For many large companies, it is important that they should attempt to speed up the efficiency of all the processes that enable the business to keep running. This goes for not just the primary systems that make up the initial business model, be that credit lending or selling watches, but the background processes that are necessary for any business to work, departments such as human resources have to be as efficient as possible reduce costs for the business as a whole. The Equinti group specialises in improving these systems through the use of IT programmes and software. One of the more common products that Equinti offer is called Perito and the Perito system is used extensively in automating many processes and actively reducing the costs for Equinti’s clients.
One of Equinti’s current clients is a credit management company from Glasgow. Wescot is one of the UK’s largest debt recovery companies, employing over 650 people in three locations throughout the North. Because the debt recovery industry has recently been put under increased pressure from the new regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, companies have had to greatly improve their customer relations and complaint management systems. Perito is one such automated system that has been shown to reduce the ‘risk associated with manual processes’, so says a spokesperson for the debt recovery company. Wescot is now in a position whereby they can much more efficiently deal with complaints from third parties by utilising the Perito system. Each mistake that is left absent by implementing Perito is a mistake that will no longer affect the running of the business. The programme works by sorting the complaints into a database with each one ranked in severity. This means that the more imperative complaints will be dealt with quicker, in accordance with the FCA regulations.
Equinti have worked closely with large IT companies, Microsoft and IBM in order to create their automated IT systems. With the backing and support of these companies, clients of Equinti can rest assured that the most efficient and best quality programmes are in their hands, actively contributing to both a more efficient and cost effective business. For Equinti, their philosophy is the continued reduction in unnecessary costs and this can be seen through the software programmes that they develop.
The learning and development team at Wescot have many combined years of experience in training employees. Mike Rustill alone has had twenty years in the business, including leading the training department at mobile phone giants, O2 and he brings his expertise and high skill level within learning and development. He has a proven track record at previous roles, not just at Wescot, at being able to perform at a senior operating level. In addition to Mike Rustill, the learning and development team of Wescot also contains Elaine MacDonald, a woman who has seven years in the financial industry, and after joining Wescot in 2003 as a collections agent, Elaine has been promoting to a senior role in the department. These are just a couple of examples of the highly skilled people that operate the learning and development team at Wescot, proving to customers that the training will in fact be effective in updating Wescot’s workforce.
recovery agency from the UK, that have recognised the need for continued development of their staff, not least because of the extraneous pressures placed on the company to update its processes.
st a conference addressing some of the more important topical issues which affect the financial services and credit services sectors. As one of the sponsors of MAS, Wescot Credit Services proactively engage with the debt advice sector to identify and implement best practice across the board, especially in these times of huge change for the financial services industry.
As part of a one-off exercise, Swift Advances wished to trace some 2,000 customers who had already paid off their loans in order to issue them with a relatively small refund. Wescot were asked to help by using their Locate experience, skills and technology in order to trace these customers. Within the space of just two weeks, Wescot were able to give positive trace results on almost 80% of all the customers, a far higher figure than Swift originally expected.
This year, Wescot was the principal sponsor of the CCR Interactive conference and Credit Excellence Awards. This conference is the flagship annual event for the credit industry. Wescot was also one of the sponsors for 2013 Money Advice Scotland conference. This particular organisation is an umbrella group for the many companies and independent bodies that provide impartial and confidential debt advice across Scotland. The 
As Wescot fully appreciates, these are challenging times for any business directly or indirectly involved in the consumer credit niche. In some ways this is linked to the dented reputation experienced by the banks in the aftermath of the credit crunch. There has been a knock-on effect for the entire financial sector. Certain niches within the consumer credit industry have been subjected to particular scrutiny. These include the payday loans providers and credit-based retail stores. Many businesses will be extremely wary about the collections agencies they work with. In particular, they will want to avoid being tarred with the same brush as some of the more unscrupulous elements within the industry.
It is extremely fitting that Wescot was the principal sponsor of this year’s event. Since its conception in Scotland over 30 years ago, Wescot has gradually grown from strength to strength. The company now has nationwide coverage and employs over 650 employees at offices in Glasgow, Saltcoats and Hull. It has expertise across a number of distinct areas including debt recovery, early stage collections, customer tracing and debt purchase.
Utilising the new to the market Experian dynamic platform,