Andy Darrant Email & Phone Number

Derby, United Kingdom

Andrew took on a short contract with HP working on site at Rolls Royce in Derby to turn round a team of BA's who had been struggling to meet the high standards required by the customer in this highly regulated and audited environment. He interfaced with Project Managers, Engineers, Tech Architects, QA and the customers own BA team to put in place robust procedures and improved documentation templates / standards. To complete the contract Andrew successfully trained one of the internal HP team of BAs to be able to step into the role of Lead BA and ensure that the best practice introduced was maintained.

Andrew was asked by Coral to take over responsibility for Coral’s Trading Platform (ATS provided by Amelco).In order to address underlying issues around quality of service and delivery he undertook a review of all processes around product delivery and support thereof. Taking prompt practical steps to remove barriers, improving processes and introducing an Agile Sprint methodology the changes that Andrew oversaw quickly showed dividends.Alongside this Andrew built a Delivery Roadmap (managed in AHA) taking input from Trading Teams, Sportsbook Director, Interactive Delivery Channels and Ops Teams which successfully manages their needs and delivers new product capability alongside addressing the existing set of live defects (managed through JIRA).Andrew took a hands on approach in ensuring delivery of key projects including delivery of In Play Cricket, Snooker, Darts and US Sports products from various 3rd party feeds and algorithms.

Andrew was invited to take up a role with the new business managing the development of their Interactive Sportsbook offering (through OpenBet, Playtech and other suppliers). Andrew liaised with business stakeholders (including trading, operations and marketing) to build and manage the Sportsbook Delivery Roadmap. He was responsible for working with internal project and operational teams and suppliers to deliver against the constantly evolving business objectives and was often called upon react quickly to changing circumstances and business challenges.Amongst many projects he was responsible for the delivery of were:- Overhaul and refinement of Coral’s Sportsbook web offering and user journeys;- Introduction of Streaming to the site;- Cash Out My Bet;- Promo engine improvement and refinement of customer bonus journeys (e.g. enhanced prices, ACCA Stacker, voucher codes etc.);- Grand National “Easy Bet”;- Technology upgrades / migrations and performance improvements.Calling on his previous experience he also managed the internal team of business analysts and worked closely to improve process delivery processes taking the Product Owner in an Agile Scrum development process.

In 2011 Gala Coral Group instigated the Springboard Programme, a 14 month project with circa 120 dedicated staff to re-launch the online business of Gala Bingo, Gala Casino and Coral on new technology platforms, with an entirely new management team and in a new jurisdiction, Gibraltar. Andrew was asked to move away from his BAU responsibilities and take on the Lead Business Analyst role for the Coral Interactive work stream.Andrew was a senior member of the Coral project team and saw the programme through from instigation to its roll out and warranty period. He managed a team of contract business analysts through programme inception, scoping and planning through the detailed requirements analysis (for all front end and back office systems) liaising with and supporting suppliers through development and testing phases. Andrew was also heavily involved in the rollout and business readiness planning and contract finalisation. His involvement was across all areas of the Coral business (sports, gaming, operations, trading, finance, customer services etc.), across all channels (web, mobile, Telebet) and with multiple suppliers (including OpenBet, Playtech, Amelco and design agencies)

Woking, United Kingdom

Andrew was brought into Gala Coral’s Group IT Programme to build discipline and process into the Business Analysis and Project Management areas as well as delivering Business Requirements for a range of projects.Mentoring existing staff and growing the team Andrew successfully developed a strong BA/PM capability providing process and tools that facilitated Business Case / CAPEX development, Project Estimation and tracking tools, Requirements Capture and Documentation, Risk Management etc.He led a team of 6 BAs on projects in both Interactive and Retail arms of the business crossing all functional area enabling them that handled projects across all area of the business (including Sportsbook, Gaming, Bingo, Affiliate Management, Customer Management, Telephone Betting, Customer Services, Finance). Andrew personally led the requirements effort on a variety of projects across different areas of the group including: o Coral’s first mobile Sportsbook offering; o Live Sports “Bet In Play” product; o Bingo customer retention; o Affiliate management and tracking (integrating with Income Access); o Updates to Coral’s internal Customer Management System; o Know Your Customer programme.

Watford, United Kingdom

Andrew led the team of BAs and was responsible for requirements stream through entire project life cycle of several large e-Commerce / CMS / Gaming projects for the National Lottery. Responsibilities included:o Development of Project Justification Documents and Business Cases;o Project Planning;o Management and work allocation for team of up to 8 BA’s;o Check point reporting;o Improvement to existing documentation standards and processes;o Managing change process; o Providing support to other project streams;o Liaising with Regulators (NLC), Suppliers and stakeholders from across the business; o Presentation of project and issues etc to senior management.

