Case Studies
Nationwide Building Society
How OAK Agility Helped Nationwide Building Society Slash App Delivery Time by 83% and Save £7 Million
- Client: Nationwide
- Location: Swindon, United Kingdom
- Services: Coaching, Consultancy, Training, Mentoring
Transforming Nationwide Building Society Through Business Agility: A Digital Banking Revolution
Executive Summary
When Nationwide Building Society, the UK's largest building society, needed to accelerate their digital transformation to meet evolving customer expectations, they turned to OAK Agility for expertise in business agility transformation. This case study reveals how OAK Agility implemented Agile@Scale across the organization, revolutionizing their banking applications, mortgage services, and organizational governance. The results were extraordinary: dramatically reduced time-to-market, significant operational cost savings, and a fundamental shift in organizational culture that positioned Nationwide as a leader in digital banking innovation.
Nationwide Building Society Benefits in a Nutshell
- 83 %
Faster TTM
- 7 m
Savings in Operational Costs
- 32 %
Increase in Team Efficiency
Nationwide Building Society HQ
The Challenge: Breaking Free from Traditional Banking Constraints
Nationwide Building Society faced mounting pressure to transform their digital offerings in an increasingly competitive financial services landscape. Despite their strong member-focused ethos, the organization was constrained by:
The digital banking landscape was evolving rapidly, with fintech disruptors and progressive traditional banks setting new standards for customer experience. Nationwide's existing digital services, while functional, were failing to meet the elevated expectations of their members. Their web-based banking platform had become dated and cumbersome, creating friction in the customer journey and threatening member loyalty.
Internal processes were equally problematic. Traditional waterfall delivery approaches meant new features and services took an average of 18 months to reach members—an eternity in digital terms. This lengthy development cycle not only frustrated members but also created an innovation deficit that was becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.
The mortgage application process, a core service for any building society, was particularly challenging. Members faced a complex, time-consuming journey that could take days to complete, creating unnecessary friction at one of the most important touchpoints in the member relationship.
These challenges were compounded by organizational structures and governance frameworks that were designed for stability rather than agility. Decision-making was centralized, cross-functional collaboration was limited, and the organization lacked the roles and capabilities needed to operate with agility at scale.
Nationwide recognized that incremental improvements would not be sufficient. They needed a comprehensive transformation that would address not only their technology platforms but also their ways of working, organizational structure, and culture. It was in this context that they engaged OAK Agility to guide their transformation journey.
Our Approach: Agile@Scale Transformation
OAK Agility, led by Kwasi, partnered with Nationwide's leadership to design and implement a holistic Agile@Scale transformation program. Our approach focused on three interconnected dimensions:
Hub-Based Organizational Structure
We implemented a revolutionary hub-based organizational structure that fundamentally changed how digital products were conceived, developed, and delivered:
The cornerstone of our transformation approach was the creation of three autonomous hubs, each with a unique focus but operating within a consistent framework. Each hub consisted of up to eight agile teams and was led by a triad leadership structure that mirrored a startup executive team: Chief Product Owner (acting as CEO), Delivery Lead (acting as COO), and Tech Lead (acting as CTO). This structure provided clear accountability while enabling rapid decision-making and execution.
By granting each hub full autonomy to run their product and delivery operations, we created spaces for innovation and experimentation that had previously been impossible within Nationwide's traditional structure. Teams were empowered to make decisions at the point of information, dramatically reducing the coordination overhead that had previously slowed delivery.
The hub structure also created natural boundaries for scaling agile practices. Rather than attempting to transform the entire organization at once, we focused on creating islands of excellence that could demonstrate the value of new ways of working and gradually influence the broader organization.
This approach allowed Nationwide to balance the benefits of decentralized innovation with the need for enterprise-wide alignment. Hubs operated with considerable autonomy in how they delivered value, but remained connected to broader organizational objectives through lightweight coordination mechanisms.
Digital Banking Transformation
The first hub focused on revolutionizing the Everyday Banking experience for Nationwide's members:
The Everyday Banking hub undertook the ambitious challenge of transforming Nationwide's digital banking experience from a dated web interface to a modern, mobile-first application that would meet contemporary user expectations. This wasn't simply about technology modernization—it was about reimagining the entire member experience.
We introduced modern product management techniques that were largely new to Nationwide, including Design Thinking workshops that brought member needs to the forefront of product development. These sessions helped teams develop deep empathy for member pain points and opportunities, creating a foundation for truly user-centered design.
The hub adopted startup-inspired approaches to product development, embracing the principles of "test early, test fast, iterate faster." This represented a significant cultural shift for Nationwide, moving from a perfection-seeking mindset to one that valued early feedback and continuous improvement. By creating rapid prototypes and putting them in front of members, the team was able to validate assumptions early and pivot when necessary, avoiding the wasted effort that had characterized previous development approaches.
Cross-functional, "pizza-sized" teams brought together all the skills needed to deliver end-to-end value, eliminating the handoffs and dependencies that had previously slowed development. These teams leveraged Value Stream Mapping techniques to identify and eliminate waste in their processes, focusing their energy on activities that created genuine value for members.
