Case studies

The goal

Nationwide is the world’s biggest building society. With over 15 million customers, they have a relationship with almost a quarter of the UK’s population.

Being owned by its members (banking, savings and mortgage customers) means that Nationwide can do things differently to deliver their purpose: banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.

Nationwide identified that building data capability would help speed up decision-making and reduce inefficiencies.

“As we continue to invest in enhancing our technology and processes at Nationwide, it’s equally essential we place the same level of investment in our people and their skills. Data and insights in particular is an important area. It allows us to use data to drive our decisions, automate the work we’re doing and ultimately drive greater efficiency into the organisation.”

To help, Multiverse first conducted a skills assessment of Nationwide employees in Payments and Project Management teams who use data daily, which revealed that on average, employees were spending 14.3 hours a week on data tasks.

Our analysis showed that with the right skills, 36% of this time could be spent more effectively, allowing teams to repurpose over half a day per week on more value-add activities.

An appetite to learn new skills was already there – the survey found that 95% of employees wanted to improve their data skills.

Working together, we established the goals a data upskilling programme could achieve:

• Delivering proactive, data-led insights: leading to better and faster decision-making.
• Improving efficiency and productivity: by removing blockers that lead to delays and projects.
• Developing an engaged, data-competent workforce: empowering Nationwide employees to become data-led and insight-led.

The solution

The Multiverse and Nationwide partnership kickstarted in March 2024, with 33 learners enrolled on data and digital upskilling apprenticeship programmes, funded by the Apprenticeship Levy.

“Our world is rapidly evolving, and job roles are adapting as new technology emerges. That's why it’s important for us as individuals and as a Society to prioritise skills development. By continuously learning, developing new skills, and pushing for better, we can deliver more value for our customers. Nationwide understands the importance of data literacy, where reporting and analysis can lead to better decision making and better outcomes for customers.”

The results

Proactive data-led insight

Armed with new data skills, Nationwide employees are now applying what they’ve learnt to their day-to-day roles, spotting opportunities to save time and create new efficiencies.

Following the programme launch, 75% of line managers agreed these new skills would deliver business impact.

“Four members of my team have enrolled in the Data Academy - watching them develop their skills, use them to create impact and confidently tackle new challenges has been an amazing journey, and I've been proud to support them every step of the way."

“Jeremy always pushes for better by reducing the time taken to produce reports through automation in Power BI. This puts the team in a very good position for getting a wide range of information very quickly and multiple Power BI reports are now being used daily.”

Driving business efficiency and removing bottlenecks

On average, learners already save around 1 hour a week, by applying their new skills in the workplace.

“By creating a dashboard that consolidates everything in one place, I saved each Product Owner approximately four hours a month, freeing them from time-consuming Jira queries.”

Increasing productivity by eliminating manual processes

Robert’s story

Responsible for creating Nationwide’s payments agenda, Robert faced inefficiencies in handling data, often needing several days to gather and analyse information.

After enrolling on the Multiverse Data and Insights for Business Decisions programme, Robert gained skills in Power BI and advanced Excel functionalities. These tools helped him independently gather, analyse, and report data, transforming his approach to work by removing manual processes and streamlining data collection and management.

The new process saved 16 hours, reducing work from several days to just a few hours. It improved data accuracy, by allowing finance and procurement teams to focus on validating findings, rather than initial data collection.

Create an engaged, data-led workforce

A survey of programme participants found that 100% agreed the apprenticeship would help them progress towards their professional goals.

"Apprenticeships are key to connecting education with real-world application. Having been through an apprenticeship myself, I can personally attest to the value they offer in putting skills to work right away. At Nationwide, we really emphasise this hands-on learning approach because it not only nurtures talent but also sparks innovation within our teams."

The goal

The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is the UK’s largest employee-owned business and the parent company of two iconic retail brands – John Lewis and Waitrose.

Owned in Trust by 70,000 employees (referred to at JLP as Partners), the business processes a significant volume of data, and wanted to boost its internal data skills capability.

