News
20th January 2025
Introducing a new blog series where we shine a light on some of the exciting businesses shaping our city’s future. From emerging technology developments to bold innovations driving economic growth, we’re sharing the stories of some of the companies driving progress and making a difference. Our Smart City team is excited to celebrate these stories and highlight the inspiring work happening right here in Sunderland.
In the first edition of this series, Sunderland City Council’s Chief Innovation and Growth Officer, Naomi Hutchinson, spoke to Vantec’s Head of Engineering, DX and IT, Ian Loughlin, about the organisation’s digital transformation journey. Vantec is a logistics company with over 30 years of experience providing a range of services. In recent years, the company has undergone a significant digital transformation, expanding its offerings to include software development, data science, and consultancy.
From Naomi’s very first meeting with Vantec, she was struck by the incredible culture of their team, with staff united by shared goals and enthusiastically embracing technology to enhance the business. It was clear that their approach to embracing new skills and innovation was key to the organisation’s success. We wanted to share Vantec’s story, not just because of what has been achieved by the team, but because of digital’s role in the success. In our conversation, we delve deeper into the story of Vantec’s digital transformation – an inspiring journey that we’re excited to bring to light for others to learn from.
Look out for future industry insights and a closer look at the talent powering our city’s success.
For over 30 years, Vantec has provided logistics services to a range of partners. We employ over 1,200 people with a turnover of £60m a year. I don’t think much changed from 1990 up until a few years ago; we offered logistics, warehousing, engineering solutions, bespoke IT systems and last-mile transport services for our partners: which we did safely, and we did well.
Vantec’s transformation over the last few years has been amazing. We still offer the same support, but now also provide software development, data science, consultancy, commercialised training, and immersive, gamified training. This evolution has given Vantec a unique selling point for partners and potential new partners.
Vantec’s Head of Engineering, DX and IT, Ian Loughlin
We don’t see ourselves as a traditional logistics company and have always strived to offer more than the traditional.
The United Kingdom leaving the European Union, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, changed the industry and the environment. It was already highly competitive, so change to our business model was critical to not only continued success, but to long-term survival. We carried out extensive market research into competitiveness in the sector, with customers advising that differentiation in the industry is how service providers can add extra value and complement our existing services; it is what Vantec could do differently that would make all the difference. Businesses reported the need for digitalisation but lacked the strategic direction and the skills to deliver – the team at Vantec acknowledged this as a gap to be explored.
Several key turning points have shaped our digital journey. First and foremost, we made a strategic decision to fully embrace digital transformation, recognising it as a critical factor for long-term success, not just a nice-to-have initiative.
Perhaps the most important turning point for me came when I was asked to lead this change. Whilst I was familiar with some of the technologies available, I knew little of the subject. My Master’s degree in digital transformation opened my eyes to digital strategy, the pitfalls of digital transformation, data management, and the role of psychology and ontology. I also learned how to use systems theory to simplify complex subjects.
Another turning point was the development of a digital transformation strategy and aligning this to the business strategy. Companies should use technology to solve business problems, not the other way around: focusing on the latest tech without a clear need can be costly and ineffective, so a sound understanding of how to strategically deploy technology is essential.
The last point is ensuring that this resource had autonomy from the rest of the business; having the ability to be able to pursue both exploitative and exploratory innovation has been very important and is difficult to do when the team are involved in day-to-day operations. Explorative innovation projects may not add value or make us money now, but are essential for the future of the business.
Culture is always difficult to frame! I was conscious of what sort of structure I wanted to put in place for the team when transitioning into my role. The hierarchical nature of operations teams is often reflected in the indirect areas, and this can be stifling – certainly when trying to foster innovation. With this in mind, we aimed for a functional team, where we are all equal in terms of challenge, project direction and agreement on next steps. I really feel this has been beneficial as team members are consistently aware of what we’re trying to achieve – we just agree on how we are going to get there.
The team itself has evolved somewhat organically. It is built up predominantly from people who were already in the business and with many years of service and who showed a desire and the potential to add value to the team. These team members brought a broad and deep understanding of our business and our partners.
Vantec has consistently supported employees’ professional development, investing in our talent and empowering the team to gain technical skills. Many team members are pursuing advanced degrees in fields such as data science and cybersecurity, and I am working towards an MBA in order to support how we manage our solutions with our sister companies and partners. We will continue in this way as it is this combination of operational, technical, theoretical, and academic knowledge which has underpinned the rapid acceleration of significant business change and provides Vantec with a “unique” value proposition. It also gives those undertaking academic work the platform to apply it, massively contributing to the quality of work produced, and retention of the knowledge gained. The wider business emphasises onboarding and engaging our employees, and our DX and data competency framework embeds digital skills across the business.
