July In the Loop

lo p in the

July 2021

Oplo People Magazine

Happy Birthday to...

Us! Page 4

Page 13

Geoff Clark reviews his shiny new EV!

Page 6

An interview with Dylon Grassie

Internal Promotions

Congratulations!

We are thrilled to announce the internal promotion of Anthony Corbett to Operational Risk and Compliance Officer for the Consumer Lending Division.

Anthony joined the Personal Loans Lending Team in 2017 as an Underwriter and has established himself as a well-rounded and knowledgeable member of the team. He has been a consistent top performer for a number of years and is ready to take the next step in his Oplo career.

We are thrilled to announce the internal promotion of Tanya Rowbotham to Approvals Underwriter for the Consumer Lending Division.

Tanya joined the Personal Loans Lending Team in 2018 as a Completions Assistant and quickly cemented herself as one of the top performers within the department. Tanya has continued to set high standards and break records over the past few years, and is now ready to take the next step in her Oplo career.

Please join us in congratulating them in their new roles!

New starters

Welcome!

to the new starters who have joined in July!

Nathaniel Gardner Junior Consumer Lending Analyst Dylon Grassie Junior Collections Analyst May Showumi Senior Developer Molly Walsh Administrator Georgina Coulborn Administrator Kristen Fielding Completions Assistant Laura Taylor Customer Relationship Manager Chris Mitchell FP&A Accountant Richard Asbridge Head of Engineering

g! n i r i h We’re

e any k i l d l u es wo If you n on the rol atio ail inform le please em availab uitment@ recr .co.uk o l p o y m

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It's Oplo's

1

e v e i l e b u o y n ! a y C d a e r l a 1 e r ' e w On August 3rd it’ll have been a whole year since we rebranded as Oplo, and what a year it’s been…

Here is a little recap of some of our best bits as Oplo: Brand Values

New starter packs

With your help, we chose four key values that underpin everything we stand for at Oplo and have been embedding them into our daily working life. These values are, understanding, fair, enabling and enterprising.

You’ll all have received a fabulous pack (whether you’re a long-standing Oplo person or fresh to the business). We hope that getting these Oplo branded goodies have really helped you get a flavour of the new brand.

Customer Account Management Area

Social media posts

We’re now giving our customers access to their account details online. Within this platform, they can access to some great added value tools to help them improve their financial wellbeing as part of our aim to power our customers’ potential.

We’ve ramped up our social media presence since becoming Oplo. And you’ll have noticed that all our posts have a consistent Oplo theme, as we want to build brand recognition.

Brand imagery

Look out for some treats around

You’ll have noticed in many of our communications, such as Loop magazine, we’ve been incorporating more imagery of real people, people we believe represent Oplo. You may also have noticed our glass plaques on the

birthday, and thank you to all our Oplo people for making this unexpected year a great one.

An interview with

Billy Wharton Underwriter

...and very own treasure hunter

How long have you been a budding detectorist?

I’ve been detecting for around a year and a half.

What made you want to start this hobby?

I always had a passion for making something from nothing, after many failed attempts at different ideas I came across metal detecting.

The thought of not knowing what you could find, and where you could find it, even better who dropped it! This fascinates me and makes me wonder what life was like in the past, from tracing the same footsteps of war heroes to walking in the footsteps of medieval kings and queens.

What’s the best thing you’ve managed to find?

To be fair not a lot, with most of the UK covered by the Crown (The Queen’s Land) it’s very difficult to detect on fresh ground. The things I have found are the usual, bottle caps and ring pulls. If I’m feeling a little low on money, I’ll go under the piers and get the 2p’s dropped by the tourists through the wooden gaps. Ultimately the best thing I have found is a King George VI copper farthing dating back to around 1836.

Are there certain areas/places you focus on?

Beaches are the best places to go and detect, however, with permission, roaming farmers fields and historical grounds can be amazing.

What would be the ultimate number one item you’d love to find?

