Leyland SDM, the decorating and DIY specialist, has digitised in-store processes and colleague communication in partnership with YOOBIC, the digital workplace solution for frontline teams, to support its rapid growth serving the professional trade, home renovators and DIY enthusiasts across London.

Leyland SDM has grown to become one of the most recognisable and trusted decorating and DIY brands in the capital with stores in prominent locations across the city. The stores stock a comprehensive range of thousands of products across all departments, including paint and decorating essentials, building materials, electrical fittings, tools, plumbing equipment, and ironmongery.

The rapidly scaling business, which has seen five new outlets open in the past two months, wanted to modernise and streamline communications across its network of 30 stores, which had previously been delivered via multiple back-office systems and paper processes. This complexity was leading to higher operational costs and non-optimised customer service for the retailer whose industry leading advice, delivered by frontline colleagues, is its key differentiator to its big box competitors.

Following a successful rollout by Selco, also part of the Grafton Group stable of brands, Leyland SDM deployed the YOOBIC mobile-first platform across its store estate in January 2021.

By delivering communication, merchandising and health and safety checklists to colleagues in the flow of work, Leyland SDM has seen an increase in employee engagement across the business, explains Jonathan Jennings, Chief Executive of Leyland SDM.

“YOOBIC gives us the capacity to drive our operations at scale by improving operational efficiency and communication across our network. The platform provides greater visibility across operations and facilitates quick and efficient communication amongst our colleagues. This has encouraged greater knowledge sharing, collaboration and innovation amongst our frontline workers who are responsible for – and central to – delivering the excellent customer experience that is necessary to drive forward the growth of our business.”

“Additionally, the ability to receive real-time feedback from our store colleagues ensures we can respond to customer feedback and streamline processes in a more cost effective and agile manner.” Jennings concluded.