Mike Cutts of UK IT Industry Awards finalist First Response Finance tells us all about his company’s work in the last 12 months that helped it reach the shortlist for one of the sector’s most widely recognised prizes.

IT has grown in prominence over the last decade. No longer seen as a cost centre, it’s now widely accepted that people can use IT to improve their creativity, productivity and knowledge.

The UK IT Industry Awards celebrate that evolution as the largest and most well-known event in the technology industry calendar. Owned and operated by Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, the awards enjoy a level of professionalism and industry knowledge not seen at other shows.

This year’s winners will be announced at a live awards ceremony on Wednesday 12th November in London.

First Response Finance is a finalist in Financial Services Project of the Year category.

We talked to Mike Cutts, Business Intelligence Team Leader at First Response, to find out more about the company’s biggest challenges and achievements over the past year.

Mike has been at First Response for over 11 years. During his tenure at the company, Mike and the BI team have implemented an Enterprise Data Warehouse, a fully integrated visualisation product and an end-to-end automated decision-making platform.

Why do you think awards like the UK IT Industry Awards matter?

It is always important to recognise achievement in the workplace and the UK IT Industry Awards is the pinnacle of recognition in the IT sector. We have attended the awards night previously and one comment resonated with me afterwards…”Wow, these are like the Oscars but in IT!”.

What would winning this award mean to your company?

I am very fortunate to work in a company that recognises achievement. We have an area of the office dedicated to awards we have won in the past, and I have a feeling that if we were fortunate enough to win the award, it would take pride of place for everyone who visits us to see.

I have already forwarded the finalists’ e-mail signature and social tile to our marketing team and I’m sure that will be making an appearance shortly on our e-mail footers and website content.

What would you say is your company’s proudest achievement over the past year?

Without doubt the project that we have been selected as a finalist for, Athena. It is unique within our market and will form the platform for all future decision-making.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2025 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

One of the biggest challenges we have seen is a recent change in our credit bureau scorecard. We noticed significant differences in score distribution, a drop in conversion and elevated levels of rejection. The speed at which we could react to this and implement change was testament to the success of the project.

The team have helped with this by applying scientific methodologies to their analysis of data and, along with significant input from our operation, have applied a coordinated approach to problem-solving. The synergy between the operation and the tech team has been a pleasure to be a part of.

How do you think the industry has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

We have seen widespread acceptance and adoption of AI over the last year. I think in the finance sector specifically, it needs to follow the trend of wider society’s passion for this still-developing technology and be brave. The finance sector is built on risk-taking at a micro level – it should now adopt that at a macro level.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the industry in the coming year? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

As per the changes over the last year, I think the further adoption of AI will be key to driving growth in the sector. Imaginative, novel and disruptive solutions are required to drive forward. We had the dotcom boom in the late 90s and AI is of a similar magnitude, we all just need to get in the boat and start rowing!

The UK IT Industry Awards will take place on 12th November in London. Click here to view the shortlist and here to book your table.