Our Values
ENTERPRISING
We’re entrepreneurial, creative and authentic.
TOGETHER
We believe in one shared vision and that we’re all vital cogs in the wheel. When we rise together, everyone succeeds.
A Message From CEO Alex Mollart Alex
Hello,
As we approach the end of Q2, we’re halfway through the year and continue to grow in the right direction as we build the UK’s greener digital bank.
Award winners
May saw Tandem recognised in the Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work top 100 list for the Big Companies category. Based on your incredible feedback, this recognition is testament to the dedication from you all as we strive to put the wellbeing, growth and happiness of our employees first. This accreditation is one of our North Stars for 2025, so we have exceeded my expectations and I’m excited to see what we can achieve for our people, together, next year.
And once again a huge congratulations to Dave Briggs and everyone in the Motor Finance Team who have yet again scooped more awards recently at the Credit Strategy Car Finance Awards and the Leadership Awards. The awards are well deserved and it’s great to get the recognition of the work that Tandem do in the industry.
Annual report and accounts
Congratulations to the Finance, Comms and Marketing teams for all their hard work and dedication in publishing our Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) for 2023. The
report highlighted some very pleasing results (opposite) and we saw some fantastic press coverage following our press release and media dinner with key industry journalists - all positive and focused around a simple, yet positive message - our strategy is working! You can find the full report on the our Tandem website
Tandem in the community
It’s so pleasing to see how so many of you are making a difference to amazing charities close to your hearts, with all the volunteering and fundraising being undertaken in your own time or as part of your two volunteering days. It really is a testament to the BEST values that we hold at Tandem.
Also, it was great to see all at #TeamTandem getting involved and celebrating Pride around the offices and virtually on Tandem Hub over the past month and I can’t wait to see the new artwork up around the offices when I visit next! Don’t forget to take a look at Tandem Hub’s new LGBTQ+ page on Tandem Hub – with so much great learning material and resources to help educate and grow our awareness and allyship on the importance of diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
Once again, thank you to everyone for getting involved and playing your part in building our bank and community.
Annual Report and Accounts
Congratulations
Tandem Motor Finance
A massive congratulations to Tandem Motor Finance for scooping up all three awards they were short listed in Manchester at the Credit Strategy Car Finance Awards!
Winners!
Company Award for Sustainability
Best Independent Lender (Bank Owned) Business Leader of the Year - Dave Briggs
And as if that wasn’t enough for Dave Briggs, he only went and won ‘Business Leader of the YearCar Finance Lender’ at the Leadership Awards.
A big well done to the Motor Finance Team and everyone at Tandem who support them - without you, these would not be possible!
New to
We’re continually working hard on our Tandem Hub to help improve our communications with you on all that’s going on around the bank! Here’s what’s new this month...
LGBTQ+ page
As part of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work within the People Council, we’ve created an LGBTQ+ resource page on Tandem Hub launched in June for Pride month. You can read more about this on the next page in our Pride Month round-up.
The page contains a host of blogs, e-learning, resources, podcasts, glossary, shared stories from our colleagues and much more! We’d love to hear from you if there’s anything you’d like to see included on the page.
Working Parents Portal
We’ve created a Working Parents Portal now on Tandem Hub. This page contains useful information for all working parents with tips and information on work/home life balance, kids and healthy eating, online safety, activities to do with kids… and more.
Have a look and keep checking in as we update it with more information and blogs over the coming months.
on
that took place 13 to 17 May. You can still catch
Tandem Hub
Tandem Hub
As part of our People Council ED&I workstream, last month we celebrated Pride month in recognition and celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
As we’ve come to the end of Pride month, we hope you enjoyed the various activities and events that were held around the offices and online.
Remember that you can catch up on everything that went on, on Tandem Hub as the Pride page will continue to serve as an LGBTQ+ resource and information page on Tandem Hub, regularly updated with information, educational pieces and support for all.
• Re-watch our lunch and learn with Adam Jarvis as he takes us through how he created an award winning LGBTQ+ network at Tesco.
• Take a look at our e-learning – Power
ROUND UP
And congratulations to Phil Henderson who won our virtual quiz, brilliantly hosted by Andrew Rios-Hall – which helped us raise £50 towards the LGBTQ Foundation.
If anyone has any items, stories, information or anything to share on our new LGBTQ+ resource page, please contact Internal Comms and we’ll be more than happy to include it.
Days
100% felt less stressed and recharged after visiting Quaint farm.
