lo p in the
December 2021
Oplo People Magazine
‘Tis the season to party! Page 10
Page 6
An interview with Peter Stasiak
Page 18
Christmas Volunteer Days
Contents New starters............................................. 03 Internal Promotions.............................. 04 Oplo’s hidden talents............................05 An interview with.................................. 06 Christmas gifts.........................................08 ‘Tis the season to party!...................... 10 A new challenge for...............................12 The Swap Shop....................................... 14
We’re reaching out to recruit people for our In the Loop editorial support committee. We’re looking for roving reporters who can keep their ear to the ground and feed back great Oplo news stories from within the business. To find out more email marketing@myoplo.co.uk
Monthly Statistics.................................. 16 Bounce Back Resilience....................... 17 Christmas Volunteer Days.................. 18 Health and wellbeing........................... 21 Announcements..................................... 22 Top performers....................................... 24 Behind the scenes................................. 27 Your extra mile........................................ 28
New starters
Welcome!
to the new starters who have joined in December! Alistair McLauchlan Junior Analyst Chris Orton Senior Developer Paul McGinn Senior Scrum Master Peter Stasiak UI/UX Designer Danni Young Developer Tony Yip Test Automation Lead Olivier Mollies Test Automation Engineer Mark Wylie Senior Business Analyst
ing!
hir We’re
like any d l u o w s If you the role n o n o ti informa , please email e availabl itment@ recru o.co.uk myopl
Adam Brown Underwriter Benjamin Knight Developer
Internal Promotions
! s n o i t a l u t Congra
We're excited to announce the internal promotion of Holly Wadeson to ESG Manager! Holly joined Oplo many years ago and has worked as an Administrator, PA, Office Manager and, for the last three years, as our Employee Engagement Manager. Holly has been on the ESG Committee for the last 12 months, getting involved with numerous initiatives, including charity and volunteering activities and now has the opportunity to maximise her involvement in all things Environmental, Social and Governance. You’ll hear all about Holly’s new role in this month’s In the Loop! Please join us in congratulating Holly in her new role.
s t n e l a t n e d d i h s ’ o l p O Billy Wharton, darts fanatic! Hi Billy, I have heard on the grapevine that you have a particular hidden talent? The talent, without blowing my own trumpet is darts. Now I know some people may argue that darts isn’t a sport. However, if it was simply a hobby or an interest, you wouldn’t pay tax on any winning proceeds, and as a Yorkshire-man I know where every penny is going, haha! So how did you get into playing darts and how often do you play? My mother is a barmaid and my dad was the Head Brewer for Heineken. In the little town of Tadcaster where I grew up there were over 17 pubs, all of which had a pool table and a dartboard. The pool table cost 50p to play one game, the darts was free, so I started playing. Every Friday after school I’d go to the pub where my mum worked and play the locals for 20p or 50p a game. I’d win enough to buy a chippy tea for me, my Mum and my Dad. Ever since then I’ve played for numerous teams and entered individual tournaments. I currently play for a local pub team and was recently chosen to play for Blackpool Town.
If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start playing, what would it be? Don’t be disheartened, just keep going. It takes time to get these things right. Practise. I practice 1 to 2 hours a day compared with the professionals on TV who practice 4 to 8 hours a day. And finally, every player has good and bad days, the main aim is to just have fun. What are your long term aspirations? Do you fancy yourself to be the next Phil Taylor? Long term, I’d love to see my name in lights of course, however for now I would like to keep playing well. I’ve given myself 2 years to prepare for the World Match Play in Blackpool and when the time comes I’m sure you will all know. Remember the name Billy “The Showman” Wharton!
An interview with
Peter Stasiak UX/UI Designer
Tell us a little bit about your background and where you have come from? I came to Oplo from Barclays. Literally, I finished my role there on Friday afternoon and on Monday morning I was on the induction call for Oplo. I spent nearly three and a half years designing internal apps for bank colleagues. Before that, I worked for the NHS, also in technology. But it’s not what I always did. Back in Poland, where I come from, I studied Social Communications and Media and also performed in the theatre in plays for children and youth. I then transitioned into video production and advertising, to land in marketing eventually. When I came to the UK in 2006, without any friends or family here, with just £200 in my pocket, I had to start from scratch. So, after I escaped away from the immigrants work camp, I did whatever I had to do to survive so I learnt design and got into technology.
