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Overview
The British Council is a global leader in English language learning and cultural relations, reaching over 600 million people across more than 100 countries. With a mission to build connections, understanding, and trust, the organization operates at a massive scale, delivering educational opportunities and fostering international collaboration.
To maintain its competitive edge and deliver on its mission, the British Council embarked on a major transformation journey. At the core of this transformation was a need to modernize and unify its global professional services, spanning finance, procurement, HR, service desk, and IT, across complex systems and regions. The organization required a partner who could co-create a modern digital backbone while aligning closely with their values in education, inclusion, and sustainability.
To drive this vision forward, the British Council partnered with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting and business solutions.
Future-Ready and Digitally Powered: TCS transforms British Council’s Global Professional Services
Challenge
Operating across diverse geographies and regulatory environments, the British Council faced significant complexity in its core operations. Its professional services were fragmented, with legacy systems and processes that hindered agility, efficiency and scalability.
Key challenges included:
- Limited visibility into financial and operational data
- Inefficient manual processes in finance, HR, and procurement
- The need to enhance employee and candidate experiences
- A pressing requirement to reduce operational costs while maintaining service quality
- The organization needed a transformation partner who could deliver at scale, align with its values, and co-create a roadmap for sustainable growth.
Solution
TCS leveraged structured methodologies, deep domain knowledge and digital transformation expertise to re-imagine British Council’s operations with a balanced focus on people, processes, and technology. By combining a consulting-led approach, contextual intelligence, and the power of Cognix™, an AI-driven human collaboration suite, TCS enabled British Council to reshape their key professional services.
A comprehensive transformation strategy was implemented across core service areas:
Finance
In the finance function, TCS re-engineered the invoice processing system using intelligent automation, which significantly reduced manual workload and improved processing accuracy. Advanced analytics and business intelligence dashboards were deployed to offer real-time visibility into cash flows and accounts receivable. These enhancements enabled the British Council to better manage working capital and strengthen financial control.
Human Resources
In Human Resources, TCS introduced a digital adoption platform alongside an integrated service desk to streamline end-to-end HR operations. The onboarding process, background verification, payroll processing, and workforce analytics were all automated, resulting in faster and more consistent outcomes. These improvements are enriching the employee experience.
Procurement
TCS implemented a next-generation procurement solution to digitize sourcing and contract management processes. Automation was applied to routine transactional tasks such as purchase orders and approvals, while advanced analytics are now used to track supplier performance and manage vendor data effectively. TCS also deployed TCS Cognix™ to support global standardization and drive insights-based decision-making across procurement operations involving more than 5,000 employees worldwide.
Benefits
The transformation delivered by TCS has been nothing short of a game-changer:
- Significant operational cost savings across professional services
- Enhanced financial integrity and visibility across 100+ countries
- Cleanest year-end close in British Council’s history
- Improved employee and candidate experience with sustained CSAT performance
- Agile and resilient procurement operations powered by automation and analytics
- Standardized global service delivery model, fully operationalized
The solution was designed to ensure a seamless transition while laying the foundation for long-term agility and efficiency.
Watch this video to hear Eleanor Hampson, Director of Global Business Services at the British Council, talk about TCS’s pivotal role in transforming the organization’s Professional Services function by implementing best-in-class processes, leveraging advanced technologies, and driving long-term financial sustainability and strategic growth.
The strategic partnership and transformation initiative led by TCS delivered measurable improvements across financial performance, operational efficiency, and employee experience for the British Council.
It is critical that we continue to transform the British Council to ensure long term financial sustainability and growth. We believe that TCS is the right partner to help us achieve our vision of modernising and improving our Professional Services function.