Favourite parts of the day were meeting horses, playing with the dogs and the clay pigeons shooting.
100% would recommend Quaint Farm to colleagues and co-workers based on their experiences.
“After a wonderful day of just being in the moment and not having to think or worry about things going on at work or in your personal life, I felt happy, calm, and refreshed. The team at the farm are fantastic and is really shown by how the animals are with you. The farm is beautiful, the animals are loving, and the team at the farm along with the people I met on the day were great! I cannot wait to go back and for other people to be able to experience what the farm offers.”
To take part on one of our wellbeing days at Quaint Farm, book yourself or you team on via the Volunteering Calendar on Tandem Hub.
“I absolutely loved the day. It was so nice to take a break from everyday routine and do something different. I felt so recharged and energised afterwards - I hadn't laughed that much in a long time.”
“Relaxed and refreshed...with a new hobby to pursue as well after hitting all five targets in my first attempt at clay pigeon shooting!”
Green home improvement lending £857m Green assets 72.1% Customers making greener choices 286,061 CO2 saved 69,073 tonnes
Personal story by Rob de Tullio, Technical Archtitect, London
“Total solar eclipses and how a walnut wrecked my trip to see the April eclipse in the US”
In parallel with this, I had noticed towards the end of January that my weight had dropped about 3Kg (7lbs) without me trying which I at first thought might be due to the nagging back pain and so decided to keep an eye on it, having read that it could be a sign of something more serious.
Being in the path of a total eclipse of the sun is awesome. I have seen two.
The first was in Hungary on 11th August 1999. We travelled to Lake Balaton and managed to find a nearby bridge that was right in the middle of the shadow. We were joined by about 20 locals and had glorious views.
The second was in the United States on 21st August 2017. Near the small city of Fulton, Missouri. Again, we had a magnificent view.
So, this year the plan was to travel to Texas for the eclipse on the 8th April to experience an even longer totality, but this all fell apart due to a walnut sized problem. Let me explain…
Rewind to November 2023
I like to keep fit by walking and running. At the end of November, I did a 16km (10 mile) training run in just over 90 minutes, felt fit and healthy just a bit out of practice. In early December, my lower back developed an ache. This didn’t cause me too much concern as I had a history of a trapped nerve, so I expected this would clear up within a few weeks - but it did not.
By the end of December, the ache tuned into severe pain and for a week I was taking painkillers to cope. In early February I contacted my health insurance who put me in touch with a physiotherapist and identified that the muscles in my back had gone into spasm and locked up.
By mid-February, I had received the first physiotherapy session and my back felt no better, I was back on the painkillers and my weight was still dropping, so the GP referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon to investigate my back.
The insurers offered treatment at the London Clinic and I had my initial consultation within 3 weeks - blood tests and an MRI scan of my lower back and pelvis. On my way to the follow-up consultation, I was contacted to arrange an urgent CT scan. At that point I now knew –my back problem and weight loss were symptoms of the same thing – cancer!
The MRI scan showed the back pain was due to metastatic (secondary) tumours in my lower spine. The tumours had caused 2 of the vertebrae to weaken and fracture. There were also other tumours visible in my hips. My PSA (prostate specific antigen) count which is meant to be between 0 and 4 and was over 1700.
A week later the clinical oncologist confirmed that I had stage 4 prostate cancer with secondary tumours present on lymph nodes and in bones. I had a least one fractured and part destroyed rib and the damaged vertebrae.
At this point I was relieved to have a real diagnosis. I had realised quite early on that cancer was an option so that did not come as a surprise. The treatment would start soon and it would provide relief from the overall malaise caused by the excessive PSA - within 3 days treatment started.
Below: Eclipse viewed fom Lake Balaton, Hungary (1999)
What’s the treatment?
The treatment is a triplet therapy with potentially some radiotherapy. The triplet therapy uses three different drugs to really hit the cancer hard as this has been shown to give the best long-term outcomes. The last stage of this therapy is chemotherapy which has the most severe side-effects. I am now in the middle of the triplet therapy. The treatment has already improved my quality of life. I now feel well, my weight is back up to 70Kgs (11St) and my PSA score is now down into the 30s. I have no pain and feel like I could start running again but I need to wait for the vertebrae to heal.
What about the walnut and the eclipse?
The walnut? That is the size of the normal prostate. A small gland that sits under the male bladder and can be described as a two-way valve.