The results were transformative. What had previously taken 18 months to deliver now reached members in just 3 months—a 6x improvement in time-to-market. More importantly, the quality of the experience dramatically improved, with intuitive interfaces, streamlined workflows, and features that genuinely addressed member needs.
Umesh Jetha
(Executive Director Data & Technology Leadership)
"Kwasi's understanding of organisational design and organisational agility was more experienced than most of the coaches available"
Umesh Jetha Aviva (formerly Nationwide Building Society)
Mortgage Banking & Organizational Governance Transformation
Mortgage Banking Revolution
The second hub tackled one of the most complex and critical journeys for Nationwide's members—the mortgage application process:
The Mortgage Banking hub faced the challenge of transforming what had traditionally been one of banking's most complex and paper-heavy processes. The existing mortgage application journey took days to complete and involved numerous manual steps, creating frustration for members at what should be an exciting milestone in their lives.
Using the same agile and design thinking approaches applied in the Everyday Banking hub, the team mapped the end-to-end mortgage journey and identified numerous opportunities for simplification and automation. They ruthlessly eliminated unnecessary steps, reimagined data collection processes, and designed intuitive interfaces that guided members through the application journey.
The hub worked in rapid iterations, continuously testing their evolving solution with real members and refining based on feedback. This approach ensured that the solution addressed genuine user needs rather than internal assumptions about what members wanted.
The transformation was remarkable—what had previously been a days-long process was streamlined to just 30 minutes. This dramatic improvement not only enhanced member satisfaction but also increased completion rates and reduced the operational costs associated with processing applications.
By making the mortgage application process digital, mobile-friendly, and intuitive, Nationwide positioned themselves as leaders in digital mortgage services, gaining competitive advantage in one of their core business areas.
Organizational Governance Transformation
The third hub focused on removing the organizational impediments that typically slow or derail agile transformations:
Recognizing that agile teams cannot reach their full potential within traditional organizational constraints, the Governance hub tackled the systemic barriers to business agility within Nationwide. This work was crucial—many agile transformations fail not because teams aren't working effectively, but because the broader organizational context doesn't support agile ways of working.
The hub identified and addressed critical impediments across multiple dimensions:
Funding models were reimagined to support product-centric, value-stream-aligned work rather than traditional project-based funding. This shift allowed for continuous investment in product capabilities rather than the start-stop nature of project funding.
Security processes were redesigned to be integrated into the development lifecycle rather than acting as gate-keepers at the end of the process. This shift enabled teams to build security in from the start rather than retrofitting it later.
Operations and Product Support functions were aligned with the product teams, creating shared ownership for service quality and incident response. This alignment eliminated the traditional "throw it over the wall" mentality that often exists between development and operations.
Procurement processes were streamlined to support the rapid experimentation and iterative delivery that characterize agile approaches. The hub worked closely with procurement teams to create new frameworks that balanced appropriate governance with the need for speed.
Perhaps most significantly, the hub facilitated the introduction of entirely new roles within Nationwide—Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and Agile Coaches. Working closely with Human Resources, they defined these roles, established career pathways, and created development programs to build the capabilities needed for success.
By addressing these organizational impediments, the Governance hub created an environment where agile teams could operate at their full potential, setting the stage for sustainable business agility across Nationwide.
Leadership and Capability Development
Underpinning all of these structural changes was a comprehensive approach to leadership and capability development:
OAK Agility, led by Kwasi, provided intensive leadership coaching to Nationwide's executives, helping them understand and embrace the mindset shifts required for business agility. This coaching focused on developing servant leadership capabilities, fostering a "learn fast" culture, and reducing decision-making latency through appropriate delegation.
We designed and facilitated highly purposeful workshops that shaped the new organizational structure while nurturing a culture of collaboration and experimentation. These sessions brought together diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions, building both capability and commitment in the process.
Our team worked closely with Nationwide's Human Resources department to design and implement new agile roles across the organization. This work included defining role responsibilities, establishing competency frameworks, and creating development pathways that would support sustainable capability growth.
Throughout the transformation, we provided hands-on training and coaching to teams and individuals, helping them develop both the technical skills and human capabilities needed for success in an agile environment. This investment in people development resulted in a 10x increase in capability across key dimensions, creating a foundation for sustainable transformation.
Transformative Results: A Banking Revolution
Our partnership with Nationwide Building Society delivered exceptional, measurable outcomes:
Accelerated Time-to-Market
The transformation of Nationwide's delivery capabilities yielded dramatic improvements in speed-to-market:
Banking applications that previously took 18 months to deliver now reached members in just 3 months—a 6x improvement in time-to-market. This acceleration enabled Nationwide to respond more rapidly to changing member needs and market conditions, maintaining competitiveness in an increasingly dynamic financial services landscape.
The streamlined mortgage application process reduced completion time from days to just 30 minutes, creating a competitive advantage in one of Nationwide's core business areas. This improvement not only enhanced member satisfaction but also increased conversion rates and reduced operational costs.
