our Corporate Finance Advisory practice, shares her thoughts... “I wanted to get involved as I saw it as an amazing opportunity to talk directly to the Executive on grassroots issues. It was also a chance to meet lots of new people from across the firm. “Members have a variety of skills and experience, but we share the same goal – supporting the growth and development of Deloitte. From our first meeting, we knew we had a really engaged group. “The concept is underpinned by the firm’s desire to create a respectful and inclusive environment and, already, we can see the value the Executive puts on the group’s voice. “In the first nine months, we’ve provided feedback on how the firm’s strategy on diversity is reaching our people, discussed the future of work and how it might impact our service offerings, and given our views on Deloitte’s purpose and what we should be doing to live it every day. We’ve also looked at new talent initiatives. Helping voices to be heard “Our discussion is always energetic and thought-provoking; we challenge each other and have different points of view. But it’s not only our opinions we want to take forward – we want to make it easier for people across the firm to give feedback. “Steer is a channel that people can use to communicate with the Executive about their day-to-day working life, and it helps the Executive understand how initiatives are being received. This leads to constant evaluation and makes sure everything is being done to help our clients, people and society. “Establishing Steer and making it a success is important as it shows our leaders are dedicated to listening. This has been such a positive experience, both for us and the Executive, and we hope that, in the future, we can extend it further across the Deloitte North West Europe network.”

A tale of two kingdoms

Developing FinTech strategies across the globe

The UK benefits from a FinTech crown jewel. London is lauded as the number one global FinTech hub, boasting the world’s largest financial services industry, a booming tech sector and some of the hottest start-ups around. Thirty-one of the 50 top FinTech companies call the city home. Add to that a burgeoning talent pool and backing from both regulators and policy-makers and it’s easy to see why the capital is leading the field. Firm foundations in the United Kingdom... We’ve played an important part in the story. We developed a FinTech Strategy with industry body TheCityUK and have helped the ecosystem to thrive. We authored the Global FinTech Hub Federation report 'A take of 44 cities, our Global FinTech Interim Hub Review', published in 2017 and partnered with Upside Partners to help our clients thrive with FinTech: adopt venture capital mindset; acquire start-up empathy; collaborate effectively. In March, we were once again the platinum headline sponsor at trade organisation Innovate Finance’s Global Summit. During the same month, our Head of NWE FinTech, Louise Brett, was among leaders appointed to a new FinTech Strategy Group, set up by Innovate Finance and the City of London Corporation. “Today, London is the FinTech capital of the world and we’re delighted to have been involved from the start,” says Louise. The ecosystem has the 'Fin' of New York, the 'Tech' of the US west coast and the policymakers of Washington, all within a 15-minute journey on public transport. These factors make London one of the greatest connected global cities in the world with the key ingredients for digital success." … scoping Scotland… Our blueprint for FinTech success is being exported to other parts of the UK. In 2016, we were asked by economic development agency Scottish Enterprise to explore whether the country could become an international FinTech hub. This led to a FinTech strategy for Scotland, which fueled desires for an independent, not-for-profit organisation to lead the way. In June 2017, we produced a business plan for the new entity and, just over six months later, FinTech Scotland opened for business. In May, we became its exclusive professional services provider , with Kent Mackenzie, our Global Leader for Risk Advisory in FinTech and RegTech, appointed to the board. Already, we’ve helped Scotland break into the Global FinTech Hub Federation rankings, achieving 17th place out of 45. The ambition is to reach the top five. … moving into the Middle East Our work in the UK has also opened doors in countries not typically known for their FinTech credentials. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one exciting example. KSA’s Vision 2030 includes plans to reduce its dependence on oil, turn financial services into the region’s primary market and encourage a cashless, digital economy. In March, Deloitte Middle East was appointed as the professional services provider for the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and a joint team from the UK and Middle East won a strategic partnership to develop a new FinTech ecosystem and launch FinTech Saudi. An international hub could rival those already flourishing in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. “We are very excited for the launch of Fintech Saudi, which will be an important catalyst in the development of a thriving FinTech industry in the Kingdom and the region,” comments Ziad Al-Yousef, SAMA’s Director General of Payment Systems.

Connected by care

How the Internet of Things is transforming healthcare

Phones, vehicles, appliances… the number of IoT-connected devices is expected to reach about 31 billion units by 2020. And one area where this fast-moving technology can have a real impact is healthcare. Medical device manufacturers estimate that in five years’ time 68 per cent of medical devices will be connected. Colleagues from our IoT Centre of Excellence in Amsterdam and our UK-based digital experts have been working alongside our client Vodafone on smart medical solutions. The communications giant is a market leader in the IoT market. Connecting more devices than any other global carrier, it has a footprint of over 74 million connections. The next big thing In order to show, not only tell about the power of IoT, the team has developed a mobile application prototype that can be used in the home and in surroundings that are familiar to the patient, to monitor the use of feeding tubes. Called ‘enteral feeding pumps’, they administer nutrition to patients who are unable to feed themselves properly or who cannot eat or drink safely. The prototype was the next step in a collaboration with Vodafone, which started in early 2017, and bringing this prototype to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2018 was a milestone in our relationship. The application shows the potential that IoT has to transform the experience for patients, practitioners and, when children are involved, parents. It monitors treatment programmes in people’s homes to make sure the correct care plan is being followed and reports on progress via a range of notifications. For nurses visiting patients in their homes, it features comprehensive patient profiles and is an important connection to wider clinical teams. For families, it can offer much-needed reassurance that their loved one is getting the best possible care and connects them to health practitioners if they have any concerns. Netherlands-based Senior UX Specialist, Luc Moers, helped to develop the prototype. He explains: “Even though the pump is compact, having one in the home can be quite intimidating. Patients and their families often have a lot of questions, but this gives them the insight they need.” While the pumps allow people to be looked after in familiar surroundings, the nature of the treatment can isolate them as they miss social interaction at meal times. As a concept the app design contains the use of emojis to express how they’re feeling, so practitioners can gauge mental as well as physical health. A powerful collaboration The collaboration, across Deloitte and between partner organisations, is working well and the team is now talking to medical device manufacturers to explore the market potential. Ultimately, the combined know-how – and the power of the IoT – can create new patient services, such as monitored public access defibrillators. The ambition is to take it further, for example connected inhalers for asthma sufferers. “Our collaboration with Vodafone is a new way of doing business in an area where we previously had no presence,” continues Luc. “It shows how we can use our complementary capabilities to improve care.” Daan Hoevers, Senior Manager IoT Center of Excellence concludes: “This is a great example of purposeful and agile innovation at Deloitte – we are improving the delivery of care and ultimately benefiting patients by turning medical devices into healthcare services.”

Awesome Agile Audit

A new way of managing audits – inspired by start-ups!