My ultimate find… tricky one. Of course, everyone would like to find the big treasure and become rich, but for me I think I would like to find something from Henry VIII era.

Did you manage to find anything at Head Office?

The potential for finds close by are huge given the history of Blackpool Airport. It’s safe to say that head office is located in a pretty well-built area so there isn’t much land to cover, but on the bright side, Barry our handyman has been reunited with the screws he lost when we first moved into this office!

Hopefully I will be in attendance at the Big Oplo Beach Clean (once it’s rearranged), following you all and making sure you haven’t missed any bottle tops or empty beer cans!

An interview with

Dylon Grassie Junior Collections Analyst

Tell us a little bit about your background and where you have come from?

I’m from Blackpool and have just graduated from Lancaster University with a Masters in Mathematics & Statistics.

Three words to best describe you?

Football obsessed and sarcastic.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Professional FIFA player.

If you could travel to one destination right now, where would it be?

Mexico, or anywhere sunny really.

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

Teleportation to save time travelling.

Ready to make an Impact Everything you need to know about our environmental initiative

How you can get involved with

Contact ESG@myoplo.co.uk with any questions you may have!

£14

per person* Family Days | Woodland Discovery Date: Monday 9th August 2021 Location: Leighton Hall Purpose of the Day: A fun filled day for all the family to encourage family wellbeing, re-connection and positive relationships within the family unit.

Building trust, communication and new skills to help build self-esteem and good positive mental health for all ages. As well as explore the woodlands and learning from nature.

Number of Attendees per day: Up to 32 attendees.

Numbers have been calculated on a family unit of 4 i.e. 2 adults and 2 children = 8 families in total.

Number of Practitioners: 2 Larksfoot CIC Practitioners. Up to 10% of the cost of the day will go to the Larksfoot CIC to support their activities to bring children from deprived areas in Morecambe and Lancaster to Leighton Hall.

Kit List (Sunny Day): Sturdy Outdoors Shoes – not trainers (walking boot if possible), sun cream and a hat, sensible outdoor clothing, packed lunch and a re-useable water bottle. Waterproof outer clothing ... Just in case.

Kit List (Wet Day): Sturdy Outdoors Shoes – not trainers (walking boot if possible), sensible outdoor clothing, waterproof trousers and jacket, packed lunch and a re-useable water bottle.

BOOK NOW

Activities such as: • Fire lighting and cooking on the fire pit • Den building • Woodland games • Woodland craft • Family challenge (team building) • Fun on hammocks, swings and slackline Materials for activities: All provided by Leighton Hall

Itinerary: 10.00am: Arrive at Leighton Hall, Introductions by the practitioners 10.30am: Toilet stop and walk to site in the woods 10.45am - 12 noon: Morning activity 12 noon - 1pm: Picnic lunch around the fire pit 1pm - 3.30pm: Afternoon activity + hot chocolate & marshmallows 3.30pm: Walk down from site and toilet stop 4pm: Goodbyes and departure

*Please note, this activity is to be paid for by Oplo People and their families at a cost of £14.10pp. We require at least 8 people to attend on the day, if this is not reached the date will be postponed.

Oplo People Team Building Day

Activities such as: • Walk & Talk

Living Landscapes

• Introduction to limestone pavements

Date: Monday 13th September 2021

• Identification of limestone grassland flora and fauna

Location: Leighton Hall and Warton Crag Nature Reserve and Conservation Site Purpose of the Day: For Oplo staff to step away from the stresses of working life and explore Living Landscapes around us and their importance. Looking at the role of landscapes and the impact on the environment and communities. Taking in the special local geological features and their benefits to plants and wildlife. To learn what actions we can take to support these environments.

Walk & Talk experience: Reasonable level of fitness required. The ground on the Crag can be steep and slippery in some areas.

Number of Attendees per day: Up to 30 attendees.

