Making the Break from Legacy Systems to Digital Independence

A low-code legacy: How Croydon Council built 30+ applications and saved more than £1 million each year

The challenge

In 2019, Croydon Council grappled with a range of costly and inefficient challenges. Microsoft Dynamics CRM licences and consultant fees were consuming around £1.5 million annually just to maintain custom-built applications. Their digital environment was fragmented with multiple, disconnected platforms and various form-based systems. Joined-up service delivery was increasingly difficult, and it hindered their ability to be agile and responsive.

Many essential services were managed through spreadsheets, prone to errors and difficult to scale and manage.  Croydon was looking for a more sustainable and efficient approach to digital service delivery.

Delivering results quickly

Croydon adopted our Citizen Hub solution, giving them a full-stack, low-code case management, workflow and process automation platform specifically designed for councils, powered by Liberty Create. grappled with a range of costly and inefficient challenges. Microsoft Dynamics CRM licences and consultant fees were consuming around £1.5 million annually just to maintain custom-built applications. Their digital environment was fragmented with multiple, disconnected platforms and various form-based systems. Joined-up service delivery was increasingly difficult, and it hindered their ability to be agile and responsive.

“Building in low-code is easily 10–20 times faster than using traditional ‘slow code.’ Within our first year, we saw how transformative it could be. Five years on, I’m still amazed at how seamlessly we collaborate in Liberty Create – our team tackles different parts of a project simultaneously, leveraging our strengths and accelerating delivery. It’s so powerful.

Kevin Rowe

Digital Platform Development Manager, Croydon Council

The solution

“We integrated over 400 service lines into our general enquiries app, enabling services to be accessed through a single, streamlined smart form. There are hundreds of possible combinations of questions, but we didn’t need to build 400 different forms. Liberty Create enabled us to build 1 form, that can do 400 different things.”

Kevin Rowe

Digital Platform Development Manager, Croydon Council

The result

  • No longer dependent on consultants: Saving approximately £1.8m annually
  • Reduced licensing costs: Eliminated £280,000+ annual Dynamics licensing
  • Increased application conversions: From 6% to 16% success rate, or up to 75% online applications (disabled person’s freedom pass)
  • Revenue generation: Multiple fee-paying services now processed digitally
  • Reduced processing time: Staff report significant time savings across all services
  • Improved visibility: 360-degree customer view in Citizen Hub CRM
  • Better resource allocation: Data-driven decision making
  • Faster processing: Automated workflows reduce waiting and citizens can access services 24/7
  • Improved communication: With automated updates and notifications
  • Reduced errors: Digital processes eliminate manual data entry mistakes.

Impact

£1.8m Annual Savings

by removing dependency on consultants and licence fees

30+ Services

built a comprehensive suite of digital services in low-code

2.5x Higher Enquiry-to-approval Conversion Rate

in converting enquiries to approved foster carers

Break free from legacy constraints

Here’s how you can implement a large-scale drive for operational excellence.

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