Audit might seem an area traditionally closer to spreadsheets than scrum, but the innovative spirit of our auditors will have you think again. Rich Bailey, a senior manager in Audit, came up with a new way of project managing our audits – with a little inspiration from technology start-ups. Here’s his story. Best of both worlds “Being involved with audit innovation has been a fantastic opportunity to shape the future of our audit practice. We are constantly inspired by the capability of technology to transform the way businesses operate and serve their clients. We’ve recently had the opportunity to work with amazing start-up tech companies who work on an agile basis. They use sprints to rapidly respond to their customers’ needs and a scrum process to engage the whole team in delivering high-quality products. This got us thinking: can we use agile to enhance how we project manage our audits.” We jumped into action and created Agile Audit, which takes the principles of agile project management from the world of software development and applies it to audit. It makes the best of both worlds: we take the best elements of traditional project management (to plan the audit) and combine them with scrum (in the execution) to create a flexible, responsive and agile way of project managing an audit. I couldn’t have done this on my own, of course: Chris Scott from UKITS and Emma Duthie from our Engagement Support Centre have been heavily involved. Together we have deployed Agile Audit and the supporting online platform to the UK audit practice.” Everybody can do it “After initial pilots, Agile Audit is now active on 40 engagements in the UK and over 1,000 people are using the methodology with our training and support. Feedback has been brilliant so far: teams collaborate better and issues are raised and resolved faster. Agile enables us to minimise the time spent on low value administrative type tasks and spend more time on high value areas such as key judgments. There is also greater transparency across the team on the status of the audit, making the audit more effective. It’s been great to see the project grow. The agile audit approach has been integrated into our global audit learning curriculum delivered to every one of our qualified auditors as part of our annual technical excellence training across the global network. We’ve shared our pilot experience worldwide and are running pilots in our UK Tax, Internal Audit and Risk Advisory businesses. Audit is an important part of what we do at Deloitte. We sign more than 14,500 audits in the UK each year and have more than 4,000 people working in this area in the UK alone. Our auditors work very hard to deliver quality audits that help build trust in the capital markets, so it’s great to see how people like Rich are supporting their critical work.

Mission possible

How do you achieve the unachievable? Simple – you build a bot.

For multinational companies, compliance can be time-consuming. But thanks to our colleagues from Tax Innovation and Global Employer Services, and some very helpful robots, that looks set to change. Auto pilot In today’s digital age, people can work anywhere. And while that’s signalled a slow decline in expat assignments, there’s been a very sharp rise in shorter trips. Our pre-assessment tool already allows clients to input information about individual journeys – for instance destination, duration, passenger nationality and reason – and see their compliance risks via a dashboard. But could it be done on a much larger scale? Could we provide the same analysis when tens of thousands of trips are involved? The answer lies in robotics process automation – or software robots. In February, we used historical client records to test the tech’s potential. A single robot processed 7,500 trips featuring 142,500 fields in 41 hours – that’s just 20 seconds for each form. A person would have taken 17 weeks to analyse that amount of information. On the back of this pilot, a second test saw five robots operate around the clock on 20,000 records. “The robots took five days to get the job done. A human would have had to work eight hours a day, five days a week for over a year to do it,” explains Associate Director Beverly Rognaldsen, who specialises in tax technology. “The only way to provide this service is to automate it.” Thinking outside the bots The technology is particularly valuable when assessing immigration risk. While tax obligations can be dealt with retrospectively, business travellers must comply with immigration rules when they cross borders. This increases the need for employers to get it done, and get it right. Robots are now working on 17 tax processes. As well as time and cost savings for clients, automation reduces the likelihood of mistakes happening and allows our people to focus on more advisory work that can provide greater value and insight to the clients. Tax Director Deepinder Lamba says: “This has made the impossible possible. Clients want the information quickly, so they can quantify the risks and see how urgent the problem is. “Previously, we simply wouldn’t have been able to help. Now, we have a proposition that is fast, efficient and error-free.”

If she can see it, she can be it

Inspiring young girls to pursue a career in STEM

Girls will be girls? I’ve worked in technology for 25 years and women are still underrepresented in the industry. I was looking at my 11-year-old daughter one day and realised that unless something changes, she too faces a future where there are ‘jobs for the boys’ and yet another generation of women will earn less than men. I wanted to do something about it. Our Managing Partner for Talent at Deloitte is Emma Codd and she’s made clear that she believes STEM holds the key to addressing the gender pay gap. Only 9 per cent of the girls who take STEM subjects at GCSE will go on to qualify in this area and 94 per cent of boys study core STEM subjects at 16, compared to 35 per cent of girls. Therefore, encouraging girls into STEM careers will be vital both to improving the gender divide in STEM, but also to solving the skill shortage that will be a barrier to economic growth in the UK. With the right training I went along to the Women in Science & Engineering (WISE) conference, where Professor Averil MacDonald created a workshop called ‘People like me’ (PLM). It addressed the lack of girls in STEM by showing them that women with similar personality traits and aptitudes to them are happy and successful working in STEM. The workshop inspired me to train as a PLM ambassador, and I started delivering workshops to Deloitte Access schools in April 2017. I found that inspiring the girls can still be a challenge as many of the most interesting and well paid jobs are ones they know nothing about. We all know what a teacher does, but what about a solutions architect? So, I point out that the job I do at Deloitte was not invented when I left school and the pace of innovation means that the same will apply to them. Some 65 per cent of future STEM jobs don’t even exist yet! It became clear to me that we needed more PLM ambassadors to make a bigger impact, so I got in touch with our One Million Futures team and Deloitte’s Women in Technology network (WiT) and together we encouraged 16 WiT members to became PLM ambassadors. Since then, 350 girls have participated in the workshops. The workshops will continue to run in 2018 and, while there is still a long way to go to address the gender divide in STEM, we're making progress one girl at a time. My favourite moment? After one workshop, I was given a handwritten note saying “you inspired me to be an engineer”.

Challenging perceptions, changing lives

Matching refugees with potential employers

The latest United Nations figures, which include more than 25 million refugees, point to one of the biggest global challenges of today. With traditional humanitarian support severely tested, there’s increasing pressure for host nations to support and integrate displaced people in sustainable and meaningful ways. This involves looking beyond labels to acknowledge a wealth of untapped talent. A potential paradox More than six million people have fled Syria since civil war broke out in March 2011 – along with Afghanistan and South Sudan, it accounts for 57 per cent of all refugees. As part of new research carried out with the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, we surveyed 305 Syrians building new lives in Austria, the Netherlands and the UK to understand the difficulties they face. We also sought the views of businesses in those countries. A report, Talent displaced: the economic lives of Syrian refugees in Europe, was published in November and reveals something of a paradox. A significant proportion of those interviewed were highly educated – 38 percent went to university and a third had skilled roles or worked in professional services in their home country. However, 82 percent were unemployed and experienced barriers when looking for jobs. The study also suggested that technology solutions can create opportunities by giving displaced people access, for instance, to work, training and language skills development. Building brighter futures One solution to unlocking this economic potential is FuturesHub, an online platform that connects people with employers, educational opportunities and mentors. It was created by a team spanning Deloitte North West Europe, Deloitte Austria and Deloitte Global. A number of refugees were involved in the development, taking part in focus groups to make sure the technology was tailored to their needs. We also tested the platform’s mentoring facility by pairing people with Deloitte colleagues, whose one-to-one assistance helped to secure job opportunities, housing and friendships. Across the research study and FuturesHub development, over 180 Deloitte professionals were involved through pro bono and volunteering. “Refugees have aspirations and skills to offer,” says Deloitte’s Global Lead Partner for the United Nations Jacques Buith. “They need appropriate support structures that empower them as human beings rather than label them.” Jacques continues: “In times of crisis, it’s important that Deloitte sets an example for how the corporate sector can contribute. Our team did just that, mobilising people and resources to help refugees secure a more dignified future.”