Number of Practitioners: 2 Larksfoot CIC Practitioners. Up to 10% of the cost of the day will go to the Larksfoot CIC to support their activities to bring children from deprived areas in Morecambe and Lancaster to Leighton Hall.

Kit List (Sunny Day): Sturdy Outdoors Shoes – not trainers (walking boot if possible), sun cream and a hat, sensible outdoor clothing, packed lunch and a re-useable water bottle. Waterproofs ... just in case!

Kit List (Wet Day): Sturdy Outdoors Shoes – not trainers (walking boot if possible), sensible outdoor clothing, waterproof trousers and jacket, packed lunch and a re-useable water bottle.

• Collection and identification of late pollinators (weather permitting) • Explore habitat management techniques and purposes • Understand conservation grazing for environmental sustainability • Enjoy the fabulous views over Morecambe Bay Materials for activities: All provided by Leighton Hall i.e. Tarp, Kerry Kettle and Cups

Itinerary: 10.00am: Arrive at Leighton Hall, Introductions by the practitioners 10.30am: Toilet stop and start the walk up to the top of Warton Crag 10.45am - 12:30pm: Discoveries along the walk 12:30pm - 1:30pm: Picnic lunch after setting up minicamp with the trap if wet weather 1pm - 3pm: Walk back to Leighton Hall, with afternoon activities along the way 3pm: Reflect on the day at the log circle and fire pit - enjoy a hot drink and melted marshmallow/caramel apple!

4pm: Goodbyes and departure

BOOK NOW What does the day cost?

This day can be paid for by Oplo using your quarterly allowance with your team.

Cost per day: - £450, price per head on full capacity = £15.00 per head.

! n i e r a s t The resul You may remember filling out a survey after the Oplo Impact conference last month.

Well, here are the results and it’s great to see how many of our staff are already involved or interested in Oplo Impact.

Oplo Impact Conference Survey Results

44%

Oplo people are using renewable energy at home

97%

Attended the recent Oplo Impact Conference

79%

Are interested in our ‘Green Deal’

99%

Found it helpful in understanding why this subject is important to us, our partners & our people

We are thinking about creating a company podcast; featuring interviews with our partners, company updates with the Directors, new ESG initiatives and so on. Would you be interested in listening?

85%

Are interested in volunteering days

What type of vehicles do our Oplo people drive?

50% Petrol 34% Diesel 10% Don’t Drive 4% Hybrid

82

24

2% Electric

We've also answered some of your

questions

from the survey...

What are our stances on something as simple as clear recycling, as a home worker I’m not aware of this? recycling facilities!

It would be great if you could create an intranet page explaining green initiatives and providing information on products/local veg/fruit box schemes.

Fab idea, we can certainly look to create this once we build out our information. We also have our closed Oplo People Facebook group where others have shared tips on how they’re being more sustainable!

Teach people how to recycle, what can go in, what can't, how to deconstruct your rubbish to recycle.

This will come through our partner, Inspired Energy who have animation videos regarding recycling.

More efficient way of heating the office in winter.

Inspired Energy will be letting us know how to set our air cons to create the correct temperature flow.

Oplo reusable coffee cups like the water cups, a lot of us love a Starbucks!

Watch this space…

Alternative cleaning products and soaps All have been changed across all sites to more eco friendly and refillable products.

Reusable containers rather than plastic ones for milk, soap, cleaning products etc.

Changed our plastic milk cartons to glass bottles and can certainly look to change to soap dispensers to cut down on the plastic usage.

I believe that there will be greatest buy in if there was a financial reward tailored to the individual and what green incentives, they can make a difference of, if you take green energy, you get £100.00 per year, if you plant trees, you get £100.00 per year.

The plans are in the final stages and will be brought back to our ESG Committee in August ready to launch to you all – THE GREEN DEAL! Clothes recycling or a swap shop to reduce waste.

This is coming soon as mentioned in previous In the Loops, we just need to arrange certain contingencies then we are good to go for all sites.

of Oplo People Signed up

Look who’s charging ahead with his

Impact

Geoff Clark, Finance Manager, gives us the lowdown on his new electric car.

