RBS ACCOUNT NEWSLETTER
MAY 2016
Hello Team!
April has flown by with the fun and games of the Town Hall (in case you missed it see the photos below of Ed as an Easter Egg and Laurie as the Easter Chick - not something you forget easily!) some rather big announcements from RBS and finally some lighter evenings and better weather.
Read on to hear what the BTI T&P Readiness team have been up to this month. What events you should be looking out for in the L&D space. The exciting NSPCC Movie Club launch. How Beebee feels about being named the "sassiest member of the account". Some key RBS announcements. And a special thank you to team members who have been doing some excellent work.
Happy Friday!
Update from the field... T&P Readiness
The objective of the Testing & Proving Readiness Board is to generate and drive the required focus to ensure that the programme is effectively and successfully able to commence test execution.
Prior to initiating test execution in TSIT and TPROD environments, there is a need to assess Business and Technology readiness against a standard set of readiness criteria following a clearly defined process. Prerequisites are the currency for declaring readiness for the execution elements of Testing and Proving.
To achieve this a T&P Readiness Board, an auditable joint Business and Technology forum at management level, (currently 2x per week, Tue and Thu) has been established, tracking readiness against the following categories:
- Build Readiness (Are the environments required for testing and proving ready? Are all applications / systems enabled for use within the environments?)
- Test Readiness (Have all test preparation activities been completed? Have all users been provided access? Have Business and Technology TRRs been undertaken?
- SEM Readiness (Are the right people and forums in place? Have relevant processes and reporting models been created and stood up?)
To date the T&P Readiness Board has been monitoring TSIT1 SIT/BT Cycle 1 and Cycle 2, TSIT2 TCT, TDEV Scheme Certification, and from next Tuesday it will also be tracking TPROD Early Proving Cycle 1.
For more info reach out to: Katja Meyer, Srini Iyer or Emma Ward
UPCOMING EVENTS
BREAKFAST WITH... ALEX CORSI
Alex will give us an insight into the current and upcoming focus on the W&G, Payments, and HSBC IT Transformation projects. In a changing landscape of the W&G programme, our focus is on finalising the replanning and reorganisation, and supporting the programme leadership for the June Board meeting. We will also be landing the new Traceability and Confirmed Readiness approach. In parallel, the Payments team is expanding our engagement with the transformation programme.
At HSBC, we are two weeks into the project and the team has hit the ground running by kicking off the PPM work in the IT Transformation space.
Friday, May 6, 2016, 08:30 AM
The Breakfast Club, Camden Passage, London, United Kingdom
RBS Monthy Drinks - Details to follow
Look out for details from Mr Sayer in the near future
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
Dunk'n' Learn - Powerpoint
Friday, May 6, 2016, 12:00 PM
GES Bleachers
RBS Objectives Setting
Thursday, May 12, 2016, 12:00 PM
GES YELLOW ROOM
RBS Knowledge Share – Service Platforms
Friday, May 27, 2016, 12:00 PM
GES Bleachers
NSPCC Monday Movie Club
If you didn't see Corsi's email about the NSPCC Monday Movie Club, we have great news!
Thanks to Jake, we have purchased 2 seats to attend 12 exclusive film previews for a year, before the general public, in the luxury surroundings of the Ham Yard Hotel. All of the proceeds go directly to ChildLine a vital, free, 24 hour service that gives children and young people access to confidential support when they need it and ensures they have someone to turn to when they are in distress or danger.
Declan is the lucky fella who is attending this month's film: Me Before You on Monday 9th May - Enjoy!
10 Questions with... Sebastian Beebee
1. How do you feel being named the Sassiest person on the account?
Well it's fair to say that when Simon didn’t say 'Louise Main’ I was shocked. I like to think I’m not a push over so I’m happy to be an equally sassy character as Simon who can see a bit of himself in me.. All be it a small pale part.
2. On that note what is the sassiest thing you’ve done?
That would be trying to make fun of Corsi mid dinner table convocation and getting stared down big style.. I can’t recall what Corsi’s story was about.. (hahaha jokes of course I can)
3. How long have you been at Capco, and what were you doing before?
I started at Capco in 2014 as a freelance graphic designer working for Creative Services. Over a period of time I started to realise that being a consultant here was pretty easy.. I mean if Collyer’s a Senior Consultant then how hard can it be. So I got an offer to join full time and I leapt at the opportunity. It's taken a long time to get my incredibly small feet under the table but over the last few months I really feel I belong on the RBS account and I feel I’m adding value to the team.
4. What has been your favourite moment at RBS?
I have lots… Christmas party, making Jon Crouch almost smile, seeing ‘Fanny’ the hedgehog every morning… but I have to say one of my favs was reading an email Mab’s sent round to the whole account informing us all of how well SO (Sophie Lewis) is doing on C&C. I share a lot of the blame for bringing her onto iCare and I feel slightly responsible for her, and to hear she’s smashing it on C&C makes me happy!
