1.9 The deal transferred all of NS&I's operational staff and assets to SBS. NS&I required SBS to reduce staff numbers, find third party jobs, operate the three former NS&I sites at Blackpool, Durham and Glasgow, complete a business process re-engineering programme and assist in the development and introduction of new products and sales channels.
1.10 SBS has to keep a presence at the former NS&I sites at Blackpool, Durham and Glasgow until 2004. SBS told us that it is sensitive to its position as a major employer at each location and will take this into account in any future location strategy.
1.11 At the start of the contract the three sites operated almost autonomously. Each location administered particular products. As there was no common computer system for all savings products, customers who held a range of investments could only complete transactions or make enquiries about different products by going to separate contact points. In addition, NS&I could not collate and analyse customer information to help market products as effectively as it might. Against a background of fragmented information on its customers, NS&I had in the past been slow to react to changes in the market. Other characteristics of the operation before the deal with SBS are shown in Figure 2 together with the characteristics NS&I would like to see in place once the business has been modernised. NS&I wants the business transformed such that it will be a low cost operation focused on customers, employing multi-skilled staff at each location capable of dealing with all products, and allowing NS&I to better understand its customers.
2 |
| The changes NS&I expects in its organisation | ||
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| Organisational characteristics before 1999 | Organisational characteristics at the completion of the modernisation programme |
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| 50 million transactions a year requiring 4,100 staff | 50 million transactions a year requiring fewer than 2,000 staff |
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| Functionality | 13 products with 11 IT systems | Many products on one common IT platform |
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| No data warehouse | Data warehouse |
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| Customer | Minimal channel choice to make transactions | Choice of channels to make transactions |
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| Difficult for customers to access NS&I | Easier for customers to access NS&I |
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| Disparate customer offerings | Refreshed and competitive products |
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| Processes | Largely paper based, labour intensive processes | Streamlined, automated, efficient and consistent processes |
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| High cost operation | Low cost operation |
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| People | Only capable of working on products | Multi skilled and capable of working on all products |
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| Source: NS&I |
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