Goodbye, Excel: Automating Bank Guarantees at Arup

A frequent user of bank guarantees to support its business, the treasury function at Arup was frustrated by using Excel spreadsheets for the application, maintenance and reporting of guarantees. Automating the process through a module from Trezone was the key to greater efficiency – and to reinforcing Group Treasury’s reputation as a proactive centre of excellence.

Multinational design and engineering firm Arup Group (Arup) uses bank guarantees, standby letters of credit and surety guarantees for its engineering business. The company is frequently requested to provide a tender guarantee when bidding for work. Once the project is won, it isn’t uncommon for performance and advance payment guarantees to be requested.

Arup maintains significant available facilities, drawing down between 60-80% at any one time. There is a primary facility in the UK, with smaller facilities in Australia, Hong Kong, China, Turkey, Poland and Colombia. In total, there will usually be around 200 guarantees in issue, with an average churn of up to three guarantees per week.

Historically the capture of the applications, maintenance and reporting of these guarantees has been on Excel spreadsheets, which made this a manually intensive process. Identifying this inefficiency, Arup’s treasury team decided to look for a solution to enhance the operation.

Download our Free Treasury App for mobile and tablet to read articles – no log in required.

Download Version Download Version