What does a typical day for a UI/UX Designer look like? In the morning, after dealing with two school aged boys, I hit the gym for a quick but intense cardio session. After a shower, I make a coffee and read some articles or blogs from the design industry to stay on top of trends and continue learning. I check my to-do list with tasks for a day and also the calendar to double check if I have any meetings or calls booked. I design in various ways, depending on the process stage I’m in.
I can be completely lost in the design world, pushing pixels around, changing, iterating, and improving, or I can walk around my home office, thinking about the best approach to solve the experience problem, sketching ideas, sticking the post-it notes to the wall or the desk. Sometimes I have to prepare and run a user testing session, build a prototype, or perform research with the target audience. When the creative juices are slower than usual, I like to go out for a bike ride, walk, or even to Starbucks just to change my environment and stimulate my brain. In the evenings, I spend some time with my family, or I work on a side freelance project, or build something in a garage. I like to end my day with a glass of good scotch whisky. Three words to best describe you? Perfectionist - I believe if you do something, do it the best you can, otherwise, why bother. Direct - I always say what I think. If I agree with someone, I will thumbs-up, if I disagree I will say out loud why. I guess it’s a bit more of a European approach. Dreamer - I like to think about new ideas, plans, places, people, times, etc. Sometimes, if I feel these ideas are feasible, I do what I can to make them happen. Otherwise, I don’t bother and keep dreaming.
If you could travel to one destination right now, where would it be? It has to be either Paris, I love French food, wine and culture and Parisian style/architecture, or California, I have never been there, and I miss sunshine a lot. What did you want to be when you were growing up? In this order: a Fireman, a Pilot then a Film Director. I did manage to make few indie movies and worked in advertising as AD. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? Probably being invisible, or the ability to go back in time. If nobody can see you, you can do whatever you want, that is super awesome. But being able to travel back in time would allow me to fix errors, change history or do whatever I want.
These gifts
! fi r t i l a u q are
By now you should all have received your Oplo Christmas gift boxes. If you haven’t, don’t worry, Santa’s just running a little late! We’d love to see your gifts in use, so why not post on our Oplo People Facebook Group and share how you’ve used yours. Whether you’re cosying up with your hot chocolate or lighting your Sivart Sunflowers candle to bring light to those dark winter nights, we’d love to see. If you’re not part of our Oplo People Facebook Group yet, don’t worry! You can request to join here and keep up to date with all things Oplo.
Corporate Christmas gifts Following a wonderful 12 months of green initiatives, for our corporate Christmas gifts this year we partnered with The Present Tree. The Present Tree HQ is in the heart of Co Antrim, surrounded by beautiful native woodlands and steeped in ancient heritage. Here is a video which explains everything they do. The Present Tree Every tree gift is organically nurtured, carefully selected from the gardens at The Present Tree and hand wrapped with the greatest love and attention to ensure it brings a lifetime of joy in its new garden. They make wonderful gifts for anyone who would like to order, making our world a greener place!
Tis’ the season
to party!
Our Oplo People have shown us exactly how to party this December! We wanted to share all the good stuff our Oplo People have been up to this party season. Home Loans had a karaoke extravaganza in Marvin’s, with Steve Beard even taking the mic for a superb rendition of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’. Durham took to the dance floor treating Richard Sharp to a night out Northeast style and Marketing ventured into Poulton where they tested out countless cocktails in Boca. Here are some pictures you sent in from your do’s. We hope you all had an amazing time, and we can’t wait to have all our Oplo People in one room again to partyyyy…
Durham!
Marketing!
Home loans!
Ready to make an Impact
Everything you need to know about our environmental initiative
A new challenge for
Holly Wadeson Holly has been the trusted face of Employee Engagement at Oplo for a number of years. But now it’s time for her to face a new, exciting role with one of the most fast moving parts of Oplo. We’re delighted to re-introduce Holly as the ESG Manager. We had a chat with her about everything her new role will entail…
Holly, first of all, congratulations on the new role! Why not dive right in and ask, what are your main responsibilities going to be as ESG Manager? Thank you so much. My role will be expanding on what I’ve been currently doing as part of the ESG Committee. Managing the initiatives and the partners that sit alongside these, charities, volunteering days, health, and wellbeing. Basically, all things green! I’m so excited for this new journey in my career and very grateful to have been given this opportunity. What are you going to bring to this new role? My zest for life and trying to make the world a better place!
“Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” Nelson Mandela
What are you looking forward to the most being ESG Manager? Interacting with everyone, not just within Oplo but external partners too. Hopeful we can make a real impact on our environment, communities, and people. What’s been your favourite Oplo Impact initiative we've done so far? Swap Shop. It’s such a wonderful idea from Debbie Waterman and I believe this will be one of our biggest initiatives. It can really make a difference, not only with our people, but the communities surrounding our offices. What should we be expecting from the ESG Team now you’re on board? Any sneak peaks you can give us, we love a teaser! Expanding on our charity and fundraising activities for 2022 with more events being arranged. I want us to smash the £50,000 target and then some!
We all want to say a huge thank you to Holly for keeping all of us Oplo People together over the years, especially during COVID19 and for her dedication to creating In the Loop magazine every month. Good luck in your new role and we can’t wait to see what’s to come!
One man's trash is another man's treasure You’ll all have heard bits and pieces about our brand new Oplo Impact initiative, The Swap Shop! Well, the wait is over as we’ve now set it live on HR Access where you’ll find it under ‘Oplo Impact’, ‘Swap Shop’
Oplo Impact
How does it work? Swap Shop is Oplo’s very own freecycle. You simply collect up your unwanted items, weigh them, photograph them and send the information on an email to facilities@myoplo.co.uk. It’s that easy! You can find listed items on HR Access, simply click here! Items in the Swap Shop will be allocated on a first come first served basis, so if you see something you fancy, get that email in to facilities@myoplo.co.uk asap or you could miss out. You’ll be put in touch with the item’s owner to arrange an out of office swap. The items will be on the Swap Shop for 2 weeks only, after that, if your items aren’t claimed you’ll be directed to a local charity shop to donate them. We want to encourage recycling at Oplo, as they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So, get involved in our journey to become a greener, more sustainable company!
ESG Oplo Impact
November Statistics
! s e v i t a i t i n i ll a ss o acr
Trees purchased Oplo People who have donated to TFL Direct Debits set up with TFL
11,778 17 16
Money raised for charity Volunteering days taken in November
£41,941.99 1
Oplo people signed up to PawPrint Percentage of Oplo People on PawPrint Average employee Pawprint
244 90% 12.504 Co2
Electric vehicles purchased Oplo People Signed up to the Bike2Work Scheme
10 3
The Green Deal Oplo People qualified for The Green Deal Rewards that can be redeemed from The Green Deal
28 33
Give All - payroll giving Oplo People Direct Debits to Giveall Payroll
8
The Swap Shop Items in The Swap Shop Total Weight of Items in The Swap Shop
142 60.68kg
Bounce Back Resilience
What you thought...
We asked our Oplo People what they thought of the Bounce Back Resilliance Workshop at Leighton Hall and this is what you had to say…
Learning the techniques - I would never have thought to do any of these but they do make a difference.
I felt like the things I had been taught have opened pandora's box a little for me, not only can I use tools to help with anxiety and stress, I feel I could probably push on further to become the best version of me possible.
I felt very calm at the end of the session and as though I had really learnt a lot about myself. I feel I came away with a different perspective about how to handle different situations.
I enjoyed that the session was interactive, it's also nice to hear other people’s experiences and how they deal with certain situations. It was also relatable to my child and how I can help him with his feelings.
Leighton Hall is such a good setting for this! Beautiful setting (especially in the snow) with fantastic lunch provided and friendly staff.
Andrea was extremely knowledgeable and professional. She made me feel at ease straight away and I was able to have a really open conversation with her. The location of the training was also fabulous. I also really enjoyed meeting new people in the business.
The mindfulness meditation this is something I have since started at home. I find it really helpful.
