Building a resilient legacy amidst regulatory chaos

A 147-year legacy of serving their community

Penrith Building Society, has been proudly serving their community since their founding in 1877. Rooted in the picturesque town of Penrith, nestled in the northeast of the Lake District, they have built a legacy of providing simple, great value products backed by individual personal service.

Elspeth James, Finance Director, stands at the forefront of their efforts to navigate the complex regulatory landscape facing modern financial institutions. With over 147 years of legacy, Penrith is committed to evolving with the times while staying true to their core values.

The challenge

The chaos of inefficient and manual processes

Eight years ago, Penrith Building Society faced the challenge of transitioning from a chaotic, paper-based risk management system to a streamlined, technology-driven approach.

The cumbersome paper-based approach hindered their ability to navigate the evolving regulatory environment, leaving them vulnerable to emerging risks. They additionally had the goal of aligning all processes by 2025 to effectively deliver our critical business services.

Recognising the urgent need for change, Elspeth James recalls, "We were looking for a solution that would take us away from a paper-based approach to risk and controls management into something that embraced technology." This marked the beginning of their journey to bring order to chaos and streamline their operations for enhanced resilience.

The solution

Getting their GRC processes in order

To address these daunting challenges, Elspeth turned to Ansarada's GRC platform as their guide to gaining better clarity and confidence across their business.

The adoption of Ansarada's platform provided a transformative solution, bringing simplicity and clarity to our risk management practices. By consolidating all processes under one unified platform, we transitioned from chaos to order, gaining a comprehensive view of our risk landscape.

Elspeth James reflects on this pivotal shift, stating, "The integration of Ansarada's platform enabled us to link operational resilience work with existing risk control processes under one cohesive platform."

This consolidation empowered our team to operate with efficiency and precision, ensuring that every aspect of our risk management strategy was aligned and optimised for success.

The results

Streamlined operations and greater confidence

The implementation of Ansarada's platform has yielded significant results for Penrith Building Society. It has streamlined data management, providing actionable insights that enable us to identify and mitigate risks more effectively.

Moreover, the platform's user-friendly interface fosters seamless collaboration across all organizational levels, empowering every team member to contribute to our risk management efforts.

Elspeth highlighted, "For us, it's given us the tools to allow us to spend less time pulling the data and MI together but actually looking at what we're getting out from that and understanding where the inefficiencies are within our processes and controls."

Additionally, Elspeth noted Ansarada's responsiveness and commitment to addressing their needs have solidified our partnership. This ongoing collaboration paves the way for future developments and continuous improvement, ensuring that our risk management practices remain aligned with our evolving needs and objectives.