Empowering customers to recover and grow
The Recovery Loan Scheme launched by the UK government aims to help thousands of businesses across the UK as they recover and grow from the disruption of COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Pricing Tool (GPT) team rolled out RLS to Barclays customers in order to help them in rebuilding their lives.
Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) is operated by the British Business Bank via its group of accredited lenders. These lenders have a regulatory obligation on rolling out Government supported schemes on committed dates. Barclays is an important accredited lender as we support most types of finances for customers. Missing a committed rollout date on such high visible and regulatory driven rollout would have invited sizable Regulatory Risks in terms penalties and Reputation Risk of dent in brand image in the UK market.
Launched earlier this year, RLS replaced all three of the current government guarantee support schemes (CLBILS, CBILS and BBLS). “Barclays remains committed to supporting businesses of all sizes through various interventions as the economy moves into the next phase of the pandemic recovery. As the focus turns to economic recovery, we know that many firms are still facing uncertainty. Through the new Recovery Loan Scheme, alongside other commercial financial support, Barclays help firms rebuild and invest for future growth,” says Gareth Jones, Business Manager, Wholesale Lending and AE for GPT.
To deliver RLS to our customers, Global Pricing Tool (GPT) was the key enabler to help determine pricing options that best reflect our product’s value. The GPT team had to work against a challenging timeline of less than 30 calendar days, changing requirements as stakeholders were getting clarity as the project progressed, limited availability of test data, and severe pandemic crisis at India were creating constraints for GPT technology team.
Larry Holt, Managing Director, Global Head of Wholesale Lending Technology says, “RLS was an unplanned but regulatory commitment. Given the critical nature of this release, Technology colleagues went the extra mile to ensure we delivered on time. This was a fantastic demonstration of the ‘Drive’ mindset – focus on outcomes, deliver at pace, be passionate and ambitious about what we do”.
A proactive approach was taken to deliver the Recover Loan Scheme driven by the Regulators. The team engaged with relevant stakeholders across both Barclays International and Barclays UK and drove the requirements, which were evolving every day due to the lack of clarity regarding the terms. The team was fully empowered to take and execute decisions, in light of different challenges and a fixed date of delivery.
Within 30 days the GPT team delivered a full scope delivery with desired quality to stakeholders. The team’s RLS delivery ensured regulatory compliance for Barclays and a much wider social impact by making finances available to businesses and help them recover after the pandemic and transition period.
“The launch of our new Recovery Loan Scheme will provide businesses and customers with a firm foundation on which to plan ahead, protect jobs and prepare for a safe reopening as we build back better from the pandemic. Looking inside at Barclays, the GPT team did an excellent job not only with delivery but also blended organically with Barclays mindset,” says Lokesh Gupta, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Banking Technology, BX India.