What was your main reason for getting an electric car?

The reason before I had one was (doing a tiny bit towards) saving the planet, now I have one I’ll double it up with “they’re better”.

Which make and model did you go for?

Kia E-Niro What do you like the most about it, compared to your previous car?

Aside from knowing that I’m not churning out fumes, convenience would be the top thing. I get home and plug it in then it’s ready again when I next want it. I have a scheduled charge to be ready by the next morning, or I just go on my phone and tell it to charge sooner if I want. Going to the petrol station every week was such a faff!

Is it easy to charge and does it take long?

Absolutely it’s easy, see my answer to question 3. In terms of how long depends on what charger you plug it into (and how much charge you need of course). A normally daily commute will probably only use 10% of the battery so you could charge for a few minutes every day or just do it once a week.

On a fast charger (at a motorway services or the supermarket for example) you can get 80% in something like 20 minutes. On a home charge point that’s about 6 hours, so it easily sorts itself overnight.

A “normal” socket would be around 20 hours empty to full.

Is it fast?

It’s just as fast as a fossil fuel car, but has much better acceleration. Don’t drag race against an EV if you have a petrol car, you’ll lose.

A close second would be running cost, electricity is a LOT cheaper than petrol or diesel. It’s also quiet and a lot of fun to drive.

What’s the average milage you get before having to recharge?

It depends of course, as with a fossil fuel car it’s less efficient on the motorway for example. On paper it can do 286 miles, I went to Blackpool and back the other day (240 miles mostly motorway) and had 40 left in the battery afterwards – so not bad in my book.

Would you ever go back to diesel or petrol?

Absolutely not, they’re a thing of the past.

nI troducing

The OP10 Bus!

Here at Oplo, we believe in powering people’s potential and that includes their potential to learn and to help others and the planet.

We are looking to invest in a bus to provide a service to our community in engaging and exciting ways, to have a further impact on people’s lives, as well as the planet.

We hope to run multiple programmes on the bus ranging from financial education visits to schools to connecting with charities close to our hearts.

The vehicle will be low emissions and will be decked out in true Oplo style, with a large TV, black seats, WiFi and light-wood effects.

A dedicated driver and Educational Facilitator onboard will travel locally to our potential partnerships, formed with schools, charities and local businesses, with the aim to educate people more about finance and the planet, whist also giving back to local communities.

Impact

Watch this space

what’s to come soon!

Leighton Hall - We now have our dates and information on all the amazing activities you can sign up for. See Oplo Impact pages for more information.

Cycle To Work Scheme - now approved! This is a government supported process that allows companies and individuals to benefit from the use of cycling/e-cycling to and from work.

The employee chooses the bike but the purchase of the bike is done by the employer.

The employee pays for their chosen bike through monthly payroll deductions that are exempt from the tax and VAT that they would pay if they bought it privately. The employer also receives Tax/NI benefits. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates to follow next month.

Charity/Volunteering - We are liaising with the charities, The Christie, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and The BoatHouse Youth, along with our chosen Charity Champions in Oplo to arrange a schedule of various fundraising activities and volunteering opportunities such as ‘Cheering Point’ Volunteers for many of the runs that The Christie have organised. Coming soon…

Bounce Back - Resilience - We’ve engaged with Andrea Lloyd, Psychologist of 22 years (BSc Psychology, P.G.C.E, MSc Educational Psychology).

The aim is to help, develop and sustain resilience and keep people going through tough times, and to give you the tools to bounce back from adversity despite challenging times.

The HR and Training Department attended the first taster session on Thursday 15th July for Bounce Back Resilience. The feedback was fantastic and hopefully we can roll these our to our people very soon!

Roadshows - We’ll be back in your team meetings, giving you an update of all the great things that are coming or have happened behind the scenes of Oplo Impact. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the meetings.

