How we empowered UK businesses to access crucial finance information by transforming British Business Bank’s cross-site experience.

British Business Bank (BBB) supports economic growth by providing businesses with easier access to finance. However, their digital landscape was fragmented, with multiple websites and platforms, each serving a different audience. Cohaesus was engaged to unify this experience, improving both internal and external user journeys, and to streamline operations for their teams.

The Challenge

BBB’s digital ecosystem was complex, mirroring the multifaceted structure of their organisation. With multiple brands and websites serving a diverse set of users—ranging from start-ups and fund managers to job seekers—there was a pressing need for consistency and efficiency across their digital platforms. Externally, users struggled to navigate between various sites, while internally, teams were working with outdated technology and inconsistent user experiences, leading to inefficiencies and an over-reliance on external support.

BBB tasked Coherence with refining the user experience across their digital estate, providing recommendations on how to streamline the experience both visually and functionally, while also creating internal efficiencies.

Why Coherence?

Coherence was chosen for this project because of our platform-agnostic approach, allowing us to focus solely on the optimal user experience without being tied to any specific technology. Our extensive experience in complex digital transformations meant we could assess BBB’s challenges with fresh eyes and propose innovative solutions to meet both their external and internal needs.

We believe in combining our digital expertise with our clients’ in-depth industry knowledge to create solutions that truly work. Our collaborative approach allowed us to engage stakeholders across BBB, ensuring their input shaped the project and kept the solution grounded in real-world requirements.

Our Approach

To tackle the challenge, we adopted a multi-phase approach:

• Discovery and Audit

We began by conducting stakeholder interviews, content audits, and a technical analysis of the current experience. This helped us map user journeys, understand the existing pain points, and assess the technical and content architecture. Internally, we evaluated the content management system (CMS) to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

• Information Architecture and Vision

Based on our findings, we created a new information architecture to streamline navigation across all BBB sites. This “north star” vision focused on empowering users to self-serve—helping external users find the right finance information efficiently, while enabling internal teams to manage content without unnecessary complexity.

• Consolidation and Triage Process

We designed a user experience that drove visitors through a clear triage process, ensuring they found relevant content easily. To avoid duplication of effort, we recommended a content hub approach, allowing internal teams to manage and link content efficiently across the estate. This not only simplified the user experience but also optimised internal workflows.

• Platform Recommendations

After aligning with stakeholders on the overall vision, we explored and recommended the most suitable platform solutions to support BBB’s digital transformation. Our recommendations covered content strategy, personalisation, omni-channel strategies, and operational efficiencies.

• Roadmap and Implementation

With a clear digital vision established, we outlined a “crawl, walk, run” strategy for implementation, ensuring a phased approach that would support both immediate needs and long-term goals.

Testimonial

“Partnering with British Business Bank was an exciting opportunity to address the complexity of their digital landscape. Our goal was to streamline the user experience across their various platforms while making their internal processes more efficient. By collaborating closely with their team and users, we were able to create a digital roadmap that not only improved navigation and accessibility but also empowered their internal teams to manage content more effectively. We’re proud to have contributed to a solution that supports the bank’s mission to help businesses across the UK grow and succeed.”

Julian Tedstone

Managing Director , Coherence

The Outcome

Coherence delivered a clear digital roadmap that empowered both external and internal users. External users now navigate BBB’s digital estate with ease, accessing finance information through a consolidated, user-friendly platform. Internally, the new content management processes have reduced reliance on external agencies and simplified content creation and management, leading to greater operational efficiency.

Key outcomes included:

• Unified Digital Experience: Users now benefit from a more cohesive cross-site experience.
• Operational Efficiencies: Internal teams can manage content more effectively, reducing costs and improving response times.
• Streamlined Navigation: A triage process helps users quickly find relevant content, enhancing engagement.

About British Business Bank

British Business Bank is a government-owned development bank dedicated to making finance markets work more effectively for smaller businesses. By providing access to finance, they help companies across the UK grow and thrive. With various programmes and partnerships, the bank supports businesses at different stages of growth, offering loans, venture capital, and guarantees to help them succeed.