“Any modern retailer has to become a data business to some extent. We sell so many different things – from houmous to boots to televisions – that the data is flying all over the place all the time. With 60% of sales online in some of our categories, that means that we have to use data quickly on the decisions that we make. It goes beyond specialist data practitioners, it’s everybody asking the right questions and knowing what’s possible with data.”

JLP had three key goals for the data upskilling programme:

• Building a happier business by unlocking the value of data: giving Partners the data skills to drive cost savings and find new revenue opportunities.
• Driving productivity and efficiency with data: helping learners save time previously spent on manual data tasks and using data to drive business impact.
• Supporting happier Partners through talent development: investing in skills, supporting career development and enabling lifelong learning.

“Part of our data strategy for the Partnership is around self-service capability, education and engagement. If everyone across the Partnership was 10% better at using data, when they’re reading reports or making decisions, imagine how powerful that could be.”

“Upskilling and career development is really important at JLP. We have a huge number of Partners who began their careers on the shop floor and have since moved into head office or more senior leadership roles. Apprenticeships give great development opportunities to Partners, offer real-time learning whilst on the job, and give them skills that they can use to develop their careers.”

The solution

JLP partnered with Multiverse in 2023 to launch its first cohort of data upskilling programmes.

The retailer now has over 600 data apprentices across the business, in divisions spanning the supply chain, shops, head office and hotels. With support from Apprenticeship Levy funding, the programme gives Partners the opportunity to develop new skills in data analytics.

“Our data programme is a huge investment from the Partnership in our data-driven culture. In terms of launching apprenticeships to scale, working with the team at Multiverse has opened our eyes to the art of the possible.”

The results

Learners have used their new data skills to increase productivity and find better ways to help customers.

Unlocking value from data

Simon’s story

Learner Simon Page set up a dashboard to highlight observations on service interactions between Partners and customers. At one point, it was the most used Tableau dashboard in the business, with two shops seeing some of the highest improvements in customer service during that time.

“I think the course did a really good job of teaching you how to dive in and validate data. I was able to create powerful dashboards a lot easier than I ever would have been able to, and share a huge amount of data, in a way that people could easily understand it.”

“The dashboard that Simon was able to roll out has absolutely linked to us delivering our customer experience expectations. It enabled the business to look at different themes across the estate.”

Driving productivity and efficiency gains

Laura’s story

The Waitrose Operations team faced inefficiencies in tracking new agency starters. Using skills gained on the Data and Insights for Business Decisions programme, learner Laura Zilite developed a user-friendly spreadsheet to automate a manual tracking process, using Google Apps Script. Her work streamlines data entry and ensures real-time updates, significantly enhancing data collection and presentation.

The initiative is forecast to deliver time savings totalling 218 hours a year. The smoother operations allows the team to focus on essential tasks, promoting greater productivity while reducing human error. Laura trained colleagues on the new system, growing knowledge sharing further while reinforcing team collaboration.

“Without the Multiverse programme, I probably wouldn’t have thought to use automation and macros; it pushed me to look for solutions I wouldn’t have considered before.”

“JLP as a whole is more confident than it was before in data insight and analytics. Everyone knows somebody that's either done the apprenticeship or is feeling more comfortable with data. People are empowered to make the difference – they're saving hours a day, changing the way they do tasks, or even automating them all together. You multiply that by the 70,000 people that work here, and you begin to see the potential savings. That, in turn, means our Data and Insights team can operate at a higher level.”

Increasing Partner happiness

Throughout the programme, learners receive dedicated support from their Multiverse coach.

“Being able to learn and implement as you go, meant that you were building on skills week in, week out. The model was really, really helpful. We had the pre-work, then support from your coach. Just being able to ask for advice and have that resource there was absolutely immeasurable.”

The results are clear: JLP learners are achieving exceptional marks in their apprenticeships. 93% of learners achieved a merit or distinction grade out of the 150 who have completed the course.

Supporting career progression

Programme learners are supercharging their careers, armed with new data skills:

“Completing the programme, having that confidence, and the skills to back up that confidence, has meant that my job has become even more varied. For me, it has raised my profile within the business.”

“I’ve moved roles since my programme – I'm now brand experience manager. I used an example from my apprenticeship in my interview and I got the job.”

