Skipton Building Society partnered with CGI to evolve its engineering capability, modernise technology platforms and support delivery of its digital strategy. Combining Skipton’s deep domain knowledge with CGI’s engineering and architectural expertise, the work improved delivery pace, engineering quality and customer experience, including 130,000 app migrations and a 16% increase in savings application conversion.
Evolving platforms and ways of working to support digital transformation
Skipton Building Society is a leading UK building society serving a broad and diverse customer base. Like many established financial services organisations, its technology landscape had evolved over time, with a mix of long-standing platforms alongside newer capabilities.
As Skipton progressed its digital transformation, it recognised the need to complement its strong internal knowledge with greater exposure to modern cloud platforms and contemporary engineering practices. While existing teams had deep experience of the organisation’s core systems, the transformation programme required new approaches, tools and skills to support the target architecture and desired pace of change.
Skipton set out to:
- Transition appropriate services from on-premises infrastructure to Microsoft Azure
- Adopt modern front-end and back-end technologies, including React and .NET
- Evolve ways of working to improve pace, quality and sustainability of delivery
- Build capability within existing teams while continuing to meet day-to-day business needs
Why Skipton chose CGI
CGI combined engineering and architectural expertise with local delivery through its client proximity model. Integrated teams worked side-by-side with Skipton colleagues, while providing engineering, team design and technical leadership expertise where needed.
Benefits and outcomes
The transformation has delivered lasting benefits to Skipton’s technology function and wider business, including:
- Accelerated delivery of change – with cloud platforms and modern engineering practices enabling faster deployment cycles and reduced cost of change, supporting competitiveness and long-term value
- Stronger API and App delivery – with clearer technical direction and senior expertise helping move API capability from a delivery constraint to enabler of faster progress, supporting the rollout of new mobile applications
- Improved customer experience – with modernisation of the public website and mobile apps addressing legacy challenges, reducing customer lockouts, reduced contact centre demand and supporting more digital and paperless services
- Improved engineering quality and capability – with new technologies, DevSecOps practices, upskilling and strengthened technical leadership raising consistency and resilience across delivery teams
- Simplified and modernised architecture – with redesigned platforms, modular components and clearer separation reducing legacy constraints, enabling parallel delivery and increasing deployment frequency and reduced lead times.
Strategy, modernisation and collaborative delivery
The engagement began with CGI consultants working alongside Skipton leaders to support architectural thinking and strategic direction. This mapped a pragmatic path from existing platforms to a more modular, cloud-based landscape that would be easier to evolve and maintain. The work then moved into integrated delivery teams, with CGI's client proximity model enabling local teams to work side-by-side with Skipton colleagues. This accelerated delivery, strengthened engineering capability and kept Skipton directly involved in design, build and decision-making, while supporting its growth as a destination for technology talent in Yorkshire.
The team:
- Migrated selected infrastructure from on-premises platforms to Azure where this delivered clear value
- Modernised the technology stack with React, React Native and .NET
- Strengthened an API capability by providing senior technical direction, reducing dependency bottlenecks and improving flow
- Launched a new public.co.uk website using Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) to replace the legacy site
- Supported the rollout of new iOS and Android apps, including migration of customers from the legacy app
- Collaborated as joint sponsors of the Leeds Digital Festival, sharing insight and showcasing transformation outcomes with the wider Yorkshire technology community.
As the work progressed, the focus broadened to long-term capability. Skipton teams built confidence with modern technologies and new ways of working, supported by access to CGI’s engineering, team design and technical leadership expertise where needed. This helped strengthen delivery capability while keeping knowledge and ownership within Skipton.
Measurable outcomes
Delivering these benefits has enabled measurable outcomes including:
- 130,000 customers migrated to the new app in the first six months with minimal operational impact
- 99.5% of customers migrated to the new app through self-service, with only 0.5% requiring support
- Reduction in contact centre call volumes related to online lockouts
- App Development time halved by moving from iOS and Android native development to React Native
- Release frequency increased from a fixed monthly cycle to at least weekly deployments
- Reduction of web pages ranked by Google as poor from 383 to 11
- 10–50% reduction in effort to build and manage content in the CMS, depending on complexity
- 16% increase in savings account application conversion on the new public website
Our longstanding partnership with CGI has been central to the success of our transformation journey. With shared values and culture, they have brought local expertise that complements the continued efforts of our internal teams as we build one of Yorkshire's leading technology organisations.
Group CIO, Skipton Group
Learn more
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