Turn a frown upside down

Helping Befriend a Child make a difference to those most in need

The charity provides befriending and mentoring services by matching troubled children with adult role models, helping build the children’s confidence, self-esteem, social and communication skills. Since choosing Befriend a Child as one of our society partners in 2016, we’ve been helping them in various ways such as fundraising and team development, and this year we provided them with a much-needed way to put a value on what they do in society. Putting a value on changing lives Through our One Million Futures (OMF) strategy, we offered Befriend a Child pro bono services to run a social impact assessment to demonstrate the impact of their work, but also importantly put a monetary value on their contribution to society – making pitching to major donors more effective. We had over 30 face-to-face and telephone meetings with volunteers, parents, guardians, children currently supported by the charity, and charity staff, which helped us forge strong relationships and gain a real understanding of the charity’s ethos. We also spent eight weeks analysing two decades worth of statistical information and performance data held on a paper filing system, ensuring the staff could spend their time on the critical task of running the charity. A moving moment for the Deloitte team was reading through emails sent from now grown-up beneficiaries of the befriending service, who had gone on to enjoy successful and fulfilling lives, paying tribute to their befriender and thanking the charity for their support. Making a lasting difference Not only did our assessment show how demand for Befriend a Child’s service has increased dramatically since 2000, we used an innovative approach, in line with UK Cabinet Office guidelines, to show donors that for every £1 donated to the charity, the benefit to society is worth over £6. Rather than just focusing on the percentage of each donation that goes directly to the beneficiaries, our impact assessment quantifies the real life value to society and gives insight into the advantages that volunteers experience – helping to increase donations and attract more volunteers. We also demonstrated that the outcomes delivered by Befriend a Child strongly align to indicators for measuring wellbeing in children and young people which the Scottish Government has published as part of its Getting It Right For Every Child policy. We supplied Befriend a Child with two documents; one an internal, strategy focused piece, and the other a booklet for publication. The publication of the results of our evaluation received significant media coverage both in the Aberdeen area, and nationally. On the back of the report, the charity has enjoyed fundraising success, including being named as ‘Charity of the Year’ by a major, multi-national Aberdeen employer. The charity head of fundraising has stated that “I can’t imagine talking to a supporter or prospective donor without quoting the report – it has changed the language we use to talk about the charity.” Befriend a Child believes every child deserves a happy childhood and a chance to succeed in life. We’re looking forward to be part of their efforts to raise the aspirations of Aberdeen’s most vulnerable children.

The rise of the machines

AI takes the strain in reviewing reams of regulatory data

The right balance

Enhancing the quality of how pension scheme balances are audited

Super Coupa fits the bill

Helping a financial services giant cuts its shopping bill

A Deloitte team from the UK, US, Poland and India has been working with a global financial services institution to implement a cloud-based purchasing platform called Coupa for its UK spend. A one-stop shop for all goods and services, it’s easy and intuitive, much like a consumer online marketplace. It brings together invoicing, approvals and contracts, making everything more efficient and transparent. From purchasing pens to commissioning consultants, users can see exactly how much is being spent, with whom and on what. A single, simple system Before Coupa went live at the client in April, the organisation had several disparate procurement systems, which meant time-consuming processes, duplicated work and unnecessary admin. More than 50 practitioners from the client and our offices spent 10 months on the project, from design to implementation for 1,200 users. It called for collaboration across teams from Risk Advisory, Strategy & Operations and Human Capital, and between global member firms. For the client, the potential is enormous. As well as the substantial benefit to the bottom line, it means less time spent on procurement – total purchase order approvals, for instance, are expected to drop by 36 per cent. Ninety per cent of spending can be linked to contracts, so it’s easier to track. The system also auto-approves low-value invoices, ensuring prompt payment for smaller suppliers. Going global The client is planning to take Coupa worldwide in 2019, introducing it across 38 countries where purchases total a further £2.7 billion. Importantly, the ability to track billions of pounds worth of spending adds an extra level of financial rigour. This will help the organisation meet its Operational Continuity in Resolution obligations which, introduced in 2016, govern the running of major financial institutions’ critical services. “I am delighted to have been part of the team that supported the client to implement this ground-breaking procurement solution,” says Anil Kotecha, a director in our Risk Advisory practice. “This is a prime example of the firm successfully partnering with disruptive technology providers to lead and drive value in an innovative way for our clients.”

Because Tax Matters

Using our tax expertise to help local communities

Helping those in need of advice We work with two major tax charities in the UK: TaxAid and Tax Help for Older People, which provide free tax advice for people who need professional support – but can’t afford to pay for it. Our pilot team of 18 volunteers has worked on around 100 individual cases in FY18, helping vulnerable and low income taxpayers to resolve their tax problems. Our teams in Newcastle and Leeds meet taxpayers in person, and our casework team from across the UK provide advice by telephone. Many of the taxpayers we help have small underpayments of tax caused by errors in their tax code, and this can escalate into large debts due to penalties and interest. Others have simply fallen behind on their tax return compliance due to ill health or other problems. Just a couple of hours of support from an experienced volunteer can help resolve what seems like an insurmountable problem for a vulnerable taxpayer. A day in the lab We’ve also been working with the tax charities on their vision for the future. In April 2018, we ran a bespoke ‘lab’ for both charities at the Deloitte offices, bringing together key stakeholders, including trustees, senior management, office managers and volunteers, with a cross-business line Deloitte team on hand to make the day a success. The lab incorporated our research on the market for the charities’ services, user experience design work by Deloitte Digital to understand how the charities interact with their clients and volunteers, and the expertise of our Greenhouse trained facilitators to deliver a creative brainstorming day. During the lab, we explored the charities’ strategy, the target population for their services, priorities, as well as barriers to change. Just a phone call away The charities estimate that between 60,000 and 300,000 individuals on low incomes could be in need of their services each year – a figure our own research supports. Yet TaxAid can only open its helplines for two hours per day, dealing with around 8,000 cases a year. It currently has around 60 volunteers supporting the full time charity employees. So Deloitte Digital provided pro bono support to help the charities document their current case allocation and workflow management process, and understand how improved technology could increase efficiencies and scale up the volunteering programme to keep the helplines open for longer. This would also help the charities get a better understanding of their user base and measure the impact of the support they provide. We’ve also helped the charities’ management team by sharing our experience in areas like GDPR and managing bid processes, and one of our partners, Craig Muir, has become a trustee of Tax Help for Older People. What’s next? We’re now working with the charities to implement a new technology platform. To ensure this goes to plan, we’ve seconded one of our consultants - Lawrence Deakins - to TaxAid. He’s also managing the casework volunteering programme, evaluating how the volunteer programme could be expanded to include working on the helpline, and helping create and implement a communication strategy to improve volunteer engagement. We make a financial donation to TaxAid every year and we’ll increase our fundraising efforts this year for the charities’ joint Bridge the Gap campaign, which supports the thousands of people who cannot afford advice. Matt Ellis, Managing Partner for Tax said, “My aspiration is for Because Tax Matters to become embedded in our culture, giving everyone in Tax the opportunity to participate. The tax charities provide a valuable safety net for those who can’t afford to access help with their tax problems, and the tax profession should be supporting the charities to make sure that they can help all those who need their help.”