What’s next

The data upskilling partnership will continue into the future, with JLP planning to launch multiple new cohorts.

“What Multiverse promised, and have delivered, is the whole wrapper around the courses – the enthusiasm, the explanation, engaging the rest of the business – Multiverse have taken that on.”

“Our relationship with Multiverse has been going on a long time, and people are excited about it. It’s the thing people stop me in the corridor to talk about. The Multiverse programme has impacted the whole of JLP by giving it confidence, but also sticking to our values of experimentation and empowerment for every Partner.”

The goal

Keele University has partnered with tech company Multiverse as part of a drive to increase efficiency and performance in a push for industry-leading professional services.

The solution

The partnership will deliver AI and data programmes for over 50 professional services staff, as part of a drive from the University to bolster areas including student recruitment and student experience while developing a team of AI and data literate colleagues through at-work upskilling.

Training is funded by the apprenticeship levy and delivered by Multiverse.

Enrolled employees have been assessed on their suitability for five of Multiverse’s programmes, with an assessment carried out for each person based on existing skill level, seniority and role within the university.

Programmes include the 13-month ‘AI for Business Value’ level 4 apprenticeship, which will help learners to identify business value gains that can be achieved through using AI and how to execute AI projects responsibly.

The Data Fellowship (standard or advanced) will upskill employees in data analysis and data science, while the Business Transformation Fellowship will help Keele University to deliver strategic initiatives with an agile mindset and drive change in an evolving digital workplace.

In addition to establishing a culture of AI and data literacy across the university, Keele hopes support its future strategy through the automation of manual processes and the use of newfound skills to identify cost-and-time-saving opportunities.

"Keele University is always looking to invest in enriching initiatives that improve our students’ experience. The new partnership with Multiverse will allow us to do just that by upskilling over 50 of our exceptional professional services personnel."

According to Multiverse’s Skills Intelligence Report, the education sector is most impacted by a lack of data skills, with 38% of employees’ time working with data spent unproductively, compared to the average of 30% across 18 other sectors.

"Our recent report shows that education is the hardest hit sector when it comes to the data skills gap. Keele University’s investment in AI and data training will close this gap, empowering staff with key skills to deliver the best outcomes for Keele and its students."

The goal

People, data, and technology are crucial to the future evolution of the NHS.

As part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, leaders across the country are seeking to modernise the organisation’s digital and data infrastructure. By making more effective use of data, they aim to better meet patient needs and offer a higher level of personalised care.

Since 2020, Multiverse has partnered with over 40 different NHS bodies – ranging from NHS trusts, to whole integrated care systems like Leeds Health and Care Academy – to launch NHS Data Academies, designed to embed data skills across the workforce, support NHS digital transformation strategies, and improve patient outcomes.

The solution: Equipping NHS employees with in-demand data skills

Through the NHS Data Academies, over 500 NHS employees have enrolled on Multiverse data upskilling programmes in the past three years. This includes personnel in clinical, operational, administrative, and IT-related roles – laying the necessary foundations to improve data literacy organisation-wide.

Employees are empowered to upskill, improve their data literacy, and develop digital skills across a range of learning pathways.

Each of the NHS Data Academies share a common set of goals:

• Improving operational efficiency by helping staff improve their confidence and efficiency in handling data. Across the NHS data academies, apprentices have tracked an average time saving of 6.4 hours per week from improving their data skills.
• Enabling data-driven decision-making by extracting actionable insights from complex data sets.
• Supporting improved patient outcomes by leveraging data to provide more personalised care.

During their programme, employees gain new skills through applied learning – using their new skills in real-time, on projects at the front lines of the NHS. It’s this combination that drives measurable impact.

Improving operational efficiencies and patient outcomes at North London Mental Health Partnership

When North London Mental Health Partnership (NLMHP) launched its Digital Academy with Multiverse, it took another stride towards a more efficient way of working. The initiative emphasises the intelligent use of data to drive improvements and efficiencies, by providing employee training to more than 100 staff across every division of NLMHP.

"Being part of this initiative means understanding of our data and insights will be embedded through the organisation, enabling us to enhance our services and improve patient and service user outcomes. Not only will it drive operational efficiency, but it will also serve as a stepping stone in our commitment to professional development for our staff."

