The challenge

Royal Mail had recognised for some time that migration from physical to electronic mail would happen and that it should be prepared to offer customers an e-solution alongside traditional delivery.

Bills Online was originally launched in 2002 but it was realised at an early stage that this portal was not sufficient, on its own, to attract the necessary volume of consumers.

Quadrant was asked if we could provide an interim General Manager for Bills Online, to evaluate its situation and develop and implement a plan for the future.

What did we do?

Working with the in-house team, we decided to modify the strategy, so that Bills Online would take on an orchestration role in the market. This meant attracting major billers and encouraging banks to sign up, bringing with them their increasing number of online customers.

Planning required a major new engagement programme with target billers, such as BT, British Gas, EDF Energy, Powergen and npower, and the main retail financial players, such as HSBC, Lloyds TSB, RBS, HBOS and Nationwide.

At the same time, Bills Online had to demonstrate value and ROI when Royal Mail was undertaking a cost efficiency drive. We therefore were responsible for a planning review of costs, capabilities and structure to ensure best value.

What was the breakthrough for Royal Mail?

The breakthrough came about as a result of this planning review, reducing operational budgets by more than 50% by:

• Restructuring the cost base and technology platform
• Integrating Bills Online with Royal Mail’s mainstream Sales and Marketing team
• Partnering with a third party technology specialist