A sleeping partner

Helping Depaul UK provide emergency accommodation for young people

Our partnership with the charity started in 2016 with the launch of our One Million Futures social impact strategy. Last year, with Depaul keen to expand its Nightstop service into new regions, a data science team from our Risk Analytics practice ran a pro bono heat-mapping initiative and identified Manchester as the area most in need. Nightstop, provides safe emergency accommodation for homeless youths in the homes of the charity’s volunteers.This data we provided helped Depaul secure valuable government funding. And as part of a second pro bono project, colleagues from our Manchester Real Estate office stepped in to find somewhere to house both the new service and a youth centre for those already benefiting from the charity’s work. Location, location, location Headed up by Deloitte Cities Adviser Cathy Wignall, the team started the property search in June. Despite a limited budget, Depaul needed plenty of space near the buzz of Manchester’s centre. Finding a commercial landlord that could provide everything they wanted was unlikely. After exhausting a list of options, they heard about an address on busy Oxford Road, one of the main routes into the city. St Peter’s House, Manchester University’s chaplaincy building, ticked all the boxes. Depaul’s purpose complemented the chaplaincy’s own volunteering programmes and fitted with its ethos of St Peter’s House being a place for ‘curiosity, encounter and gift’. The lease was signed in September 2017 and the service was launched in November. Its youth centre – the Hub – opened in April. The power of partnership Our work with the charity and the collaboration between service lines has been a real success. “It’s been a privilege to be able to use my team’s professional skills to support Depaul in finding their new business location,” says Cathy. “It’s great to see it so well placed – excellent visibility to further develop awareness for their cause.” Less than a month after opening, 15 young people were regularly visiting the Hub. Nick Sinclair, Associate Director – Community Engagement for Depaul UK, adds: “Everything’s going very well and the young people have been involved in designing the youth centre; they’ve really turned it into their own space. Without Cathy and her team, we wouldn’t have found this place – it’s perfect.”

A culture of inclusion

Our focus on a respectful working environment

We have always been clear that getting the culture right provides the foundation for our targeted activities. We have seen good progress on our actions to increase gender balance in the firm and in Autumn 2016 we turned our attention to ethnicity - both in response to the Parker Review and McGregor Smith Review, but more importantly in response to what our own people and data were telling us. Targets and action We carried out analysis of our engagement survey, attrition and exit data and crucially held focus groups, chaired by our Managing Partner for Talent, Emma Codd, to hear firsthand the experiences of our BAME [Black, Asian and minority ethnic] people. Using this information, we launched our BAME action plan in July 2017, setting out clear steps to ensure we attract, retain and engage BAME talent. We publicly set targets that by 2021, 10 per cent of our partners will be BAME, our executive group will have at least one BAME member, and each of our business leadership teams will include at least one BAME member. We also published our ethnicity pay gap in December 2017 as we believe that transparency on this issue is critical to driving progress. Culture and the quest for change To support our action plan, this year we formed our BAME Advisory Council – a group of ten representatives from across the business who provide direct feedback to our most senior leaders on our people’s experiences and help to shape our BAME initiatives. We're also piloting a reverse mentoring programme that pairs 24 junior BAME individuals with senior leaders across the firm. The programme encourages leaders to consider business issues from the perspective of more junior employees and provides an open forum for our people to share their views. We have also analysed data to ensure that we are targeting schools and universities that have a higher volume of BAME students and have introduced multiple recruitment campaigns to ensure we attract people from a diverse range of backgrounds. We know that meaningful change takes time and can only be achieved through a combination of targeted interventions and a constant focus on culture. While we are still in the early stages of embedding our BAME action plan, we've already seen positive results from our student recruitment data this year, with a 54 per cent rise in applications from BAME students. Three years on from our first R&I leadership workshops, we're now rolling out follow-up sessions for all partners to ensure our leaders continue to lead in an inclusive and respectful way. We also continue to work on ways to ensure our messaging reaches all levels within our firm as everyone has a role to play in maintaining an inclusive environment.

Great to be green

Our new building is leading the way in wellbeing

This summer we opened the doors to our new flagship building in London, 1 New Street Square. It’s only fitting, therefore, that our home leads the way with some exceptional environmental and wellbeing standards and we are on track to be the first office fit-out in the UK to achieve both an ‘Outstanding’ accreditation under BREEAM, a globally-recognised environmental design rating system, and ‘Gold’ under WELL, a leading, new health and wellbeing focused method. Planet first Close to the hubbub of Fleet Street and the River Thames, our new building spreads across 15 floors on New Street Square. From LED lights throughout, to sensors that monitor how the building’s running, we’re totally focused on reducing our environmental footprint. There are solar panels on the roof to top up with green electricity when the sun’s out. We have used local, natural materials for the fit-out as much as possible, and there is a huge wastewater recycling tank in the basement. We’re getting rid of disposable plastic cups and have installed dedicated paper cup recycling facilities. We’re providing everyone with a personal reusable water bottle and travel cup. We’re also eliminating plastic straws and plastic milk sachets across our offices. Well, well, well Did you know your working environment can have a major impact your health and wellbeing? Efficiency aside, our new building needs to be a fantastic environment for both our people and our guests. We have enhanced the air quality, water quality and light levels within the office, and used natural barriers to reduce noise. Sensors monitor ten different environmental conditions at all times to keep people comfortable. To enable our colleagues to be more active we have introduced thousands of sit-stand desks, multiple stairwells, a new cycle space in the basement with 395 bays and a new gym in the works. For when our staff need a break, there’s a terrace on the 12th floor overlooking the City, from St Paul’s cathedral to the Houses of Parliament, with plants that help the bees and your wellbeing. Restaurants and eateries stock a wide selection of healthy foods and drinks, while they can get a 3pm pick-me-up from one of the many coffee or tea bars. It’s the small things We’ve worked hard to create a work environment to be proud of. In an office serving over 5,500 of our colleagues, everyone taking small steps can make a big difference. It’s simple things like using our connective technology instead of travelling, using the canteen cutlery rather than plastic knives and forks, taking a moment to recycle correctly, or using the stairs instead of the lift if only travelling a floor or two. How will you make a difference to our planet today?

It pays to be social

A digital makeover for the British Olympic Association

The Olympic Games are famous the world over for showcasing the best of human achievement and inspiring future generations to emulate the stars of today. Digital platforms are more important than ever in helping take advantage of this engagement, as they allow fans to follow their favourite athletes year-round, and at any time of day – essential if they’re competing on the other side of the world. Taking it to the next level Fans can have an overwhelmingly positive effect, sometimes even inspiring stronger performances from the athletes they follow. Social media has been the game-changer here, allowing the stars to share what they do in real time, developing bonds with their fans and being able to thank them for their support. Last year, with an eye to PyeongChang and beyond, the British Olympic Association (BOA) recognised it needed to take its digital and social media offering to the next level, so it worked with Deloitte to define a clear strategy to make the most of the power of the Team GB brand and bring fans closer to the action. Deloitte assessed the BOA’s digital maturity across five key areas: vision & leadership, customer engagement, products & services, organisation & structure, and digital operations. We then developed a long list of opportunities based on best practice in the digital world, consumption trends for sport content, and wider technology trends generally. We then prioritised these opportunities in the resulting strategy, which we translated into a roadmap for implementation. A record-breaking strategy It was a great success. As with Team GB’s historic performance in South Korea, the social stats also broke records, with 163 million social media impressions, a reach of 85 million and 37,000 downloads of the Team GB Games-time app. Team GB also had the second-highest total reach across all National Olympic Committees, and even had higher engagement rates than Team USA, based on population and social following. Meanwhile, we also used the digital strategy to help Team GB develop a more compelling commercial proposition. Our work included creating a pricing ‘playbook’ of sponsorship packages for prospective commercial partners, alongside a number of initiatives designed to support Team GB in developing its digital channels and campaigns. Now boasting more than three million fans across seven social media channels, the BOA has secured its first digital marketing packages with three powerful commercial partners – delivering reach in the millions for their campaigns and generating invaluable funds for athletes. Bill Sweeney, BOA CEO, commented: “We look ahead to Tokyo 2020 with enhanced confidence in our ability to support Britain’s best athletes and the strength of the Team GB brand. Deloitte continues to play a critical role at the heart of our operations, both in preparing to take Team GB to the Games and in strengthening the sustainable business model we’re developing at the BOA.”