With improved digital capabilities, NLMHP aims to help employees become more efficient across a wide range of workflows, including project management, analysis and forecasting. The training aims to make the Partnership more data-driven and productive, ultimately resulting in improvements to patient outcomes and services.

Driving digital transformation at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) helps practitioners and commissioners get the best care to people, fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer. NICE does this by producing useful and usable guidance for health and care practitioners.

"NICE is on a transformation journey to ensure we’re meeting the changing needs of our nation’s health and care systems. Improving the data and digital skills of our people is an essential part of this transformation.  That’s why in June 2023, we launched our Data Academy, so we can deliver even more relevant, timely, usable and impactful guidance for our partners."

NICE had access to plenty of data to help inform their people and services, but wanted to leverage it more effectively, to boost productivity.

At the start of the partnership, Multiverse conducted a skills gap analysis across each division at NICE, which identified the target areas that would see the biggest impact from an upskilling programme.

"To date, 10% of our workforce has joined the Academy, with every directorate represented. This is so we can reach a transformational tipping point. We have seen significant productivity improvements, growth in awareness of how to leverage data the right way, as well as better use of tools we have invested in like Power BI."

The goal

EDF Energy partnered with Multiverse to assess skills and competencies across several business units.

"While many organisations know instinctively that they have skills gaps, it’s a challenge to identify them, quantify them, and close the gaps. We have big ambitions, including in helping the UK to decarbonise to reach Net Zero, and we can’t let skills gaps hold us back. Identifying and closing those gaps is helping us deliver on our goals, and enhanced data skills across EDF to help our customers save carbon and cash."

The Multiverse skills analysis found that, of employees who use data daily, 19.9 hours a week were spent on data tasks, including predictive modeling, engineering data, producing visualisations, managing spreadsheets and analysing data.

The results

The skills assessment found that almost half of that time could be saved, if employees were more skilled users of data.

Identifying room for efficiency gains, EDF launched a Data Academy, enrolling staff onto apprenticeship programmes.

"At EDF, we recognise that a data transformation takes more than new technology, change needs people to create a culture that uses data to take action. We partnered with Multiverse to actually find where the company would benefit from building broader capabilities beyond data teams, enhanced existing skills, and put in place the Data Academy to deliver them."

The goal

Goldsmiths, University of London, partnered with Multiverse and invited staff across all functions to enrol in the Data Academy.

Here, they learn skills including analytics, AI and predictive modelling that can assist with their day-to-day tasks.

"Since beginning with the Data Academy, we’ve felt the benefit of improved day-to-day data capabilities across the organisation. Individuals have started thinking in ways they wouldn’t have before, identifying opportunities and working on achieving the outcome themselves."

The results

Throughout the programme, employees at Goldsmiths learned how to:

• Build a data culture – upskilling has empowered individuals across the organisation to become ‘digital professionals’, reducing their reliance on the IT department.
• Create new efficiencies – teams at Goldsmiths have optimised internal processes using skills learned on the programme, streamlining workflows like manual data entry.

"I recently spoke to one of my colleagues in the accommodation department, who used to have to transpose data from one spreadsheet to another and into a system on a regular basis. He’s now developed a Python script to automate this. Everyone has their own example of a piece of automation that has helped them to streamline their tasks. You’re creating a more efficient organisation, and that starts with individuals."

Upskilling the workforce at your university

Data skills have transformed how staff at Goldsmiths work, take ownership of data, and provide the best possible experiences for students.

Learn more about how Multiverse can support your university to identify skills gaps and build new opportunities through upskilling.

The goal

HCLTech's AI academy aims to upskill its workforce in AI and generative AI (GenAI) to deliver significant business value to clients with AI solutions and boost overall productivity.

The AI Transformation Academy

The partnership will see select HCLTech employees in the UK embark on a 13-month ‘AI for Business Value’ programme, with a focus on business benefits and ethical aspects of AI projects.

This initiative aligns with HCLTech’s goal of upskilling 50,000 employees in GenAI by 2025, improving productivity and enhancing client and employee satisfaction.

