On Board - Kensington Mortgages

From 'Green Light' to 'Go Live' in Just 8 Weeks

Following an extensive needs analysis, Kensington Mortgages (Kensington) went live with their new bethebrand system, nicknamed KAS (Kensington Asset Store) in Q3 2021.

The new system builds on Kensington’s rigorous approach to compliance and risk management by delivering pan-organisational asset storage and workflow management to further enhance their one team approach./p>

Founded in 1995, Kensington has long been one of the UK's leading specialist mortgage lenders. Kensington serves fast-growing segments such as the self-employed, those with multiple incomes and the over 55s - people the high street is not always set up to cater for. The company’s approach is to look beneath the surface and go deeper than the mainstream lenders where all too often the 'computer says no'.

During the pandemic Kensington undertook a thorough examination of the needs of its teams across sales, marketing, product development, servicing, legal and compliance in terms of workflow and asset management requirements.

Working in a heavily regulated environment Kensington wished to ensure it had the best possible systems approach in terms of aspects such as document sign-off, version control and asset lifecycle management. Being undertaken within the pandemic, the company also wished to ensure that it offered its teams best practice support for hybrid working.

With previous marketing team member experience of utilising the system, bethebrand was invited to tender. Two key aspects of the bethebrand functionality and support won the day:

• Usability - Unlike some other tender participants, bethebrand offers the ability for multiple internal stakeholders to simultaneously collaborate in real time through the document sign-off process.
• Complete audit trail - The system offers a compete and detailed document history – an essential component of the high level of governance Kensington delivers.

KAS went from project ‘green light’ to ‘go live’ in just 8 weeks over the summer of 2021.

The initial launch phase saw the system implemented across the business in terms of acquisition communications. The launch took a ‘big bang’ approach, with the complete portfolio of marketing assets going live at once. The second phase brought the servicing teams on board, with customer collateral being added on to KAS.

Achieving great outcomes from an implementation as swift and complex as KAS is testament to the close working relationship, insight and expertise across the teams of both bethebrand and Kensington.