Brexit: navigating change

Helping clients prepare for the UK's exit from the European Union

Brexit dominates the UK government agenda and is a priority for executives looking at the potential business implications. The government has set out its ambition for the future relationship with the EU, which includes a bespoke trade deal to facilitate ongoing EU/UK trade, whilst enabling the UK to establish new global trade deals. The degree to which these proposals will shape the final deal remains to be seen and the uncertainty caused by Brexit continues to affect the UK’s economic prospects, consumer confidence and business investment decisions. Proactive planning in uncertain times We are working with our clients across all sectors to understand, plan for and act upon the potential implications of Brexit to minimise the risks, maximise opportunities and play our part in helping UK business to be Brexit ready. Through our efforts, we are helping to protect jobs, sustain and grow UK trade and address the UK’s productivity challenge. We’re doing detailed risk assessments to understand our clients’ level of Brexit exposure against a number of scenarios that may play out – including ensuring business have considered what ‘no deal’ – the scenario of most change - would mean for them. Some examples include: We are helping financial institutions understand the degree to which they will need to relocate some operations and staff to enable operational continuity; In life sciences, we are considering the implications should the UK operate outside of the EU regime for the approval and licensing of medicines and medical devices; In manufacturing we are analysing the impacts of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade to test the ongoing viability of UK production; In retail and consumer products we are helping companies to understand their multi-tier supply chains to assess how increased cost and complexity in the movement of goods could affect the price of goods; and Across a number of sectors we are helping our clients to understand the impact on their workforce – the origin of their staff, the potential implications for their talent and resourcing strategies and the provision of clear information to support affected workers.The level of preparedness of UK business for Brexit will be a fundamental pillar of a strong and prosperous UK outside of the EU. Brexit is a challenge, but one in which we share a collective responsibility to meet in an informed and proactive way. By helping UK business to understand and prepare for the impacts, we’re playing our role in managing the potential negative consequences of Brexit and encouraging a proactive approach to maximising the opportunities ahead. This will, in turn, help protect jobs and encourage ongoing investment in the UK. Alongside our work with UK business, we’re contributing to the debate on how the UK’s domestic and foreign policy needs to evolve to ensure the competitiveness of the UK outside of the EU. Nick Owen, Chair of Deloitte LLP in the UK, chairs the Professional & Business Services Council (PBSC), which represents a range of areas such as accountancy, legal, tax, and consulting. The PBSC is a key platform to interact with government, and as part of this we have been leading in shaping the ‘Sector Deal’ for services – a key influencer of the Government’s Industrial Strategy. We’re also involved in the Trade Technical Group, which promotes the interests of the services sector in Brexit trade negotiations by providing advice to the government on the specific challenges faced by services businesses.

More to hackers than meets the eye

Building cyber defences - for us and our clients

This year we’ve expanded the scale and range of solutions in our UK cyber practice, with plans to grow the business to 500 people by the end of 2018. We appointed Rob Wainwright, the former Executive Director of Europol as a partner to co-lead our North West Europe cyber team in March this year. Over nine years Rob helped transform Europol into the leading European security institution on cyber crime, terrorism, financial crime and other threats. In addition to making key new hires, this year our teams have developed a comprehensive data breach service for clients. This provides surge capacity[1], including response specialists, technical resources, infrastructure, and rapid customer notification in the event of an incident. This was complemented by a new methodology that protects an organisation so the most critical assets are safeguarded during an attack. We’re a key partner in the London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA), which launched this year. LORCA is a UK Government-funded organisation that aims to nurture the next generation of cyber security companies. Women in Cyber The industry is facing a growing global shortage of cyber security professionals and women remain underrepresented in the workforce worldwide. To help organisations bridge this gap, we launched a Women in Cyber initiative across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). This initiative started in the UK in 2015, and is now bringing clients, colleagues and experts across EMEA to promote gender diversity in the cyber security industry by initiating dialogue, creating awareness and fostering a community that inspires female talent to pursue a career in cyber. Responding to our own cyber challenges When it comes to cyber crime, no one is immune, and in 2017 Deloitte suffered an incident. In response, we put in place our comprehensive security protocol and brought together a team of cyber security and privacy experts inside and outside of Deloitte. No disruption occurred to client businesses, or to our ability to continue to serve clients. Given the evolving and persistent nature of cyber crime, we are continually reviewing and enhancing our cyber security and ensuring that our defences are best in class. Nearly every company is now a technology company at its core, so managing cyber risk is not an ‘IT problem’ but an enterprise-wide responsibility. By being secure, vigilant and resilient, today’s companies can best prevent and respond to attacks and we are proud of our efforts to help them achieve this goal. [1]Surge capacity is the ability to meet sudden and unexpected demands on a business’s resources.

On the road to recovery

Supporting The Retreat on its future strategy

Established in 1796, The Retreat is a charitable, not-for-profit organisation that is owned and run by Christian movement The Quakers. It works closely with the NHS to support patients with complex needs, ranging from dementia and brain injuries to eating and personality disorders. At the start of 2017 it faced serious financial challenges and was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). With a centuries-old legacy under threat, it needed its own course of treatment. The HEART of the matter Deloitte was commissioned to review The Retreat’s finances and patient services. Work took place over eight weeks, between December and February. Dr Christine Armistead, Financial Advisory Director within our Health Transactions and Restructuring team says: “Initially, we didn’t know what the future held as the organisation was making a loss, but everyone was very keen that there would be a future. It was important to keep some level of services and expertise going.” A specialist Health, Economics and Restructuring Transactions team – HEART – assessed the charity’s strategy. It brought together clinicians, operational managers, accountants and economists. Meanwhile, experts from Restructuring Services looked at the finances. During a second project phase, the cross service line team, supported by Risk Advisory colleagues, researched and recommended alternative care options – everything from retiring in-patient services to partnerships with the public and private sectors. Restructurings are often marked by poor performance and companies need to make difficult choices. This project, however, had to be carried out with sensitivity, care and respect for the Quakers’ values. A clean bill of health The Retreat has seen an improvement in its CQC rating - rising from inadequate to good, and it is now on the road to recovery with a clearer strategic vision. The charity occupies an important place in the history of psychiatry. As attitudes towards mental health continue to evolve, it is critical that organisations like this are able to offer patients a voice. Clare Boardman, Financial Advisory Partner and project lead, says: “With our insight and recommendations, The Retreat now has greater clarity around its medium to long-term future and knows how to identify savings in the short-term. It can make informed choices, improving the quality of its service provision and continuing to support those who rely on its care.”