Health and Wellbeing FREE 2 week meditation program From 23rd July - 5th Aug, every work day at 8:30am Join host Preya Gopie (NHS wellbeing facilitator) and fellow remote workers on Zoom.

Streaming live from Colindale, London.

Learn how to: • Breathe, relax & de-stress more effectively, • Get better mental clarity & focus before starting your day at work • Create a new habit for better mental wellbeing

Book your tickets here

Health and Saftey Last month, Denmark’s Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during the Euro 2020 game against Finland, having suffered a cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped beating and, according to the Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen, he “was gone”.

With around 30,000 people each year suffering a sudden cardiac arrest it is imperative that bystanders know how to respond.

Cardiac arrests are often fatal, with The British Heart Foundation’s figures revealing that only one in ten victims survive. However, the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest jumps from 6% to 74% if the casualty is in a shockable rhythm and a defibrillator is deployed within 3 minutes, so it is important you know how to use one.

You don't need to be trained to use a defibrillator anyone can use it. They are simple and easy to use and you don't need any training. There are clear instructions on how to attach the defibrillator pads. It then assesses the heart rhythm and will only instruct you to deliver a shock if it's needed.

Call 999 Start CPR Ask someone to bring a defibrillator if there's one nearby (if no one is available to get one, listen to the emergency operator for further instructions) Turn on the defibrillator and follow its instructions

Defibrillators closest to our offices are: Hibberd Distribution Ltd. Address: Hibberd Distribution Ltd, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool, FY4 2RP Lat: 53.776884 Long: -3.025834 AED Position: 1st Floor Access Availability of AED: Limited Access Limited Access Times: Monday to Friday 9am - 4:30pm Type of AED at location: Defibtech Model: DDU-E2300EN Local Ambulance Service: North West Ambulance Service (NWAS)

Tony Wilson Place Address: 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, M15 4FN Lat: 53.473654 Long: -2.24671 Access Availability of AED: Limited Access Limited Access Times: 5:30am - 11pm Type of AED at location: HeartSine Model: SAM 360P Local Ambulance Service: North West Ambulance Service (NWAS)

Ouston Community Centre

First Aiders: Scott Lawson Lucy Aitken-Warburton Beth Crumpton

Address: Ousten Community Centre, Iris Crescent, Ousten, DH2 1RJ Lat: 54.884974 Long: -1.598715 AED Position: DH2 1RJ Access Availability of AED: 24/7 Unrestricted Type of AED at location: HeartSine Model: DFS1K442LLE Local Ambulance Service: North East Ambulance Service (NEAS)

Fire Marshals: Lucy Aitken-Warburton Beth Crumpton Jake Quinn Adam Marshall Dean Perkins

Care in the Community At Oplo we don’t want to let anything go to waste.

We noticed that we had loads of out of date first aid bandages in the first aid kits around HQ. We didn’t want to throw these away, so had the brilliant idea to send them to the Blackpool Pet Hospital (PDSA) who were very happy to receive them!

! o l p O m a e t o G

Facilities‚ ll your oflice nfids! here for a Thank you to our wonderful resident handy man, Barry, and our Facilities Assistant Lucy (posing here with Shaun).

The team popped up to the Durham office earlier in the month and incorporated some changes including our brand values glass posters and a range of plants to brighten up the office.

Remember, following last month’s update, please feel free to email facilities@myoplo.co.uk for any requirements you may have across all offices!

Random Acts of

ss e n Kind

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!

“Understanding” “The Service Desk team for their continued ability to react to the demands of mobilising staff between their home and the office. Re-prioritising and working out of hours in order to meet requests.”

“Anthony Mould, for his positive approach to learning all of our systems and processes. Anthony was only in training for 3 weeks before he started on the phones and his calls have been fantastic considering his tenure with the business.”

Chloe Smail

Sarah Wiggin

“I would like to nominate Dylan Jones and Luke Curbishley for going above and beyond always willing to help and support and give guidance, even when they are really busy, nothing is too much trouble. Really appreciate it.”

