Case Study
From Spreadsheets to Seamless Booking: How FDP Revolutionised Course Management for Unite the Union
Transforming complex course booking into a seamless digital experience for Learn with Unite.
Problem Before
Learn with Unite, the official digital learning platform for Unite the Union members, delivers valuable ECS courses across multiple locations and scheduled dates, each with limited capacity. However, the operational backbone supporting this offering was increasingly unsustainable.
Course bookings were managed through fragmented spreadsheets, constant email threads, and frequent coordination calls between internal teams and training locations. Availability tracking, attendee management, and scheduling updates required manual intervention across multiple stakeholders, creating a high risk of duplication, errors, and miscommunication.
Payment processing further complicated the workflow. Transactions were handled manually via bank transfers and mixed payment methods, requiring significant effort from the administrative team to match payments against bookings and maintain accurate financial records. This resulted in delayed reconciliation cycles and reduced operational visibility across the programme.
Cost of the Problem
Prior to intervention, the organisation incurred an estimated 18–22 hours per week of administrative overhead across coordination, booking management, and payment reconciliation activities.
This equated to an approximate annual operational burden of £35,000–£45,000 in internal resource time, excluding indirect costs such as delayed reporting, inefficiencies in course allocation, and reduced staff availability for learner-facing activities.
The Solution
FDP implemented a bespoke end-to-end booking and payment management system, fully integrated into the existing Learn with Unite website.
We developed a centralised platform that enabled real-time course scheduling, location-based availability management, and automated attendee registration. The system introduced an integrated online checkout, eliminating reliance on manual bank transfers and enabling instant payment confirmation and reconciliation.
Our solution also included automated reporting tools, downloadable attendee lists, and streamlined financial tracking, allowing both operational and finance teams to access accurate, up-to-date information without manual consolidation.
By removing fragmented processes and replacing them with a unified digital workflow, FDP enabled the organisation to delegate the entire booking lifecycle to the system from registration through to payment and reporting.
Measurable Outcome
Following implementation, Learn with Unite achieved significant operational improvements:
- Up to 70% reduction in administrative time spent on booking coordination and scheduling
- Over 90% reduction in payment reconciliation effort, with automated matching of transactions to bookings
- Real-time visibility of course occupancy, improving capacity planning and reducing overbooking risk
- Faster reporting cycles, reducing manual reporting preparation from days to minutes
- Increased focus on course delivery, with staff redirected from administrative workload to learner engagement
Overall, FDP's solution transformed a fragmented, manual process into a scalable digital system, enabling Learn with Unite to expand its course offering with confidence while significantly improving operational efficiency and financial control.
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