"This strategic initiative underscores HCLTech's commitment to harnessing AI responsibly to drive business outcomes. By partnering with Multiverse, we are not only equipping our workforce with advanced AI competencies but are also amplifying our capacity for innovation and excellence in service delivery."

Upon completion of their training, employees will be better equipped to analyse their AI-integrated performance metrics, fostering a culture of insightful continuous improvement and maximizing individual and team potential.

"Through this collaboration, we aim to position HCLTech at the forefront of ethical AI deployment, ensuring that our clients benefit from the transformative power of AI while upholding the highest standards of integrity and productivity."

"Capturing the potential gains from AI doesn’t just rely on technology and deploying the right models, it also requires individuals equipped with the right skills to apply it in the real world. HCLTech plays a pivotal role in the global tech arena and their clients depend on its cutting-edge capabilities. By empowering teams with advanced AI skills and instilling confidence, HCLTech and its clients are set to unlock the transformative potential of ethical, precise and productivity-enhancing AI."

The goal

London Business School's vision is to have a profound impact on the way the world does business and the way business impacts the world. It's consistently ranked among the best business schools globally and is widely acknowledged as a centre for outstanding research.

The School equips its diverse student body with the tools needed to tackle today’s business challenges and connects them with many of the world’s leading thinkers.

London Business School launched the Multiverse upskilling programme to drive their data-driven culture.

"We’re constantly using innovative technology and data to enrich the lives of our students. Multiverse’s programme enables us to increase our data skills and take our data maturity to a whole new level: equipping staff across the School with the data skills they need to thrive in their careers and to support our students."

The solution

Employees are honing their data skills in order to increase their confidence in using and sharing data, alongside driving productivity gains.

There are now 26 employees on Multiverse data upskilling programmes across the entire organisation, including Technology, Finance and Digital Learning.

"Through the data apprenticeship programmes, our staff are helping to build an insight-led culture, where data is used to drive operational and strategic business decisions."

The results

Productivity gains

Apprentices are reaping the benefits from the data upskilling programme in their day-to-day roles, with a 14% improvement to average productivity since programme launch.

Employee progression and engagement

Apprentices are more confident to use their skills and share their learning. 36% report a growth in confidence when using their new skills in their roles.

"We can all benefit from the ROI of the Data Academy to support our data transformation journey, which will touch all parts of the School."

The goal

Essex County Council (ECC) has launched training for 40 of its staff through a new Data Academy, as part of its ambitious plans to become a data-led organisation.

The goal is to strengthen the organisation’s data capabilities, while boosting productivity and data literacy across teams. According to Multiverse’s Skills Intelligence Report, local government and councils are notably impacted by a lack of data skills, with 26% of employees’ time working with data spent unproductively.

"Essex County Council provides a diverse learning programme designed to help our colleagues confidently engage with data, fostering evidence-based decision-making at every level. By participating in the Data Academy through the Apprenticeship Levy, we are further investing in our workforce, ensuring they understand the purpose and potential of data. "

The solution: The ECC Data Academy

Programmes include Data Insights for Business Decisions, which equips commissioners working within ECC with the technical skills and knowledge to navigate the data landscape confidently.

The 13-month Data Fellowship, a Level 4 apprenticeship, will upskill data professionals, while the degree-level Advanced Data Fellowship will give graduates the tools to build data analytics capabilities within the organisation and use data to support decision-making.

Staff enrolled in the Academy also have the opportunity to complete a 13-month Business Transformation Fellowship, which covers key competencies that are most relevant to doing business in the digital age, including defining business objectives, exploring opportunities for digital innovation and adopting agile ways of working.

"This initiative encourages responsible data use, strengthens robust data processes, and promotes collaboration with our partners. Ultimately, it enables us to leverage data insights to enhance social good and improve outcomes for communities across Essex."

The Data Academy is funded by the Apprenticeship Levy, a UK tax on employers that is used to fund apprenticeship training.

"Essex County Council will be on the front foot in data-led decision making and process modernisation thanks to the skills they will gain on these apprenticeships. All the while, by developing the skills of its people the Council will enhance their careers and access to the best opportunities."