If this sounds like the perfect session for you then we have another one on 17th January 2022, you can book on by emailing esg@myoplo.co.uk
Do your bit this Christmas Oplo's Christmas Volunteer Days We've really stepped up our volunteering days this month with a huge number of you taking your volunteer days in December. On Monday the 13th Sheila, Gina, Mon, Fiona and Holly all headed down to Rossall Beach for the monthly Marine Society Beach Clean. The team were shocked to see just how much litter they found. Holly stopped counting at 25 masks and Sheila was so surprised with the number of items she found that she gets in her weekly shop. A huge eye opener for all. If you’d like to get involved you can take part in the next beach clean in January, just email esg@myoplo.co.uk
Mon then carried on his volunteer day and went to meet Kanchana to wrap presents for The Salvation Army in Blackpool. They’d give Santa’s elves a run for their money with those presents!
More of our Oplo People went down to The Salvation Army in Blackpool to volunteer. They sorted Christmas gifts for all age groups across schools, social care, and other referrals, so that everyone has something to open on Christmas Day! This year the Salvation Army have had over 1,800 referrals for gifts, which is amazing! Below is Holly, Andrew, Emily, Jordan and Ebony ready to sort presents. They were just some of our amazing Oplo volunteers who went to help out.
“It was a great feeling giving back and the team at Streetlife were super grateful.”
Streetlife is an organisation that assists vulnerable young people in Blackpool, a lot of whom are homeless.
On Friday 3rd December Katy Heaps, Angela Hodgson and Hannah Bryce from the Personal Loans team headed out to Streetlife in Blackpool. They have recently had huge donations of food from school harvests and various other projects on the run up to Christmas and needed help organising them, putting together food parcels, arranging food in date order, making up Christmas packages and sorting presents. In total Katy, Angela and Hannah helped arrange over 50+ crates of food in the 3 hours that they were there! Following in their teams’ footsteps, on Friday 10th December Jake Quinn, Brad Quinney and Ashley Churcher went back to Streetlife to continue the support! And on Friday 17th Charise Lam, Helen Travis and Liam Hartnett also volunteered there. Thank you so much to all our Oplo Volunteers, we really appreciate all your hard work!
Health and Wellbeing How to banish the winter blues If you don't have the luxury of hibernating in your bed for the next 3 months, there are some simple ways you can lift your mood. Keep active Whilst you’ll probably feel like just curling up on the couch in winter, it’s good to keep as active as you can to combat the winter blues. Regular exercise will keep you positive and feeling like you’re achieving something good for yourself. Exercising also releases your happy hormone serotonin - so not only is it good for your health, but it also makes you feel good too!
Take a break from the news Being indoors more often means an increase in screen time. And if this time is spent consuming a non-stop news cycle, you may feel an increase in the winter blues. To help minimize stress, sadness, and despair from the news, try to limit the amount of time you spend in front of a screen.
Keep in touch Making sure you keep in touch with your friends and family over the winter period, which helps you stay more connected to the world and feel less isolated. If your family live far away or you cannot see people face-to-face due to COVID restrictions, why not use the power of technology via online video chat, so you can see them as well as hear them?
Eat healthily It’s easy to turn to comfort food when you’re not feeling at your best, but make sure that you’re not just mindlessly eating your way through that share bag of crisps. Try and be more conscious about your eating habits in the winter months.
Seek out the sun Getting outside needs to be a priority during the winter months. Being in the sunlight helps balance serotonin activity, increases melatonin production, balances your circadian rhythm (Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions and processes), and increases vitamin D levels, which can lead to an improved emotional state. If you cannot get outdoors, move a chair, workstation, or kitchen table next to a window that gets sunlight. Aim to sit in this location for at least one to two hours a day. If one sitting is not possible, break the time into shorter chunks throughout the daytime hours.
s t n e m e c n u o Ann
Our very own Laura Walters got engaged this month! We all want to say a huge congratulations to her and Luke. Just look at that ring!
