Definia
Updating DEFRA’S Biosecurity Systems

Updating DEFRA’S Biosecurity Systems

Define

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) contacted Definia about a highly politicised and urgent piece of work that had unexpectantly arisen due to ongoing delays to the UK’s EU exit date.

The systems used by biosecurity border staff across Europe changed in 2019. Not expecting to be affected due to the changes in its dealings with the EU, the UK had not adapted its biosecurity services. As the delayed EU exit date moved to January 2020, DEFRA had to adapt to the system changes or face a potential fine from the EU, adding to ongoing tension.

Design

Definia had four weeks to gather the required information, design a training module, deliver training to 3,500 border staff and hand over a curriculum for further educational training work. Encompassing remote and onsite training, this would involve an online training workstream, training the trainers and producing quality curriculum material.

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The solution
The Outcome

Deliver

Definia deployed a team of 12 at extremely short notice and begun the work. The team consisted of a mix of project managers, business analysts and training professionals, split between working remotely, onsite at DEFRA, at the Definia offices and at various ports across the UK to deliver the training.

The project was delivered successfully before the hard EU-set date in January. Most notably, this piece of work was delivered to a much cheaper cost than utilising a big 4 consulting firm. Because of Definia’s associate network, we were able to piece together a small but high capacity team of experts with a clear focus – timely delivery and a happy customer.