5. What is your role on the RBS Account?
Great question…
6. What would you do if you won the lottery?
Well most people say you lose all you friends when you win the lottery.. I don’t have to worry about that as I don’t have any.. So I’d probably go out and buy some friends? That’s how I got all my 98 twitter followers…
7. Where would you go in a time machine?
I’d go back and stop Randy Learner from buying (and subsequently destroying) my beloved Aston Villa…. Or go back and start supporting Man City
8. What do you find are your biggest challenges at work?
Every day is challenging.. Showing people I’m more then just a pretty face is really hard.
9. Who inspires you and why?
Gary Neville & Jamie Oliver…. Passion got them where they are, not talent.
10. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given
"Sebastian if you not happy go do something about it, don’t just sit there feeling sorry for yourself” - Sarah Beebee (AKA: Mumma dog)
RBS IN THE NEWS
April was a big month for RBS, with a lot of announcements to follow. Read below for a summary:
W&G Announcement
“We have concluded that there is a significant risk that the separation and divestment to which we are committed will not be achieved by 31st December 2017. Due to the complexities of Williams & Glyn's customer and product mix, the programme to create a cloned banking platform continues to be very challenging and the timetable to achieve separation is uncertain. RBS is exploring alternative means to achieve separation and divestment. The overall financial impact on RBS is now likely to be significantly greater than previously estimated."
RBS reported a profit before tax of £421 million for Q1 2016. An attributable loss of £968 million included payment of the final Dividend Access Share (DAS) dividend of £1,193 million to the UK Government.
Income was broadly stable compared with Q1 2015 across our core Personal & Business Banking (PBB) and Commercial & Private Banking (CPB) franchises. In Q1 2016, core PBB and CPB net loans and advances grew by 15% on an annualised basis with strong growth in both the mortgage and commercial businesses. RBS has made good progress on customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) in the last year, although there still remains much to do. Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (CET1) of 14.6% remains in excess of target. Adjusted return on equity(1) across our core PBB, CPB and CIB franchises was 10.9% in Q1 2016.
Executive Committee
Ross McEwan on 27 April (Find on RBS Intranet):
1. I have asked Simon McNamara to lead on Technology and ensure we are set up for success in divesting Williams & Glyn. Technology is at the heart of our strategy and the core of our business. To be service-led means we must also be technology-led. In the last two years Simon and his team have fundamentally overhauled our core systems to ensure they consistently deliver for our customers. The next job is to ensure we can build on this excellent progress so we can in turn increase the rate of service improvement for our customers.
2. Whilst Simon leads on the delivery of these priorities, I have asked Mark Bailie to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer for the bank. The efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of our operations and services are an equally critical part of our strategy. With income under pressure across the banking sector, our competitive edge will come increasingly from our ability to deliver excellent service at lower cost.
These changes give us a better division of management resource across our most pressing priorities in this phase of our plan, meaning we can sustain momentum behind the bank we are building. These moves are now with our regulator for their approval and Simon and Mark will be sharing their priorities and plans with their respective teams over the coming week.
RBS plans to reduce its cost base by a further £800m this year…
[Ross McEwan] "In an environment where interest rates look set to stay lower for longer and where the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, we need to adapt. There are a number of issues that are not within our control, but one thing that definitely is within our control is our cost base. This year we will take at least another £800 million out of the cost base. A cost to income ratio of 72%, as it was for 2015, is simply too high. My intention is to get the cost base properly aligned to the bank we are becoming, not the global bank we once were. And we are making real progress in becoming simpler. Over the last two years we have closed one in three of our registered companies; approaching one in four of our London properties; and one in five of the products we had on sale."
Interesting times for RBS...!
A SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS TO...
Thank you!
A BIG Thank you to the following individuals for their recent RBS project endeavours and in supporting the account on a daily basis:
- Bhavna Patel - For services to RSA and Planning
- Charlie Robertson - For services to RSA and L2 Planning alignment
- Christine Riis-Hansen - For services to C&C and internal audit support
- Christopher Rees - For services to C&C and TLT support
- Emma Ward - For services to Resource management
- Hannah Rhys - For services to the Single Execution Model
- Irfan Sardar - For services to RSA and L2 Planning alignment
- Ivelina Dimtscheva - For services to C&C, Systems Integration Board, Risk & Issues management and "not being afraid" of big bad John
- Richard Neeve - For services to RSA and just being Richard Neeve
- Sel Ghebre - For services to RSA and Event management
- Sophie Lewis - For services to C&C and L0/L1 planning
- Zac Walton - For services to RSA, NFT and Resource management
- Martin Tsiagbe - For services to RBS Operations support
A small token of our appreciation will arrive in your Capco inbox (please give Simon Cook a shout if it isn't received).
Have your Say!
Thank you all!