MCC delivered a comprehensive and collaborative review of UKEF’s product development approach, incorporating both quantitative benchmarking and qualitative insights from a wide network of international financial institutions. Our contributions included:

Strategic Design and Stakeholder Engagement

Designed a robust benchmarking questionnaire in collaboration with UKEF’s board and senior stakeholders, covering areas such as:

• Digital integration
• Customer centricity
• Governance and approval flows
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Innovation and agility in product development​

Comparative Analysis and Key Findings

Found UKEF’s governance to be in line with its peers, particularly in:

• Risk management
• Separate sign-off procedures
• Following formal processes for approval and modification​

Identified areas with potential for improvement, including:

• Customer engagement and feedback loops
• Use of digital tools and automation
• Application of structured product development frameworks like Agile or BAH models​​

Highlighted best practices from comparators, such as:

• Annual customer ideation forums (BPIFrance)
• Digitalisation of processes (SACE S.p.A.)
• Agile sprints for product innovation (EDC and NatWest)​
• Deliverables and Recommendations

Deliverables and Recommendations

Delivered a formal benchmarking report summarising findings and strategic recommendations for the UKEF Board, Internal Audit team, and Product Directors.

Recommended that UKEF:

• Strengthen digital integration during early product design stages
• Capture and apply structured customer feedback more effectively
• Consider piloting and iterative design models where appropriate
• Align internal review mechanisms with academic models such as Stage-Gate or BAH frameworks​

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