Careers made in Cardiff

Our apprentices talk about learning while earning

Our Cardiff Delivery Centre traditionally hired experienced staff into their teams – 700+ people working on quality and risk assessment, due diligence, business intelligence, analytics, compliance, tax, engagement support and more. But the local management team recognised a big lack of opportunity for school leavers and young people in the local area. What if they could come up with something that would benefit both the firm and the community? Well, they did. Three apprentices based in Cardiff share their story of learning while earning. The A team The Cardiff Apprenticeship Scheme was born in 2015 to give our business the opportunity to attract local young people from different backgrounds who could add value, while building exciting careers. To date, 70 apprentices have been able to earn a salary while gaining vital skills and qualifications for a professional services career. They’re enthusiastic, capable and bring a fresh approach into the business, helping us improve quality, service delivery and client experience. Fun fact: last year we hired the first individuals born in the year 2000 (don’t worry, we feel old too). It’s a solid career start too. Successful apprentices are guaranteed a permanent job in their area of work. And guess what – there’s a 100 per cent pass rate so far. Born in Cardiff Georgia Pitman was part of the first intake of apprentices. “University was one of the only options made available while I was doing my A-levels, but it wasn’t for me and I started searching for other options. I came across the apprenticeship on a job search site, and it was exactly what I was interested in doing.” “I am treated like an adult and given just as much responsibility as anyone else in the team, whether they are graduates or experienced hires. I have gained a great deal of experience and invaluable skills that I know I’ll take with me through the rest of my working life,” says Jess Popkin, who joined us in March 2017. It’s a win-win Where are they now? Georgia has been promoted to a more senior level after completing the programme, and both Jess and Nick are joining our Higher Apprenticeship BrightStart Programme in September 2018. We’re very proud the Cardiff Apprenticeship Scheme has given confidence and opportunity to young people. It’s also helped to reshape our approach to recruitment, moving from traditional competency-based processes to strength-based selection events and blind recruitment. We can’t wait to see what our apprentices go on to achieve and look forward to welcoming many more to our offices.

A healthy glow for Greater Manchester

Helping make a success of healthcare devolution

But it’s not been an easy ride. Health outcomes in Greater Manchester were among the worst in the country, key services were inefficient and financially unsustainable, and the patient experience needed to be improved. Before 1 April 2016, Deloitte was one of a small number of organisations that supported the Devolution Board and the Shadow Partnership Board in developing their plans. We also helped ensure that they were ready to take delegated responsibility from 1 April and become one of the leading cities globally for health and social care. From 1 April 2016, Greater Manchester has had a Chief Officer and full team in place, and Deloitte has taken on important pieces of commissioned work to support their overarching transformation journey. Love it when a plan comes together As health and care’s priorities have shifted away from curing illnesses and towards helping people manage long-term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, there’s been an increasing need to create a more aligned model – one that makes it easier to co-ordinate care around the needs of the individual, as well as focus on illness prevention and encouraging healthy lifestyles. The first major success for Greater Manchester was securing £450m of investment from government on the back of the five year plan we co-developed with staff across Greater Manchester. This five year plan supports a radical upgrade in population health, transforms care in the region’s ten localities, and standardises specialist care and corporate services. The £450m is already being put to good use, but Greater Manchester asked for our support in helping it spend the money wisely – in part through identifying the most meaningful programmes to fund across the region’s ten localities. These programmes include changes to Urgent Care Services to focus more on key priorities such as cancer and trauma; a radical upgrade in prevention and public health, with a focus on improving self-care and creating pathways to employment; the transformation of integrated, community-based care and support, with renewed focus on school-readiness and employment. A healthy return The devolution programme has already started to change the quality of life for many people in Greater Manchester – most importantly, some of the most vulnerable in the community. Health improvements are being recorded across the board, with the population in Wigan now demonstrating one of the fastest-growing healthy life expectancies in the country – perhaps the biggest achievement of all. Elsewhere, the change has also brought care out of hospitals and closer to people’s homes, and care has been standardised across the region with, for example, common approaches to mental health and learning disabilities. To cap it all, Greater Manchester has been able not only to eliminate its health and social care deficit, but it’s forecasting to deliver a surplus of £14m in 2017/18. Overall, the reforms are expected to deliver £1.6bn of efficiencies over the next five years.

Keeping mental health in mind

Making sure our people can get support whenever they need it

Reach out, speak out Asking for help can be the biggest step for anyone suffering with mental health issues, which is why we’re making it easier for people to get support, if and when they need it. Our “Are you okay?” initiative is giving them the confidence to speak openly about mental health. It provides colleagues with the information they need to spot the signs that someone is struggling and start a safe conversation. It also highlights the range of help available. The work complements our ongoing “This is me” campaign that features videos of our people sharing their own experiences and stories of recovery. Tackling the taboo In the UK, thanks largely to organisations like Heads Together, Mind and the City Mental Health Alliance, we’re breaking down the stigma; people are less ashamed, less embarrassed and feel better about asking for help. But there’s always more that can be done. This year, we supported the government’s independent review into mental health in the workplace, commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May. The aim was to understand how employers can help staff remain in work and flourish. We were asked to calculate the cost of poor mental health to employers, determine the return on investment (ROI) from workplace interventions and outline what we can learn from international best practice. We shared our findings in October, the same month the government published its report, Thriving at Work: the Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers. Setting standards for support The study draws on accounts from more than 200 businesses, plus experts in the field, and sets out a number of standards – both core and advanced – that companies can adopt. They cover mental health at work plans, increasing awareness among employees, defining management responsibilities and routine monitoring of staff wellbeing. The principles have helped us refine our own approach and, in 2018, we achieved a silver award in Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index for the second year running, improving on our scores for 2017. Targeted actions have included joining forces with Mental Health First Aid England to design a four-hour workshop for partners and directors. We wanted our most senior people to have the skills and confidence to spot the signs and be able to offer support. In FY18, we trained more than 530 leaders and are now looking to extend the workshop more widely across the firm.

A bird’s eye view

Getting better oversight of risk controls was crucial for this global bank

The risk landscape for banks is immense – think credit, liquidity, technology, compliance, reputation, conduct. The implications for getting it wrong can be hugely damaging to the business, let alone the public trust in the capital markets. On a mission We sent in a 20-strong team from across our Risk Advisory practice to manage and facilitate the huge programme to assess inherent and residual risk across over 230 businesses, analysing 22,000 risks and 40,000 controls. Technical interlude: inherent risk is just the level of risk a bank faces assuming it doesn’t have any controls in place – the residual risk meanwhile is level of risk remaining after the bank has put in place all the checks and controls. Imagine rock climbing without any safety equipment (inherent risk), and then climbing with a harness and helmet (residual risk). A project like this meant interacting with senior stakeholders in teams across the whole bank to ensure that the various teams could understand and quantify the level of risk in all processes across the bank, as well as the controls that would need to be put in place to mitigate these risks. A huge breakthrough So what did we do? We developed several risk solutions, including a new way of representing the risk profile of the entire global banking organisation in one dashboard - this showed the level of risk (exceptional, high, medium or low) inherent in each key process for the bank, as well as how well each risk was being mitigated. It was the first time the bank had been able to visualise the level of risk across the business on a single page. And it could be displayed directly on the wall at board meetings. You could see why senior management were excited – now they had a much better understanding of risk hotspots, themes and trends. It was a huge breakthrough for the CEO and the board. By defining new global risk processes we gave the bank improved communication and collaboration and, critically, enabled senior management to focus their attention on where it was needed most. Our approach ensured transparency in how the bank reviews and reports its risk and our fresh perspective means significantly improved risk management at the bank, which couldn’t be more important in today’s banking context.

