Driving delivery success in omnichannel retail with Comensura MSP Solution

In the UK, the client's online business now accounts for around 45% of total revenue, with the rest coming from its 282 UK-based stores. A stronger e-commerce operation brings massive opportunities, but it comes with challenges such as the cost of delivery vehicles, operating costs including fuel, and the use of labour.  

Demands are further increased during seasonal peaks such as Christmas, large sporting events which drive TV sales or new academic year driving laptop sales. 

The client wanted greater oversight into its temporary workforce needs during both peak periods and ‘standard’ times of the year. They wanted more visibility on spend and fulfilment, to drive improved productivity and enhanced efficiencies across the temporary worker population.  

Negotiating the complexities of the recent government changes to IR35 and what this meant for individual contingent workers, agencies and mini-umbrella organisations and how to mitigate against the legislative changes to ensure compliant standards were also factors to consider.  

Comensura won the contract to be the client’s Managed Service Provider (MSP) in 2024. Outsourcing the management of temporary labour across the retail division was a new concept to our client and one that was respectfully embarked on by both project management teams.   

At the start of the programme the client was using around 60 recruitment suppliers to fulfill the temporary drivers needed to cover the 24 regional depots around the UK. Despite the panel of long-standing, incumbent suppliers, the business was still struggling to meet the demands for drivers across the UK.