s t n e m e c n u o Ann 5 years at Oplo
Danielle Jurdison
Since joining the business in December 2016 Danielle has brought a wealth of experience and commitment to the Car Finance Collections team. Danielle has been involved in some major achievements for the department during her tenure spearheading the UAT testing for BAU and the new financial cloud platform and being our resident subject matter expert for insolvencies. Danielle and her partner Mark have recently celebrated the birth of their first child Lyla and it has been fantastic watching her grow personally and professionally during her time with the business. Congratulations on your 5 years’ service. Shaun Wood Collections Manager
5 years at Oplo Claire White
Claire joined the business back in December 2016 bringing many years of collections experience from the 1st Charge mortgage sector and successfully transferring this experience into Car Finance. Dependable and always up for a challenge, Claire has recently battled some challenging personal times, always remaining upbeat and determined, qualities that are reflected in her professional approach to her role at Oplo. Fantastic to have you back and congratulations on your 5 years’ service with the business. Shaun Wood Collections Manager
! s r e m r o f r e p Top Durham Collections/Car Finance
Danielle Spencer We’d like to nominate Danielle Spencer for employee of the month from Durham. Danielle is on the Consumer Admin Team and is a Consumer Collections Support Officer. Reasons for nomination: Over the last few months, Danielle has stepped up and taken on a lot of extra responsibility such as handling our solicitors, managing our field connect process and also supporting our Collections department on the phones where required. Danielle has played a key role in the training and development of two new staff members, as well as ensuring that they are integrated and supported in the team. Danielle provides quick and effective support to the collections team without any hesitation - no matter how simple or complex the query may be. We couldn’t have managed without the support that Danielle has provided to the whole department.
d e g a n a m e v a “couldn’t h e support without th e has ll e i n a D t a th provided”
Home Loans Collections
Cath O’Toole Reasons for nomination: Cath has been fantastic at managing the Christmas Direct Debit Campaign for Home Loans alongside managing her normal workload. She has a great work ethic and organisational skills with ability to prioritise work effectively. Thank you for all your hard work as always.
Home Loans, Sales
Hannah Winnard Reasons for nomination: Consistently performing with a positive can-do attitude.
Home Loans, Sales
Tyler Eckersley Reasons for nomination: Consistently performing and always happy to help with any task.
Personal Loans
Lending Employee of the Month
Billy Wharton Reasons for nomination: Billy is great on the phone to customers and he cares a lot about the team. He’s always looking for ways to boost morale! For being his team's cheerleader for end of month. Can also see improvement in quality log recently which is great! Keep it going! He has been great this month motivating our team towards our targets and helping set up the incentives. Great job in keeping his team motivated with a countdown to target (which they hit YAY). Kept the team so motivated towards month end and this resulted in us hitting our target for the first time. He is also a hard worker, always willing to help others and genuinely great to work with. He’s really taken to underwriting and showed us all how it was done in November coming top of pay outs for Greg’s team!
PL Collections
Lending Employee of the Month
Bruce Reynolds Reasons for nomination: We just want to thank Bruce for his hard work over the last few months. He has been a massive help in terms of high priority tasks, nothing is ever too much trouble you can throw anything at him and he will do it with a smile on his face. He is a big support to the team and will always go above and beyond. Thank you for all your hardwork.
Behind the scenes
iw th our Oplo People!
You may have seen (or even been involved with) the Marketing Team filming around HQ in October. Well, we’re delighted to share with you our ‘Life at Oplo’ video. This is one of the many videos created from the content we filmed with our talented Oplo stars! The idea is that this video can be used across a variety of business areas, whether that be the Training Team using it in induction. HR sharing it for recruitment purposes both internally and externally. Or our Operations Teams showing it to old and new partners. If you watch this video and think you’d love to use it in your role, then please email marketing@myoplo.co.uk Now grab a brew, sit back and enjoy!
YourExtra Mile Understanding At Oplo we take time to get to know you and understand your situation. We look for the possibilities, not the problems. Want to thank someone for showing a unique level of understanding or compassion?
Fair We believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to better themselves. We’re always open minded and even handed with our customers and with one another. Has your colleague gone above and beyond to help you better yourself by being open minded and accepting?
Enabling We give hard working people the tools to help themselves. We’re always helpful and practical in our approach. Has a team member supported you in powering your potential, enabling you to achieve a goal?
Enterprising We’re entrepreneurial and authentic. We genuinely believe that when you fulfil your potential everyone succeeds. Why not congratulate one of your colleagues on showing great initiative within the team or towards a customer!
