Case study: United Utilities and LUFT

Business Profile

United Utilities is a large (FTSE 100) utility company, operating mainly in the North West of England.

Challenge
	Tom Fallon, the Company Treasurer was keen to improve the skills base of his team, given the increasing regulation and complexity of the treasury functions.
	Mathematics can often be quite daunting and it is important that his staff are 100% confident in what they are doing. It had not previously occurred to Tom that academia could provide a solution to his team's training requirements. In the past they had used trainers based in London but found that the courses would generally be targeted toward banks.
Solution
	Talking to Jeremy Levesley, Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Leicester, Tom discovered the answer to his problem.
	Tom provided Jeremy with a comprehensive outline of the training areas to develop and the Department designed a tailored short residential course in 'Mathematics for Treasury Management'. The course covered a range of relevant mathematical techniques and was delivered in a practical 'hands on' workshop format.
	The University had just opened a new hall of residence which meant that the accommodation and teaching facilities were all on the same site and the University provided laptops to facilitate the learning process.
Outcome
	Being immersed in four days of mathematics gave Tom's staff members new found confidence in handling the mathematics of the financial tools used in United Utilities. They also gained a great deal from the team building opportunities that the course provided.

	I felt that the main objective of the course was to build confidence with the mathematics. I was very pleased with feedback from the programme and I have found that staff are much more comfortable doing analytical reviews of the numbers coming out of the systems we operate. - Tom Fallon, Treasurer of United Utilities*
	*Information taken from article entitled 'The Corporate View', from treasurytoday, October 2008