The eclipse? The trip to America was never booked and we missed the eclipse – now the target is 12th August 2026 in Spain and there is also an eclipse with long totality a year later in North Africa.
The future
At the London Clinic I have a fantastic team of consultants, doctors and nurses. The messages of, offers of and actual support I am receiving from my family, colleagues, Tandem is immense and highly appreciated. This has allowed me to focus on and continue doing my job and working with my awesome team by removing the anxiety that this condition could have caused.
I am keeping a positive attitude of mind to the
situation. I will not let the cancer define me or my approach to the rest of my life. Wilko Johnson, a guitar hero of mine from the 1970 version of Dr Feelgood said that after been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 10 months to live: “And when I walked home - it was January, a beautiful winter's day - I remember looking up at the trees against the sky and feeling this rush - I'm alive. It was so intense! Walking along in a reverie - I can't remember such joy in existing since my time of youth.” - I can now empathise with that. I hope to keep writing these little pieces to tell you how things are going. We will see how I react to the chemotherapy and beyond. I have already changed my hairstyle in readiness!
What I’ve learned?
I was symptom free until my aggressive cancer was at an advanced state making early detection almost impossible. This can be true for other cancers but there are many cancers where early detection is possible and a cure is achievable. My diagnosis was delayed as the initial symptom matched a previous condition. 1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in our lifetimes so talk to your GP if you have unexpected weight loss, constant pain, fatigue changes/blood/strange odours in urine or faeces. Go for screening when invited and do not delay itputting it off will not cure anything.
Please feel free to reach out if you would like to find out anything about me/my treatment/my journey or just to talk more about this.
We would like to say a big thank you to Rob for sharing his story with us. We all wish Rob the very best with his treatment and his positive attitude is an inspiration. You can read Rob’s full post here on Tandem Hub.
Below: Eclipse viewed fom Fulton, Missouri, US (2017)
Our
Fabulous Fundraisers
Ceri Stacey, Cardiff
Well done to our Tandem Football team
On 20 June, our Tandem football team took part in a charity football tournament, in aid of the Blackpool Big Food Project charity. They gave it their all and played brilliantly.
Ceri during the month of April 2024, completed the '100 Miles in April' challenge with thousands of others, in support of Maggie’s - one of our charity partners.
Ceri's goal was to raise £100 and raised a whopping £342 by the end of the challenge, what an amazing achievement - Well done Ceri!
Colour Run 2nd Charge Mortgage team
To raise money for Trinity Hospice and Brian House Children's Hospice, the 2nd Charge Mortgage team is taking part in the Colour Run on 13 July and Blackpool Night Run on 28 August.
Running the Colour Run is: Sara Evans, Rachael Hanby, Leah Leeming
Running the Night Run is: Sara Evans, Danielle Finnigan, Aimiee Loughlin, Carnan Dawson, Rachael Hanby, Ryan Molyneux, Richard Daly, Leah Leeming, Chelsea Haslam.
Culture Champions
As we integrate the BEST Values into our everyday lives, we continue to recognise those who live and work by our core values and walk the talk – leading by example.
Each month, we'll spotlight culture champions who have demonstrated they're using our core BEST Values to help make Tandem great!
Henry Asbridge, Junior DevOps Engineer, Blackpool
All the BEST values
For several reasons! You can’t sometimes tell he is still junior, he takes on responsibilities, is very helpful, fun and supportive.
Nominated by Ajala Bimbo Abimbola, Delivery Manager, Blackpool
Gary Addison, Head of Security Operations, Blackpool
All the BEST values
Gary embodies the values of Brave, Enterprising, Simple, and Together with distinction. As a brave individual, Gary consistently shares opinions and takes accountability. His enterprising spirit is evident in his creative and resourceful approaches, often proposing innovative solutions and constantly working on improving the process and security systems in place. His commitment to simplicity is reflected in his clear communication, avoiding jargon and complexity. As a team player, he treats everyone with respect and professionalism and fosters a sense of unity, ensuring everyone works towards the same mission under the Tandem brand. His participation in projects, forums, events, and activities further cements his commitment to Together.
Nominated by Samridh Ashish, Information Security Analyst, London Remote
Rob De Tullio, Technical Engineer, London BRAVE
Rob is a role model for us all and brave beyond words
Nominated by Julian Nutley, Director of Home Improvements, London
Steve Chamberlain, First Line Controls and Assurance Analyst, Cardiff ENTERPRISING
Over the past few months, Steve has immersed himself in learning how the Triline system can support the work of the FLCA team. Steve has positively responded to challenges encountered in creating and developing registers to record control testing output and to track actions. The work Steve has completed has enabled the delivery of feedback to control owners and production of relevant and accurate MI. Thanks Steve, your commitment to this project is highly valued.