Fieri: developing people

Helping influence teams and leaders with our society partner

Q: Can you tell us a little more about Fieri? A: Everyone at Fieri has experiences that help shape our development programmes, such as careers in the military, elite sport, leading expeditions and dealing with extreme personal adversity. That means our programmes are varied, such as occupational behaviour workshops, resilience and well-being training, leadership development, and dealing with adversity. One week, we might be working with young apprentices at a large pharmaceutical company to help them contribute to their teams and the next we’re working with Deloitte senior managers in challenging and supporting their teams. Our approach is not for the faint-hearted! Quite often, we push people outside of their comfort zone, but they gain in self-confidence to act swiftly and assuredly, and turn into real decision makers. Q: And how has Deloitte been involved? A: Our original contact with Deloitte was through the firm’s Military Transition and Talent programme (DMTTP) back in 2012. I served in the Parachute Regiment with a former Deloitte employee who was part of the DMTTP. We became a Society Partner in 2016 as part of the firm’s One Million Futures social impact strategy. We now work closely with Liz Coombs, Danny Taggart and James Nash of Deloitte’s London tax team. They’ve been helping to build our strategy, brand and positioning in the leadership development market. It’s made us think very tactically about internal processes, ensuring that we’re ready for the growth we’ve experienced. Q: How has Deloitte and the Society Partner programme helped? A: I set up Fieri when I left the Army and understanding the language of business was very challenging. The support of DMTTP and the Society Partner programme has helped me and my fellow partners do that in a safe environment. Deloitte has been behind us since day one and we’ve been given practical tools that have been hugely beneficial and helped us to make decisions about Fieri’s business plans and how we build client relationships. They’ve taught us how to evaluate whether we pursue an opportunity or not. As a small and growing business, this has been invaluable. Q: What have been the highlights of Fieri this year? A: It’s been an exciting and busy year for us! We’ve helped the young students in Deloitte’s Aspire and BrightStart programmes build their personal resilience and communication skills. We also ran a 12-month Shared Services development programme for Deloitte. We were invited to the Global Employer Services annual client conference in Dublin where we ran sessions on resilience, situational awareness, overcoming adversity and leadership, and most recently we supported the first NWE Partner conference. We’ve now delivered leadership training to more than 2,000 Deloitte people and partners and helped nearly 750 young people build the skills needed for the workplace. The thing that makes me most proud is that our training can often have a positive effect on the personal lives of participants as much as it does their professional lives, and therefore helps them deal with shocks, uncertainties and the challenge of communication in our digital world.

Helping a city to heal

Pulling together in the aftermath of the Manchester terror attack

Meet the professionals...

Attracting new talent to the world of professional services

Business Professional Services (BPS) Birmingham is the voice of the sector in the region. Chaired by Deloitte’s International Tax Partner Ian Barnes, it’s supporting young people as they go from education to career ladder – and even career leader. Increasing awareness, raising aspirations In June 2018, the organisation once again staged its popular Professional Services Week (PSW). A range of activities took place to raise awareness – and aspirations – among local secondary school pupils. Importantly, it was a chance for them to test the water and find out more about careers in, for example, law, accountancy, consulting and marketing. As a valued lead partner, Deloitte was there to help. “There’s a real need to reach new talent to encourage sector growth, but also increase life chances of young people in communities that are currently disconnected from these opportunities,” explains Corporate Tax Consultant and BPS member Sarah Fraser, who is based in our Birmingham office. “PSW is the catalyst that empowers school children to think about professional services as a realistic career choice.” Making sense of professional services Sarah played an important part in PSW’s success. In the run-up to the week, she visited schools to encourage participation and organised activities including presentation skills sessions. She was involved in sourcing venues, managing a breakfast event for the city’s leaders and hosting workshops. She also acted as chaperone during an employer taster day and business walk, where students visited different work premises. In all, 45 schools and more than 2,000 young people took part, with over 40 employers participating. Their contribution enabled both pupils and teachers to understand what a job in professional services could be like. Sarah continues: “Initially, the kids had no idea what we did, so it was really rewarding when, by the end of the week, many started to view professional services as an attainable career option. Being part of that was a fantastic experience.”

Hear about Here East

Whatever happened to Olympic Park?

But all good things come to an end. Time flies and it’s now been six years since the big event. The Olympic Park has undergone a dramatic transformation, and the Broadcast and Media Centres are now a world-leading technology and digital hub known as Here East – with a little help from our nationwide Real Estate Planning team. A special location First, our planning team demonstrated the development’s ability to provide local economic benefits and gained public support. Then they obtained planning permission for the state-of-the-art redevelopment of the site. Our team has been working with Here East to attract and accommodate tenants from the tech and creative sectors to the development. The team has helped enable a vast number changes to the site in recent years - many of these required to support the different tenants now on site, which include the likes of BT Sport, University College London, Loughborough University London, Ford and 11 independent retailers. The site is now an Olympic Legacy success story, with an anticipated 5,300 on-site jobs, 900 university students and 800 members of an innovation hub. But the team’s role in shaping the future of the Olympic Park doesn’t stop there. They’re currently working with University College London and the London Legacy Development Corporation on UCL East, a new campus on the park. This will be the university’s largest ever single expansion since it was founded nearly 200 years ago. Nice to meet you The team behind it all provide town planning advice for high-profile public and private sector clients on complex instructions in cities such as London, Manchester and Leeds. They combine property services with financial and business advisory expertise to help our clients create value and great spaces. You might have read about their St John’s project in the heart of Manchester. The team also secured planning permission for the Owen Street development in the same city. This will feature 1,508 homes, and will be comprised of 4 buildings at heights of 37-64 storeys – the tallest in the city. We were very proud to hear the team took home the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Award for Planning Consultancy of the Year earlier this year, which has recognised planning professionals in the United Kingdom and Ireland for over 40 years.

A university challenge

Helping Northumbria Uni improve the student experience

With 27,000 students and three campuses, two in Newcastle and another in London, Northumbria is one of the largest higher education providers in the UK. Last year, it jumped 20 places in the Guardian University League Table to secure 48th position, its best-ever ranking. And a major factor has been the range of new services designed by our consultants, working side-by-side with the people who use them – the students themselves. At your service In the highly competitive world of higher education, Northumbria wanted to attract and retain the brightest and the best, which meant improving their day-to-day experience. While quality was top of the wish list, it also needed more efficient processes, so it could stretch its resources further. Our consultants were on campus, working with Northumbria’s Student and Library Services, IT, HR, Estates and Facilities staff plus four students seconded to the project. This blended approach fostered strong, trusting relationships and side-stepped any potential ‘them and us’ friction. Students were clear on what they wanted – good, easy-to-use support services. And because it was their vision, they tested all new designs, with more than 500 providing feedback. “Deloitte were fantastic and integrated themselves fully, bringing with them a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience,” says Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Francis. “The combination of Deloitte and Northumbria staff and students proved to be incredibly powerful and insightful, the results of which can be seen across the university today.” The project team redefined Northumbria’s operating model, creating a new Student and Library Services directorate. This allowed more than 200 staff to focus more of their time on their professional skills, rather than everyday administrative tasks. Three support centres offering face-to-face assistance – one for each campus – were set up to manage more than 115,000 student enquiries a year. Previously, there had been 14 different contact points. Thirty processes were revamped, and multiple online systems were replaced with a single self-service portal for students that’s easy to use, especially on mobile devices. Alongside this, a CRM (a customer relationship management tool) was implemented for staff to effectively track student enquiries and triage when necessary. Part of the family The programme marked a shift in culture for Northumbria as, students expectations shifted in line with rising fees – the new approach gives them what they want, when they want it, via the channels they use most. It has also shaved £1 million annually off the university’s operating costs. Mark Gill, Northumbria’s Commercial Director, adds: “We were looking for partners who would be on the journey with us and take a real interest in the success of the university – Deloitte went the extra mile. “They brought with them a real focus on the student experience and placed the student at the centre of our work. Deloitte were certainly part of the Northumbria family and we would welcome the opportunity to work with them again.”

