Currys: when a small operational decision became a brand issue
The context
Currys operates at national scale, where thousands of small operational decisions quietly shape how the brand is perceived by customers and the public.
The challenge
A health and safety decision removed jet-wash facilities from delivery depots. As a result, delivery vans began leaving warehouses visibly dirty. On the surface, this felt like a minor operational issue. In reality, it was eroding brand trust every time a van arrived at a customer’s home or drove through a neighbourhood.
No single team owned the problem. Health and safety had made a reasonable decision in isolation. Delivery teams felt the impact but lacked a route to challenge it. Silos meant the wider consequence was invisible.
The intervention
Through customer experience work and frontline engagement, delivery teams were encouraged to look at the situation through the customer’s eyes and ask a simple question: what does this signal about us as a brand?
That perspective gave teams the confidence to raise the issue constructively. Rather than confrontation, the conversation focused on impact. Health and safety were brought into the discussion, context was shared, and assumptions were challenged.
The outcome
A new, safer process was introduced. Staff were certified to use the equipment properly, jet-wash facilities were reinstated, and ownership was clarified.
The fix itself was simple. The impact was not.
A silo was broken. Frontline teams felt heard. A national brand issue was resolved - a small moment of customer experience improvement that demonstrated how asking the right questions, at the right level, leads to better outcomes.
The fix itself was simple. The impact was not.