Case Study
Beyond Theory: How Coventry Building Society is Building a Future-Ready, Data-Driven Workforce
Client profile
Coventry Building Society is the second-largest building society in the UK. It operates as a mutual, meaning it is owned by its members rather than external shareholders.
As of early 2026, the Society has undergone a major transformation following its landmark acquisition of The Co-operative Bank, which was completed on January 1, 2025. This move has significantly diversified its business model and market reach.
Impact in Action
Over the last year, Coventry Building Society has worked with Cambridge Spark to deliver a comprehensive suite of data upskilling programmes. This strategic investment has created a structured, technical pathway for upskilling, resulting in a demonstrable and measurable impact on critical business projects and workforce capability. Apprentices are now driving technical modernisation, implementing best practices on strategic platforms, and developing the confident, future-ready workforce needed for a data-driven future.
System Modernisation Accelerated
Apprentices are applying best practices to build new tools and develop data pipelines.
Strategic Investment Maximised
Learners are leveraging high-quality learning on modern data science and machine learning models.
Over 35 Learners
Enrolled on data and AI programmes since launch, providing a sustained growth pipeline of validated data expertise across the business.
Merging Data Strategy and Building Future Capability
In the complex financial world, leveraging data effectively is paramount. For Coventry Building Society, this means not just managing an immense volume of data, but ensuring their entire organisation is equipped with the skills needed to provide heightened customer service and competitive advantage. The scale of this challenge is magnified by the integration of Co-operative Bank.
"It means working with lots of different stakeholders across the organisation, identifying what we need to do from a strategic perspective, what's on our roadmap as an organisation, and then working out how we can do that, in a collaborative way, using data."
Kate Jones, Head of Data Strategy and Change at Coventry Building Society
The need for data standardisation and strategic prioritisation across the merging entities made one thing clear: success hinges on investing in people and their skills.
A Structured Path to Expertise: Data Apprenticeships
To build this essential capability, Coventry Building Society launched a comprehensive data apprenticeship initiative, providing clear, structured pathways for skill development across all levels of the business, ensuring both broad data literacy and specialist expertise.
- Upskilling for All: The programmes offer various levels, starting with apprenticeships for anyone who sees data as an important part of their role, providing them with a formal qualification and critical skills for their career.
- Developing Technical Specialists: The upper-level apprenticeships are specifically aimed at technical staff within the data office, risk function, and other departments who need to possess advanced data skills, such as building machine learning models and implementing new data ecosystems.
The Technical Foundation for Success: Depth and Practicality
In selecting a training partner, Cambridge Sparks technical offering was the decisive factor.
"The thing for us that really stood out was the technical offering. So it was the breadth of the apprenticeship programmes, it was the platform, and also the quality of the people delivering the training."
Kate Jones, Head of Data Strategy and Change at Coventry Building Society
This blended approach, combining expert-led workshops with intelligent platform feedback, ensures skills are not theoretical but immediately practical. Furthermore, the provision of dual support, a Tutor for subject expertise and a Mentor for programme logistics, has been instrumental in achieving high engagement and successful completion rates.
"Cambridge Spark provides that credibility to allow apprentices to take confidence in what they're learning and take it forward."
Phil Boon, Chief Data Officer at Coventry Building Society
Driving Modernisation and Confidence
The organisation is already seeing tangible returns on its investment in the apprenticeship programmes:
Maximising Technical ROI: Data Scientists are gaining the high-quality, structured learning required to build modern machine learning models, ensuring the business fully leverages its investment in platforms like Databricks.
Building Confident Experts: The achievement of an externally-verified qualification provides learners with a powerful level of confidence. As Kate Jones states, it gives them the assurance that what they are doing "is business Standard... and gives you that confidence in what you're recommending."
The outcome is a workforce exhibiting a clear "growth mindset," trusted to pioneer new and more efficient ways of working.
A Commitment to Future-Proofing
While apprenticeships require a personal and organisational commitment, the long-term benefit is building the future workforce.
As Reece Palmer concludes, this development is not limited to one area:
"Data apprenticeship programmes are not just specific for data office teams... data is used in any part of business. This is something that can really help and maybe shape a different way of doing things."
Reece Palmer, Talent Development Advisor at Coventry Building Society
The continued investment in these programmes is seen as absolutely critical to the society's future competitiveness and growth.