Debbi Dullenty

“Fair” “The whole Tech & Change Team have been outstanding.”

Sarah Wiggin & Mark Akerman

“Chloe Smail. Chloe has helped me a lot since I recently took on the role of leading the new Financial Cloud admin team. Chloe is always there to support me and show me how to do new things that I have never done before.

Nothing is ever too much hassle and she always answers any questions I have.

Vanessa Stell

“I would like to nominate the Homeloans Collections Team! It has been an exciting time with the implementation of the Financial Cloud platform, however, also challenging with the department not being at full capacity. The team have dealt with this exceptionally well and continuously work hard and go above and beyond to achieve business objectives.

Their efforts are reflective in the results produced for the department. Thank you for all your hard work.”

Salma Ahmed

“Caroline Bradshaw for supporting me and the team. She has done a fantastic job balancing isolating kids, training and supporting the team including new starters, whilst managing increasing workloads!

Well done and thank you.”

Lisa Holder

Your Extra Mile

“Enabling” “Ebony Scotland for going above and beyond and totally getting stuck into the new system - which had a few niggles for us to begin with and caused some headaches for Ebony. We got there in the end thank you for your patience and hard work, always willing to go that extra mile and enabling her team.”

Debbi Dullenty “The project teams working on Financial Cloud and Car Finance, for the massive effort that has gone into seeing these projects through to fruition.”

Sarah Wiggin

“Danielle Spencer - Danielle has recently moved to the Financial Cloud Admin team on a temporary basis and she has excelled. Nothing is too much to ask of Danielle and she is always looking for ways she can help others, both within HP and PL.” Chloe Smail

“John Brown and Anita Haley - For all of their time and effort supporting our newest members of staff Anthony Mould and Laura Taylor. John and Anita have worked additional hours to ensure they are completing all of their standard work, as well as taking time to train and support our new starters.”

Chloe Smail

“Can I also recognise Steve Green; We had some quite significant issues with our Credit File submissions in early June and Steve was always on hand to support in terms of what had created the issues, promptly resolving the issues and also being clear as to what changes had been made to prevent recurrence of the issues in the future. This enabled us to minimise the impact to our customers. Thanks Steve, your support was much appreciated.”

Rick Keeble

Your Extra Mile

“Enterprising” “Thank you to the Training team, Nicolette, Mon and Kanchana, for their work in recent months to design, create and provide a whole new range of training and development programmes for all colleagues in Oplo and looking at the feedback scores for each event. It’s clear all delegates attending such programmes are getting real benefit from them! Thank you!”

“The Systems Team for their tenacity and dedication to getting Sentinel 4.6 deployed despite the number of hurdles in front of them” Sarah Wiggin

“Emily Taylor for stepping up over this last month to cover holidays and giving guidance to others even on the days she doesn’t work. Superstar, appreciate all your hard work.”

Steve McNicholas

“I would like to nominate Luke Holt.

Thank you for being a point of contact for the Ops teams to assist with any Financial Cloud queries.

You take time to explain functionalities within the platform to ensure that the team are utilising the system as expected and are always quick to respond to any issues/questions raised. This has been very useful for the Homeloans team and your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you!”

Salma Ahmed

Debbi Dullenty

“Danielle Culley for working really hard over the last 12 months to complete and successfully pass her Compliance apprenticeship, whilst being our TriLine expert! Well done, really deserved.”

Lisa Holder

“This month I’d like to recognise both the QA and Complaints Teams as they have been enterprising with how they have dealt with significant recent change; the QA Team for the move to the Journeys model and their ongoing work with speech analytics; and the Complaints Team for re-establishing our standards following quite a few personnel changes year to date. Both teams feel in a stronger place than we were in Q1 and I believe this is due to them continuing to buy into the standards we are trying to achieve and maintain. Good work all!”

Rick Keeble

Your Extra Mile