Future-proofed Fusion

Supporting one of Telenet’s largest IT transformations

Keeping to the schedule As Telenet expanded over the years, it outgrew its previous Oracle resourcing platform (this looked after everything HR, Finance and Supply Chain, through to time sheets, expenses claims, from purchase orders and management reporting). So, in 2016, Telenet pulled together a skilled team of over 100 people to design and implement a brand new enterprise resource planning system, called Fusion. Fusion would support Telenet across its entire Finance, HR, Project Management and Procurement functions – its largest business and IT transformation in 15 years. A year into its development, we got the call to come in and support the team. Back to the future To help keep the project on track, we drew on our Oracle expertise across the UK and Netherlands, and our management reporting team in the Netherlands and Italy to support our business change experts from Belgium. First task: plan it. Alongside Telenet’s team we reviewed and re-planned Fusion’s implementation, and put in place better governance and stakeholder management arrangements. Next up: test it. We worked with Telenet IT to deliver over 100 business process designs, and tested them through more than 7,000 different scenarios to make sure they’d work end to end. With a major transformation such as this, nothing can be left to chance. Next task: trial it. We ran two mock trial runs for the move from the old system to the new one, which helped to make sure all business, data and technical activities in the final cut-over took place on time. Just ask Fred With such a big campaign, not getting stuck in project management and remembering the people is key. We helped look after communications informing Telenet staff and customers about the changes and the benefits they’d see. We also created self-study materials and classroom-style training for 150+ core users of the system. And because change equals questions, the 30+ trained floor-walkers helping Telenet staff with questions were ably assisted by Fred, a 24/7 online chatbot who had all the answers on basic navigation and ways of working with Fusion. Fred was popular - he answered 1,500 questions in the first week alone. The end result? Telenet has a new solution ready to support Belgian TV (not to mention broadband and mobile) for years to come.

From the classroom to the boardroom

Launching Northern Ireland’s first business internship

It might have felt like a lofty ambition, but it’s exactly what Euan Isles, a consultant in our Human Capital team, did for 22 lucky sixth-formers. Aware that traditional work experience can often bear little resemblance to a real job, Euan wanted to design a programme that offered both pupils and employers more. So, in partnership with Hazelwood Integrated College in Belfast, and with colleagues from across Human Capital, Strategy & Operations and Deloitte Digital, he developed Northern Ireland’s first business internship. Real-world experience The pilot Hazelwood Industry Internship was launched in September 2017. For the 16 and 17-year-olds who made it through the selection process, there was no filing, photocopying or making tea – just a chance to tackle real-world issues facing different industries. For six months, they spent Wednesday afternoons with one of five employers. Joining Deloitte were Danske Bank, the Dalata Hotel Group, construction company O’Hare McGovern and our Northern Ireland social enterprise partner, NOW Group. Each student was asked to investigate a topic and suggest solutions. Those working with our Health team had to assess the future of health in Northern Ireland. Other subjects included new financial services for younger customers, breaking down perceptions of construction as a career for women, and marketing a business venture. For the interns, it meant research, field work and talking to stakeholders. There were group sessions where they came together to share insights, and workshops on problem-solving, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship and digital know-how. At the end of the six months, they presented their recommendations in the boardroom. “Work experience isn’t always positive,” senior manager Euan explains. “We wanted to give students the chance to become fully immersed in an industry they were genuinely interested in and explore career paths they might not have known about. We wanted to give them useful skills and build ambition and confidence.” Leaving a lasting impression Initial feedback has been fantastic and suggests the programme has had a lasting impact on students, their families, employers and the school. There’s also evidence that GCSE pupils are opting to return to take A-levels in the hope of getting involved. Going forward, the team hope to enlist more companies and extending the internship to other schools. “This was designed to stretch the students and it did that,” Euan adds. “Their work was genuinely insightful and was highly regarded by all the employers – some will even take the recommendations on board. We’re delighted it has been so valuable for everyone involved.”Kathleen O'Hare, Principal of Hazelwood Integrated College says, “The pilot internship programme exceeded all our expectations. It continues to be the most inspirational and aspirational project that I have ever been involved in. Students got insights into the world of work that were real and meaningful, and it changed many of the life chances of our children. This innovative approach has the potential to revolutionise careers education in schools. We cannot thank the staff from Deloitte enough for their professional approach in working in real partnership with Hazelwood.”

Working 9 to 5?

How we're making agile working work

Where it all started We started focusing on agile working in 2014 – this was a direct response to our people’s requests for a better work-life balance and to data that showed us that this was something that really mattered to them. Since then, we’ve focused on providing formal and informal ways of agile working that work for our people and the business, including annualised days contracts to allow people to work a reduced number of days each year, and Time Out, our award-winning programme which enables our people to take a four-week block of unpaid leave each year. We have a relentless focus on culture – ensuring that all our people feel able to make the most of these options without the perception that it may adversely impact their career. Today, we have a reputation for providing our people with the means to balance a great career with commitments outside work. Since 2014, the number of formal flexible workers has risen by over a third – from around 850 people in 2014 to over 1,100 today. And, although we don’t track those who are working in an agile way informally (for example, working from home), our recent firm-wide survey showed that 70 per cent of respondents are taking advantage of informal working arrangements. Agile working is now an accepted way of working in our firm. Our people are living the three principles that underpin our entire approach – trust and respect; open and honest communication and judging solely on output – and this is showing in our ability to attract and retain the best people. But what do our people think? Let’s hear from Dave, Carol and Greg, who explain how agile working works for them. Dave’s story I’m a manager in IT Services and I work from home every Wednesday, which means I can volunteer as a Community First Responder with the Ambulance Service. I live in quite a rural village and the nearest hospital is 15 to 20 minutes away so the First Responder group can often issue life-saving treatment to a patient nearby quicker than it might take for an ambulance to arrive. My manager and team have all shown an interest and know how important this is to me. Sometimes, I might be on a conference call and I'll get a call come through asking for me to support a patient. I simply type '999' in the chat window and people know what's happening. They're also really supportive when I've had a particularly difficult call out. My manager regularly checks in to see how things are - both in terms of my workload and the volunteer work. For us, work is what you do and not where you are. Carol’s story I work in audit as a campaign strategist in the bid team, supporting major audit tenders. I love that agile working allows me to work a four day week, and also work from home when I need to. In 2008, I qualified as a Master Practitioner in neuro linguistic programming and business coaching and I enjoy using those skills to help others - both inside and outside of work. In my day to day role I use my coaching skills to prepare the audit teams for presenting big pitches. Outside of work I coach young golfers and cricketers in my local community on the mental side of their games. It’s great to see them start to believe in themselves, especially when they win matches. The four-day work week also means I get to hone my own golf skills - I’m currently a ten handicap but hopefully with sufficient practice and the right mental approach, I’ll get to single figures! Greg’s story I’m a director in Deloitte Forensic, at the sharp end of the delivery of expert accounting witness services in multi-billion dollar court cases. My nine year old daughter has a genetic disorder with associated severe autism, which means frequent, sometimes unpredictable, demands on my time. Fully supported by my colleagues at all grades, agile working at Deloitte lets me manage my own time and responsibilities. Whether this means flexing my working hours to make daytime meetings with the multiple agencies involved in my daughter's welfare and working later into the evening, or taking extended leave during school holidays, the culture is built on two-way trust - you are judged by what you do, not when you do it. It’s great to know that 'face time' in the office is no longer important to how I am valued in the team.

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