London, United Kingdom

Andrew worked as the Senior Business Analyst on the Compliance and Risk Programme. His work here has encompassed: o Eliciting, documenting and managing Business Requirements for large projects (focused on Compliance / Risk processes and data);o Business Process Re-engineering (developing As-Is and To-Be models);o Risk Programme definition work; o Eliciting/documenting benefits and developing Business Cases, value Propositions, Business Visions etc. for Risk Capabilities across HMRC;o Working with Senior Stakeholders, End Users, HMRC’s IT Supplier (ASPIRE), other CAM’s and other Business Areas.o Developing/implementing and documenting a structured approach (within iRUP) for requirements management across the Programme (utilising Rational ReqPro, Rose, Soda and ClearCase) and mentoring HMRC Business Analysts to work with this structure.

Guildford, United Kingdom

Andrew was brought in to Digital Union, who produce a B2B global e-Procurement Software Suite, to set up and run a Business Analysis department. Managing a small team he successfully introduced a Use Case driven and OOAD approach (where appropriate utilising RUP and UML techniques utilising Rational Rose/XDE). He has worked with global clients (Tesco, Mars, JC Penney, B&Q, Comet, Rewe, WWRE etc.) to ascertain Business Needs and Requirements for the tool and build a mutual understanding of where different Auction designs can best be utilised to meet the business needs of Procurement scenarios. Another major project was developing the requirements for the addition of an RFx module (RFIRFPRFQ) that facilitated the sharing of data between companies and their suppliers. Successfully modelling system, producing Use Cases, Supplementary Specification and Storyboards, he managed the scope of future releases and client expectation enabling Digital Union to move from being a Systems Integrator to ISV.In his approach to the work Andrew remained focussed on the need to quickly add value to the company whilst moving towards a completely managed and documented set of requirements. Andrew’s influence in the company extended outside the Business Analysis area and he was responsible for mentoring staff, introducing documentation standards and quality process to the company. He was also instrumental in the creation of Project Management, Test and System Design disciplines within the company.

While with LogicaCMG Andrew worked in the Central Government Sector on several large e-Government projects for the RadioCommunications Agency (now part of OfCom) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).As the lead Business Analyst on a large technically complex e-Government project Andrew was responsible gathering the business requirements (utilising Rational Requisite Pro and Rose), whilst developing procedures for future projects. He was responsible for both business and systems analysis and design (using Use Cases, UML and a RUP based approach) and defining release scope. He also ran the RFI process for database solutions. Also working as a Business Consultant he developed a Channel Strategy for the Radiocommunications Agency and undertook a study for the DTI looking at potential economies of scale in a department wide approach to use of the Government Gateway. Andrew also supported the Project Managers on projects in which he was involved and is familiar with the PRINCE2 Methodology.As was one of LogicaCMG’s leading authorities on the Government Gateway attended various company wide Special Interest Groups and Training sessions.

Andrew was employed to manage and grow the production department of this e-Business Solutions provider whilst improving the company’s capabilities and procedures. He successfully grew the team from 4 to 17 people and moved there capabilities from simple web sites to integrated e-commerce and Business to Business extranet solutions. As well as management of the Production team and overall accountability for delivery Andrew’s responsibilities included: o Project and Account Management; o Project Specification/Scheduling/Pricing and Proposal Writing; o System Architecture and Designo Identifying and managing sub-contractors/partner companies; o Development of company procedures, standards and infrastructure; o Recruitment.

London, United Kingdom

As a Technical Director and founding member of 4MAT, an internet agency specialising in solutions for the recruitment industry, Andrew was responsible for the Production Team, Delivery Targets and Technical/IT Strategy and as a member of the Board was also involved in defining Company Strategy.Throughout his time at 4MAT Andrew engaged in many activities including: o Project Management (Internet & Intranet projects);o Account Management;o Technical/Business Consultancy;o Database Design;o Recruitment.

Stafford

Andrew started his career as a Software Engineer with GEC Alsthom. Andrew took part in GEC’s graduate development program learning management, communications and presentation skills.He was sponsored by GEC through university and spent his ‘year out’ working with them before going to college in Durham.

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc - Hons Dunelm), Natural Sciences (Computing / Maths)

Education record