The goal

As the world’s leading consumer trend forecaster, WGSN has over 20 years’ experience in forecasting, data analytics and expert advisory - helping brands around the world create the right products at the right time for tomorrow’s consumer.

But the team’s analyses are only as good as the data that goes into them. That’s where partnering with the right internal subject matter experts is crucial.

To reduce the pressure coming into the company’s central data teams, while continuing to drive innovation across the organisation, the data analytics leaders at WGSN are driving forward a business wide data initiative.

This initiative places a focus on data acceleration to support colleagues in varied departments to gain confidence in data skills and usage. A goal that they would soon find out, would help drive both productivity and revenue.

"At WGSN I have two important roles; one is to lead the data science and analytics team - the other is to elevate the data analytics capability of the organisation overall. By upskilling individuals to become data efficient in their varied roles and functions, meant that they could move the business forward and deliver products and services without dependency on the data analytics and science team."

The solution

Solving for data skills company-wide

WGSN has over 250 in-house industry experts, data scientists and advisory consultants. With this large of an organization, serving clients in over 120 countries, the data team at WGSN was receiving regular requests for data support from colleagues in different global departments.

Evolving data capabilities organisation-wide meant that teams in departments from content to client advisory could better utilise data to serve WGSN’s clients and partners.

By offering both beginner level and advanced programs, WGSN made data skills accessible for employees across the organisation, regardless of their individual starting point.

With an increased focus on expanding their quantitative data capabilities to match their qualitative capabilities and accelerate the process, the team at WGSN knew they’d need a forward-thinking learning partner to help bring their vision to life.

That’s when WGSN found Multiverse.

Building future data scientists

Multiverse’s data upskilling apprenticeships are establishing a firm foundation in data analysis across WGSN - helping employees translate data into insights, build data-driven narratives, and present key findings.

"We sit in a really exciting place. We work with the most innovative brands and retailers across the globe. As they’re having a stronger lens on data, this has really pushed us to think about how to best align. Today, we’re aligning data dynamically on every level and aspect of what we do — how we bring that forward, and how we connect and collaborate, is really core to the team that I’m a part of as we think about our clients."

As a participant in the data program herself, Rachelle knows just how valuable strong data skills can be. Charged with forging meaningful client partnerships and trend collaborations, she’s witnessed the value of organisation-wide data literacy firsthand and even managed to use her new skills to take an existing client deal and double its value - all down to the addition of data capabilities.

The results

Driving revenue

WGSN has witnessed the tangible benefits of the program on key growth targets.

"In terms of retaining clients, identifying and taking advantage of upsell opportunities, the data acceleration program has had a direct impact. A lot of businesses didn’t realise just how much data and analytics WGSN had available to support their project goals. Once they saw how embedded data was in our forecasting process, it helped us win new business."

Empowering meaningful ways of collaborating with clients

Since the start of the data acceleration program, the WGSN partnerships team has been able to:

• Create new data-led reports that are now some of the most popular among clients
• Bring forward key pieces of research partners might not be utilising
• Unlock new paths of collaboration with different teams and departments
• Understand partners’ evolving needs to bring forward products that support their top priorities

Armed with the right data and reports, Rachelle and the account management team were able to deliver strategic value to their partners, including one key client who was seeking deeper insights on seasonal trends.

"Having a stronger lens on data is really empowering our account management team to drive more meaningful ways of collaborating with our clients. Data really helped us bring that missing piece of the puzzle into a partnership and grow that investment 56% year-over-year as we were activating different parts of what we do to better serve their needs."

Transforming careers

The team at WGSN also witnessed a deeply human value-driver, both in their existing employees and incoming apprentices.

"Up until May, I was a client service admin. From May onwards, I began my new role as a business intelligence developer at WGSN,   “Everything that happened at WGSN in terms of my career path matched up perfectly with the Multiverse course. Enhancing my data skills helped me to move my career ahead."

For the team at WGSN, this is only the beginning. As the organisation continues to focus their efforts on driving innovation, reducing time per task and increasing revenue through the power of professional apprenticeships, greater efficiencies are sure to follow.