Royal London, one of the UK’s largest mutual life, pensions and investment companies, has deployed AutoRek’s financial control platform to replace legacy reconciliation systems and support long-term growth, as pressure mounts across the sector to modernise finance operations while keeping costs under control. The move reflects a broader shift among UK financial institutions towards automation, no-code platforms and real-time balance-sheet oversight in response to expanding operations, acquisitions and regulatory complexity. Royal London says the new system has materially reduced manual workload and improved scalability across its finance function. This is reported by The WP Times, citing statements from Royal London and AutoRek.
As Royal London expanded its business and integrated additional processes, existing reconciliation tools increasingly limited efficiency and flexibility. According to the company, AutoRek’s no-code platform enabled a full overhaul of financial operations infrastructure, providing automated balance-sheet control and data reconciliation across the organisation. The firm reports that it has scaled from around 80 reconciliations to more than 100 without increasing headcount.
The platform has delivered a reported 50–70% reduction in reconciliation workload, allowing Royal London to maintain lean, self-sufficient finance teams while supporting significant growth. Importantly, the system has also enabled the integration of acquired businesses without requiring additional operational resources, a key consideration as consolidation continues across the UK financial services sector.
Tony Shek, global sales lead at AutoRek, said modern reconciliation platforms are increasingly central to finance strategy rather than simple compliance. He noted that automation allows finance teams to scale efficiently, turning finance operations into a strategic enabler for growth rather than a structural bottleneck.
From Royal London’s perspective, the cultural impact has been as significant as the technical one. Chris Copley, finance systems accountant at the group, said the introduction of automation has raised expectations internally. Teams now expect new companies and processes to be automated from day one, reflecting a shift towards automation-first thinking across the organisation. According to Copley, supporting “massive growth” with a small team would not have been feasible under the previous approach.
Industry analysts note that Royal London’s move illustrates a wider trend among UK insurers and asset managers, where automation, no-code tools and data control platforms are increasingly seen as essential to managing scale, resilience and regulatory demands in a competitive market.
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