These speed improvements were achieved without compromising quality—in fact, quality metrics improved alongside delivery speed as teams embraced built-in quality practices and continuous testing approaches.
Operational Excellence
The transformation delivered significant operational improvements across multiple dimensions:
Product teams experienced a 32% increase in efficiency through streamlined processes, reduced handoffs, and elimination of waste. This efficiency improvement translated directly to more value delivered to members with the same resources.
End-to-end value stream optimization resulted in £7 million savings in operational expenditure. By mapping and optimizing entire value streams rather than optimizing individual functions, Nationwide eliminated significant waste and redundancy from their operations.
Customer journeys were dramatically simplified, reducing completion times from days to just 5 minutes for many common banking tasks. This improvement enhanced member satisfaction while reducing the operational costs associated with supporting complex journeys.
Cultural Transformation
Beyond structural and process changes, the transformation fostered a fundamental shift in organizational culture:
Leadership capabilities improved significantly, with executives embracing a more delegative approach that reduced decision-making latency. This shift empowered teams to move quickly and respond to opportunities without waiting for multiple levels of approval.
A "learn fast" mindset took root throughout the organization, replacing the traditional banking approach of extensive planning before execution. Teams became comfortable with experimentation, rapid feedback cycles, and continuous improvement.
People capability in both technical and human skills increased by 10x, creating a workforce equipped to thrive in an agile environment. This capability improvement was particularly important in ensuring the sustainability of the transformation.
The successful implementation of new agile roles across the organization established a foundation for long-term agility. By working closely with Human Resources and Finance to define and implement these roles, OAK Agility ensured that the organizational structure would continue to support agile ways of working long after the formal transformation program ended.
The Transformation Journey: Behind the Scenes
The transformation of Nationwide Building Society wasn't just about implementing agile frameworks—it was about fundamentally changing how a major financial institution operated. OAK Agility, led by Kwasi, worked in close partnership with Nationwide's Agile@Scale CEO, CTO, and COO to navigate this complex journey.
When we began working with Nationwide, there was recognition at the executive level that change was necessary, but uncertainty about how to approach such a significant transformation. Our early work focused on building alignment around a clear vision for the future state and establishing the leadership commitment that would be essential for success.
We began by designing and facilitating a series of executive workshops to build understanding of business agility principles and develop a shared vision for Nationwide's transformation. These sessions created the foundation for the subsequent structural and cultural changes, ensuring that leadership was fully aligned and committed to the journey.
With leadership alignment in place, we worked collaboratively to design the hub-based structure that would become the centerpiece of the transformation. Rather than imposing a standardized framework, we adapted agile principles to Nationwide's unique context, creating a model that would address their specific challenges and opportunities.
Implementing this new structure required careful change management. We worked closely with Human Resources to define new roles, create transition plans, and communicate changes to affected employees. Throughout this process, we emphasized transparent communication and active involvement of those affected by the changes.
As the new structure took shape, we focused on building capabilities through training, mentoring, and coaching. We worked with teams to establish agile practices, with Product Owners to develop their product management skills, and with leaders to embrace new ways of leading in an agile environment.
A key aspect of our approach was the balance between guidance and autonomy. We provided clear frameworks and principles to guide the transformation, but empowered Nationwide leaders to make the implementation decisions that would work best in their context. This approach built ownership and capability simultaneously, setting the stage for sustainable transformation.
Throughout the journey, we helped Nationwide navigate the inevitable challenges and obstacles that arise during large-scale change. Whether addressing resistance to new ways of working, navigating complex stakeholder dynamics, or adapting plans based on emerging learning, our partnership provided the stability and expertise needed to maintain momentum.
Key Success Factors
Several factors were instrumental in the success of Nationwide's transformation:
- Executive sponsorship and active involvement from Nationwide's leadership team
- Focus on cultural as well as structural change to ensure sustainable transformation
- Autonomous hub structure that enabled rapid innovation while maintaining organizational alignment
- Comprehensive approach to capability building at all levels of the organization
- Attention to organizational impediments that typically derail agile transformations
- Balance between standardization and context-specific adaptation of agile practices
- Partnership approach between OAK Agility and Nationwide leadership
Conclusion: A Platform for Continued Innovation
The transformation of Nationwide Building Society demonstrates how a comprehensive approach to business agility can revolutionize a traditional financial institution. By addressing organizational structure, governance, capabilities, and culture, OAK Agility helped Nationwide create a foundation for sustainable innovation and member-centricity.
The results achieved—6x faster time-to-market, £7 million in operational savings, and dramatically improved member experiences—illustrate the potential of business agility to create competitive advantage in financial services. As Nationwide continues its agility journey, these foundational changes will enable continued adaptation and innovation in service of their members.
This case study illustrates how OAK Agility's expertise in agile product delivery, organizational design, and transformation leadership can help large enterprises navigate the complex journey toward greater business agility and market responsiveness.
Is your organization facing similar challenges in adapting to rapid market changes? Contact OAK Agility today to explore how our expertise in business agility transformation, organizational redesign, and capability building can help you achieve breakthrough performance improvements.
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