“Carla, thank you for all the hard work, support and understanding behind the scenes. You truly have the patience of a saint. You are very much appreciated and valued.” Debbie Waterman
“Understanding” “I would like to vote for Jake Quinn. Recently he has helped me understand policies and procedures within the company. Whilst doing this he has also reached out on a personal level to ensure moral is high or lifted in the team.” Billy Wharton
“Ian Ashton, for his tireless dedication to getting Jira right, and for all the extra effort he's put in after hours making things run smoothly.” Richard Asbridge
“Enterprising” “Shannon Kenny-Cooper - She has great determination to finish the applications that come through to her and goes the extra mile for her customers. I know it’s not always easy, but she is doing so well every month. Also, she always has such helpful attitude towards work as a whole and deserves to be recognised for the work she does.” Liam Hartnett
“Billy Wharton. He is always looking for ways to keep himself and his colleagues motivated during busy periods and has been instrumental in setting up incentives within his team. A great asset to his team. Well done Billy!” Jake Quinn
Your Extra Mile
“Richard Sharp, for his support and understanding with the development of chat bots, marketing emails, and site analytics. His pragmatism and openness to change are greatly appreciated.” Richard Asbridge
“I would like to recognise Louise Elms for her identification of new opportunities with our third party suppliers involving recovery of lost assets. Louise has been at the forefront of discussions with our recovery agents identifying options for asset we are unable to locate, formulating costing and a proposal which has been met with interest from the senior management team. This demonstrates forward thinking and the continued development of the resale and remarketing element of Car Finance Collections. Louise has also progressed strongly with the development of new reporting for resale and remarketing and is currently working to develop and release this on Power BI, a massive achievement considering this has been stagnant for a while now. Fantastic to see the ownership of your process Louise, keep up the great work.” Shaun Wood
“All the Tech and Change people who worked on the Avant loan book migration. Everyone went over and above to make sure the migration was delivered over the weekend to reduce the impact on the business and make sure the Servicing Team could start contacting customers as quickly as possible.” Sarah Wiggin
“Enabling” “I would like to nominate my colleague Dawn Pallin, Early collections, Car finance. Since joining Oplo in September Dawn has become my mentor. Even with her own daily tasks to carry out, Dawn is always there to give me guidance and support no matter what. She delivers training material in a way that suits the individual and always goes the extra mile to make sure new colleagues are comfortable in their role. Dawn is very positive around the department helping create a great working environment. She has a very healthy perspective on what is truly important which is inspiring to everyone.” Nicci Maxwell “Louise Elms - Louise has supported me throughout my transition to Recoveries Team Leader, guiding me through any new processes and teaching me the most effective ways of completing tasks. During December Louise has picked up some of my workload whilst I’ve been completing the Christmas DD tasks - without her doing this I would have fallen behind on a lot of this and couldn’t have managed without her support. Louise is also seconded into a new role at the moment, so has really gone above and beyond to support me whilst also learning her new role.” Chloe Smail
Your Extra Mile
“I would like to recognise Chloe Smail and Vanessa Stell for their contributions to the Christmas Direct Debit process. Both Chloe and Vanessa have undertaken the massive project of overseeing the smooth process of bringing forward over two thousand agreements within Car Finance and responding to all customers opting out from wanting an alternative date for payment. This involved additional MI production, Webio and email responses and daily meetings on top of their already busy workloads. The process has been completed flawlessly with support offered to other business areas to share best practise. Without their support this would not have been possible so it is a massive thank you from the management team. Amazing job guys, really well done.” Shaun Wood
“I would like to thank Christine Duggan, Sara Evans, Michelle Mills, Debbie Fitzgerald, Katy Heaps, Jake Quinn, Angela Hodgson, Steve Catterall, Salma Ahmed, Chris Ryan, Shaun Wood and Adrian Watkin for allowing the newer members of the QA and Complaints Teams to spend time with their teams. Thanks also to the team members who have sat with the team to date. This is really supportive in driving a greater understanding of what the operational teams do on a day-to-day basis which should further support more robust QA feedback and complaint handling. Thanks all.” Rick Keeble
“Fair” “We’d like to thank Caroline Bradshaw for her speedy, thorough and insightful feedback to our Social Media posts. She is always happy to work with us to achieve a fair outcome that we can all be happy with.” Marketing Team
Merry Christmas
everyone!