The service went live on 1 September 2019, following a competitive tender process, and covers the provision of outsourced procurement services, supporting the retailer’s marketing activities across its entire 417-store estate.
This includes POS, promotional tickets and creative services, and is serviced by a four-strong team from HH Global based at Wilko’s head office in Worksop, which includes two existing staff that have transferred to the base and two new hires.
HH Global chief executive Robert MacMillan told Printweek that due to the timing of the start of the contract, the business helped to support Wilko through its busy Halloween, Christmas and January sales periods.
“So far, so good; everyone’s happy. It wasn’t easy, but we’ve done what we said we would do so we’re really pleased.
“Previously, Wilko had worked direct to manufacture, so it wasn’t even a hybrid model before, and again we were able to convince the client that we were able to add value. I think that our technology stood out for them; we had the strength of other implementations that we’ve done, we’ve got a really strong retail client portfolio.”
He added: “And again, it’s about our people. We’ve put a great team in front of Wilko and we felt a good alignment culturally with them. We think we’ve certainly got a winning formula on the retail side and long may it continue.”
Wilko marketing planning and insight director Neil Feakins added: “When we chose to partner with HH Global, we knew that the implementation would be complex, and timelines were tight. Their approach to managing this was one of the reasons we chose them, and I’m pleased to say they delivered on everything they promised.
“The quality of their team was evident throughout the pitch process and implementation, and now they’re embedded on-site with us they’re having a real impact on our marketing team’s ability to deliver.”
As part of the agreement, HH Global said it will implement a “technology workflow solution” to further help Wilko achieve its strategic objectives and growth.
“This is an online portal for all the stores, head office can use them, replenishment can order their tickets aligned with their central retail and point-of-sale teams,” said MacMillan.
“Again, what we’re looking to do is make it more efficient, more effective and faster speed to market.”
He added: “It’s a constant process where we’re investing a lot of money to make sure we’ve got best-in-class technology that can really deliver for our clients.”
Last week Leatherhead-headquartered HH Global revealed that it has also recently been awarded a multi-year contract by Co-op and Nisa covering print and POS.
The company has also secured several other recent wins in the UK retail sector, including Asda and JD Sports. It reported a revenue increase of 17.7% in its Q2 results, which came out in December, shortly after its agreement of a £100m strategic minority equity investment from Blackstone Tactical Opportunities.
HH Global has recently taken on 270 new staff, taking the total to 1,300 worldwide, and its clients include Google, HSBC, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble and Samsung.