The DX team helps other departments with digital projects, increasing individual and organisational digital acumen. We also utilise gamification and immersive technologies to train our teams, allowing employees to experience real-life situations, while increasing retention and engagement.
A lot of this drives itself: once people had experienced a new way of working, and the benefits it can bring, they wanted more. It’s a hugely exciting journey to be part of, and bringing people along with us hasn’t been an arduous task and is not something which should be feared.
Vantec colleague completing forklift training using gamification and immersion
This is a difficult question to answer, specifically when talking about digital transformation, as return on investment (ROI) is not necessarily always the primary goal, and the degree of digital transformation can be difficult to measure.
Without doubt the biggest benefit has been the fundamental changes DX has made to the business. We now have better information to make decisions, which has increased our USP and brought new business opportunities. Our brand image has improved, and we are now viewed as a forward-thinking business. DX has also transformed the way we engage and communicate with our colleagues, creating digitally competent employees. What stands out most is how we have turned data into information on a large scale. This has allowed us the vision and the insights to make informed decisions and has influenced improved cost management, safety improvements and superior management of our transport fleet.
Over the years, many departments at Vantec reached optimal efficiency within their resources and methods. Innovation has since broken these barriers, dramatically improving operational efficiency.
I’ll start with what we couldn’t do without, and I’ll begin with something I’ve already mentioned: business commitment. I’ve had the full support of my MD and the freedom to develop our strategy and associated projects. The second, as I’ve already mentioned, education and organisational knowledge have been vital.
What we couldn’t find was tech companies with applied knowledge. Initially, we focused on partnering with tech companies but faced challenges due to high costs and uncertain returns. This led us to accelerate our internal capabilities, developing most software and solutions in-house.
On a personal level, I’ve really enjoyed watching the team grow stronger and receive recognition for all their hard work, including awards for DX and business transformation!
From a business perspective, we have come so far in a relatively short period of time. People want to work for us, and we have roles that seemed unimaginable five years ago: data scientists, business analysts, software developers, IT support, and game developers. It’s especially rewarding that some of these roles have been filled by existing members of the team, empowered and driven to do something new and exciting in the business.
Health and safety training in one of Vantec’s interactive experience suites
Start small and align your efforts with your own strategy (not necessarily the global one if you’re in a large organisation). We began by identifying laborious areas with poor data availability and non-value-added tasks, then implemented suitable solutions.
It’s also vital to have the right person to lead. I see in many businesses that it is an IT manager or a manufacturing director leading digital transformation, which I think is wrong. IT enables transformation, but the leader should strategically bridge the gap between technology and operations.
A common concern is that technology will quickly become outdated. While obsolescence must be managed, the technology doesn’t change as quickly as you may think. Changes are often incremental, and new or disruptive technologies can take years to become widely available.
One of the biggest pitfalls and failures with technology introduction, is there’s no such thing as plug-and-play when it comes to introducing technology into the business. Strong consideration needs to be given to the interoperability of that technology with existing systems and practices to ensure there are limited unintentional consequences of the deployment.
Finally, don’t forget about the people element. Digital transformation is inherently sociotechnical, so all technology and systems we have in place interact with people in different ways. Consider how your people will use the technologies you are looking to introduce.
I think it is important that we don’t become complacent. We universally understand that whilst digital transformation is affording us a competitive advantage, continuous improvement is required for this to be sustained.
We aim to stay at the forefront of sector technology, and plan to introduce generative AI and robotic process automation to better serve our partners, continuing our strategy of exploiting and exploring innovation.
Strategically, our growing customer base shows that technology developed is not restricted to use in our current sector, only the deployment changes. We have already begun to sell services to industries such as healthcare and education, which is very important to the business.
If you’d like to learn more about Sunderland’s award-winning Smart City programme, visit www.sunderlandoursmartcity.com.
Learn more about logistics company Vantec by visiting their website, www.vantec-gl.com.
Do you know an inspiring digital business in Sunderland that you’d like to see us feature? Get in touch with Sunderland City Council’s Naomi Hutchinson by emailing naomi.hutchinson@sunderland.gov.uk.