BCU Bank

About BCU Bank 

 BCU Bank is a customer-owned bank who have been helping customers manage their money for over 50 years. As a division of Police & Nurses Limited (PNL) they are also one of the largest customer-owned banking organisations in Australia, reinvesting all profits back into the business for the benefit of their customers and the community. 

 With a branch network spanning the east coast of Australia from Maroochydore in Queensland to Port Macquarie in New South Wales, including a local Coffs Harbour contact centre, they are considered a realistic alternative to the big banks. The dedicated team of mobile, retail, and business banking specialists are active in their communities and offer a range of services including personal, business, and community banking. 

 

Brand Repositioning Project 

 In March 2023, BCU officially embarked on a brand repositioning project to refresh their visual and verbal identity, complete with a new logo, font, colour palette, imagery, and tone of voice. The project put a fresh modern face on a brand rich in history that hadn’t been refreshed in over a decade. With these changes impacting every aspect of the organisation and uniforms acting as an important visual tool for BCU, it was important they too reflected the brand’s new look.  

 

The Importance of Uniforms  

The BCU workplace is collaborative and engaging, where people can learn, develop, and thrive. Their uniforms need to reflect professionalism, acceptance, team collaboration, style, comfort, durability, and quality.  

 Supported by over 570 employees in group services ranging from administrative, management, branch, through to customer-facing, and mobile lenders. The new design branded uniform was for BCU’s customer-facing staff. 

 

The Process of Working with Uniformity to Find the Perfect Solution  

In the discovery stage, it was determined the new uniform needed to meet the following criteria: 

• Gender neutral 

• High quality 

• Functional 

• Durable 

• Contemporary-classic and stylish 

• Fit for purpose across the entire organisation, regardless of role 

• Comfortable / easy to wear 

• The perfect balance between corporate and casual fashion 

• Broadness of range and styles; from casual pants, dresses, and skirts, to white shirts and smart blazers 

• A versatile white shirt was deemed mandatory by staff to be included in the uniform collection; one that fit well, was easy to clean, easy to wear, and didn’t need ironing (the previous white shirt had required a lot of ironing so an improvement to this was required) 

• Large selection of sizes 

• Maternity and breast-feeding friendly options 

• Incorporate the new BCU brand colours with orange being the dominant brand colour, followed by an eggplant (purple) shade, and neutral colours, white, cream, black and tan  

• Standard stock consisting of an “off the shelf” range rather than a bespoke, custom-made design. “Customisation” being embroidery of the BCU logo  

 Keeping all of the above in mind, team Uniformity sourced a broad selection of samples and styles which were then provided to BCU to trial amongst their staff. 

 

“We wanted a new branded uniform that expressed our refreshed BCU Bank brand identity while balancing corporate and casual fashion without losing quality and functionality. Uniformity supported bringing our vision to life and delivered a uniform that all areas of the business are proud to wear.” 

Michelle Hemingway, Senior Manager Marketing, Customer Engagement & Brand, BCU Bank and P&N Bank  

 

The BCU People and Culture Team internally managed the sampling process where nominated team members completed feedback surveys on the initial samples as well as any suggestions for edits.  

 A summary of suggested improvements was then provided to Uniformity who modified styles and colours based on the invaluable staff feedback, which included aligning with PNL’s other customer-owned banking brand, P&N Bank in Western Australia. 

 

The Final Results  

 → A uniform that BCU and Uniformity are both very proud of. 

→ Contemporary-classic, comfortable, a broad assortment of styles, and fit for purpose. 

→ Online shop with inventory management which allows staff to seamlessly order uniforms online when needed. 

→ Uniformity are SEDEX accredited. A big factor in meeting ESG reporting requirements. 

→ What was really important to the BCU People and Culture team was that Uniformity were an Australian brand and provider of uniform.