Nominated by Ceri Stacey, First Line Controls and Assurance Manager, Cardiff
Sara- Jane Gilbert, First Line Controls and Assurance Analyst, Cardiff SIMPLE and TOGETHER
SJ has demonstrated her excellent organisational skills in arranging the FLCA team testing trials and ongoing assessments. Through this work she has taken the lead on the administrative tasks, testing documentation and data entry. This has supported the creation of registers and dashboards to record output, track progress of actions and deliver feedback. Thanks SJ for your commitment to the team and what we aim to achieve.
Nominated by Ceri Stacey, First Line Controls and Assurance Manager, Cardiff
Jamie Havill, COTT manager, Blackpool TOGETHER
We are currently looking to enhance our Customer Outcomes Testing (COT) approach to incorporate additional areas of assurance and at the same time we are also exploring options of what generative AI can bring to the business and our wider testing approach. As such, alongside our day jobs, it's a very busy time however Jamie's support in progressing both areas above have been superb. Well done Jamie, it's really appreciated.
Nominated by Rick Keeble, Head of Quality Service, Blackpool
Anthony Smith, Complaints Team leader, Blackpool SIMPLE
Due to the current regulatory focus on Motor Finance commissions, we have recently had to re-review all previous commission arrangements, amounts and methodologies going back to 2015. Until very recently it was felt that we had a very basic structure of commission in place however when it became clear earlier in 2024 this was not necessarily the case, Anthony has led on the review of what arrangements were in place for each introducer. This now puts us in a stronger position to be able to respond swiftly in relation to information requests, complaints and ultimately FOS complaint escalations going forward. Well done Anthony. I'd also like to recognise the support of the Motor Finance operational team in their assistance in bridging any gaps, so thanks also to David Anderson and his team.
Nomination by Rick Keeble, Head of Quality Service, Blackpool
All the BEST values
Tom has displayed the values of being Brave, Enterprising, Simple and Together since progressing to Team Leader in Sep 2023. We are a small team of 6 including Tom, and in addition to him upskilling and taking on new responsibilities, Tom always takes time to support the team and keeps himself informed about cases, changes to processes and new developments. Tom’s ability to think collectively and consider diverse perspectives strengthens our team and enhances our problem-solving capabilities. He is methodical and analytical when making decisions, he considers the bigger picture and takes time to explain when communicating with the team. He is always approachable, providing advice or making rational decisions when needed. Very importantly, Tom always leads by example, facing challenges calmly and head on. Tom listens to his team and makes every effort to help or resolve issues creating a great team that works together. He fosters a collaborative environment, working effectively with the team and other departments and ensuring everyone feels valued. He's also an "okay" semi- professional footballer too outside of Tandem and represents Wales C squad. We salute you Tom!
Nominated by Steven Li, Emma Eves, Rebecca Mohring, Karen Ford, Michelle Quinn. Executives and Mortgage Specialists in 1st Charge Mortgage Servicing, Cardiff and London
Tom Price, Operations Team leader in mortgages, Cardiff
Shea Tribbeck, Customer Relationship Manager, Cardiff
Feedback from customer - “Shea from the first minute took ownership of my situation and throughout has been an absolute credit to both Tandem and himself. He kept me updated throughout and was always a pleasure to deal with, I got the resolution I wanted in the end with Shea’s help and understanding and honestly can’t thank him enough for his hard work. Shea has put my short-term mind at ease.”
Nominated by Rhiannon Thomas, Operations Team Leader, Cardiff
Bronte Murphy, Personal Loans Servicing, Cardiff
Feedback from customer - “Thank you, Thank you and Thank you, I cannot believe this, you are a true angel, thank you so much you don't know how grateful I am and how much this means to me personally and financially. Nothing like this has ever happened to me, I am so grateful for how much care and sensitivity you showed me on the day l called and the phone call today. I would like you to pass this email onto your management because you are a true asset to your company.
Nominated by Rhiannon Thomas, Operations Team Leader, Cardiff
Sheila Sanderson, Brand and Content Manager, Blackpool
Just wanted to give you a shout out for your can-do spirit and great all round attitude. You spin many plates and always find a way to get things done!
