Embridge Consulting supports Devon County with rollout of new finance system
As it sought to consolidate and modernise disparate back-office technology across its operations, Devon County Council turned to help from Embridge Consulting. With the advisory firm’s help, the authority implemented a new finance system, making use of enterprise resource planning technology to ensure better future alignment.
Devon County Council serves a population of more than 825,000 people. That makes it one of the largest local authorities in South West England – but also means a number of digital complexities have built up over the years. This makes further change difficult, as the council has to reckon with technical debt, accrued by unaligned or siloed transformations from years gone by.
When the authority announced a new strategic plan for digital transformation, it was clear that it would need support to navigate these complexities – and make sure changes did not cause further complications in the future. Following a competitive tender process, this saw Devon County Council tap Embridge Consulting – a digital transformation specialist headquartered in Kent – for help.
The challenge
On arrival, Embridge Consulting’s team found the outdated, on-premises IT systems the council had been using for the past 30 years were not built to support the needs of such a large administrative set-up, hindering the council’s efforts to support its people efficiently and effectively. Back-office technology was not interconnected, and officers lacked a single, authoritative source of data, needed for effective decision making. Processes were likewise inefficient, often leading to extensive need for time-consuming manual intervention and reporting.
Devon County Council’s strategic plan aimed to resolve this, first concentrating on modernising its financial operations. This formed part of a wider transformation programme designed by Embridge Consulting to enhance the efficiency, transparency and delivery of Council services and operations.
Dan Chilton, chief experience officer of Embridge Consulting, explained, “Capitalising on our experience and track record of supporting significant and successful business transformation programmes across UK local government meant we were able to bring industry expertise and insight to Devon with equal focus on the people, process and technology change that is essential in achieving such a successful outcome.”
Outcomes
Embridge Consulting’s solutions combine human ingenuity with propriety methodologies based on deep sector knowledge and enterprise resource planning technology (ERP). The consultancy worked closely with Devon County Council to implement integrated Unit4 ERP, and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform – a solution designed for UK local government – using its public sector model.
This led to a rapid turnaround. Finalised and pushed live at the beginning of April 2025, the Devon County Council’s finance and service teams will be able to leverage the latest in ERP cloud technology, while benefitting from impactful automations and a clear, transparent, single source of truth, together with significantly improved user experience, constituent experience, and value for money.
Angie Sinclair, Director of Finance and S151 Officer for Devon County Council, commented, “This is a major achievement for the County Council. Staff from across the Council worked together with our partners to implement the new system in only 20 months – a phenomenal achievement. I’m really proud of everyone and looking forward to realising the benefits the new system will bring.”