Nominated by Chris Parker, Head of Marketing, London
Jess Richards, HR Assistant, Blackpool
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all of the support you've given me over the last year (probably longer) in relation to challenges etc that have cropped up. You've been an invaluable support to me over this time and never made me feel like I was causing you any inconvenience even with 3 or 4 calls a day at times! You've assisted me a lot with all of the queries I've brought you but you've also taught me a lot along the way so again, massive thank you for everything.
Nominated by Chloe Smail, Savings Operations Team Leader, Durham
Nominate
We want to continue to grow our culture and that starts with each and every one of you! All nominations submitted need to demonstrate how they're Brave, Enterprising, Simple or Together. Remember you can drop quick a recognition on Tandem Hub to a colleague with an ecard recognition.
Submit your Culture Champion
New StartersWelcome
Gemma Pezzack Head of Financial Crime Cardiff
Jordan Cartmell Service Desk Team Leader Blackpool
Ian Williams Underwriter, Motor Finance Cardiff
Charlotte Baker Underwriter, Motor Finance Cardiff
Satish Penugonda Senior Cloud Engineer London
Hannah Konopka Graphic Designer Remote
Claire Jenkins Underwriter Cardiff
Customer Service Executive Cardiff
Jay Bryan Customer Service Executive Cardiff
Bex Barnett
Customer Service Executive Cardiff
Marriam Malik Legal Counsel Remote
Gabriella Mollart Finance Assistant Blackpool
Mollie McNicholas Finance Assistant Blackpool
Hanfaa Shabir Customer Service Executive Cardiff
Anniversaries
5 Years - Afton Greatrex, Admin Assistant, 2nd Charge Lending
5 Years - Ceri Stacey, First Line Controls and Assurance Manager
Imran Gulamhuseinwala Independent Non-Executive Director Board
Przemyslaw Musialik Data Engineer Remote
Mateusz Waligora Data Engineer Remote
Emma Peacock Internal Communications Assistant Blackpool
Alex Ogden-Davis Customer Service Executive Cardiff
Gareth Smith Customer Service Executive Cardiff
5 Years - Robert Thorne, Senior Underwriter in Home Improvements Lending Congratulations
5 Years - Sam Allen, Senior Underwriter in Home Improvements Lending
5 Years - Steven Li, Arrears Executive in 1st Charge Mortgage Servicing
5 Years - Kate Nicholls, Head of Transformation Assurance in Change
5 Years - Gwilym Williams, Data Quality Analyst in Data & Insight
ROUND UP
For the past 12 months, Tandem has partnered with Greenr App as part of our environmental support for colleagues in helping us all live a greener lifestyle by making little changes to our everyday behaviours such as litterless lunches, air-drying laundry, meat-free Mondays and car-free days to name a few.
The app took us through 3 team challenges, with the final challenge taking place through April and May. Over that time we all collectively achieved the following;
• Over 300 colleagues got involved in the challenges
• Accumulated 1,375,865 points on the app
• Took 1,660 pledges
• Cycled or walked 76,692 kms (saving 15.2 tonnes Co2e)
In the 12 months, we collectively reduced 379 tonnes of CO2e. The equivalent to:
• 18,950 trees growing for a year
• Driving around the world 379 times
• Preserving 1,137sqm of sea ice
The final challenge saw the top three teams competing to make a donation to a charity of their choice.
Big congratulations to the following;
38,880 POINTS
1st place - Team Fir
£200 to UK Wild Otter Trust – helping injured or orphaned otters in the UK.
37,270 POINTS
2nd place - Team Walnut
£150 to Brian House and Trinty Hospice, Blackpool – providing hospice care to cancer sufferers and support to their families.
15,130 POINTS
3rd place - Team Elm
£50 to Interclimate Network – helping young people take action and become leaders in climate change.
Coming soon…
We’ll be introducing you to a new partnership soon, where once again, our choices will benefit not just ourselves and the planet but will also make a difference to nominated UK charities … watch this space!
Vanessa & Liam Tie
the Knot!
Elina!
Communications in the Blackpool office
Wishing you both the best for your future
Congratulations to Diana Fedorovica, Senior Associate based in London and the family, as they welcomed baby Elina. Elina arrived on 1st June, weighing 2.8kg.
Guttridge, Executive Assistant to our CEO, and her family as they recently welcomed baby Luka to
Share your special announcements with the Tandem family, email us at Internal Comms