For 50 years, GS1 standards have revolutionized industries from retail to healthcare. These standards, encompassing everything from product barcodes to patient wristbands, streamline processes and enhance efficiency. GS1 UK, part of a global network of 116 non-profit organizations, plays a key role in upholding these standards.

GS1 UK focuses on the retail, healthcare, and construction sectors, supporting over 60,000 members with unique identification, accurate data capture, and automatic information sharing. Their current three-year strategy, ‘Growth with Purpose,’ is driven by an 80-strong team managing technology-led projects and a significant data services transformation.

In 2023, GS1 UK partnered with Wellingtone to provide tailored project management training and executive-level assurance for their data services transformation. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Wellingtone is also helping GS1 UK harness Microsoft Planner’s evolving capabilities.

Image of GS1 UK logo
Wellingtone Microsoft Partner of the Year award badge

Overview

Customer

GS1 UK

What did we do?

We delivered a customized project management training program, implemented a suite of reports while providing Microsoft training.

Key Highlights

  • Comprehensive project management training for the entire organization.
  • Embedding sustainable project management skills from junior staff to the C-suite.
  • Providing independent, benchmarked assurance for GS1 UK’s largest transformation program.
  • Enhancing staff skills in Microsoft Planner for advanced project management.

Customized Project Management Training

GS1 UK has long had a PMO function but faced challenges maintaining consistent project management practices. Joe Kelly, Head of Information Systems, emphasized the need for practical, cost-effective training to standardize project management across the organization.

“GS1 UK has had a PMO function in place, but, over the years, we have struggled to embed consistent project management practices sustainably,” says Joe. “Our people are fantastic, but most are not formally trained project managers. As time passes and colleagues change, ways of working can get lost in translation. In 2023, we brought in a new PMO function to standardize how we do projects. Documentation was a key issue, as was ensuring that projects followed a consistent life cycle and collating project reporting data for leadership. We needed to find a practical, cost-effective way of training our people in the project management fundamentals so that everyone understands how to run a project correctly, and that knowledge is embedded and cascaded through the organization.”

The Training Program

Wellingtone designed a training program aligned with the Association for Project Management (APM) frameworks.

“Wellingtone’s training consultant took the time to understand exactly what we needed,” Joe continues. “She worked closely with our PMO to rewrite documentation where needed, identify live project cases to bring the training to life, and ensure that the program was tailored to us while still aligned to established Association for Project Management frameworks and principles.”

The training covered the entire project life cycle. Mark Gillott, Director of Standards & Solutions, highlighted the inclusivity and practical focus of the training, which addressed real-world challenges.

“We’re a very inclusive organization, so it was natural for us to have the C-suite learning collaboratively with our staff,” he says. “The practical tone of the training impressed me. It focused on the real challenges we face. Our trainer took the time to understand delegate profiles among each cohort, giving her the insight to enable everyone to participate confidently, regardless of experience or seniority. We received excellent feedback, and I agree with other delegates that we all left the course armed with the knowledge that we could immediately apply to our work environment. We can train every new person coming in so that everyone at GS1 UK can correctly run projects.”

Assurance for Major Data Services Transformation

GS1 UK is undergoing its largest-ever transformation with a new data services platform, enhancing capabilities to meet members’ evolving needs.

“Our Numberbank data platform is the most powerful offering we have. It issues individual number prefixes to our members, which enables them to generate the unique item numbers they need to use our barcoding and standards,” says Joe. “The world is changing. Members increasingly expect immediate access to rich metadata that generates all the information they need to capture across GS1 keys, barcodes, and standards in a digitally-led society. So, we are building out a much larger, completely self-managed data service that will equip us to create new datasets to meet the needs of our members and define new services that will enable us to scale for new industries. It is without question the largest transformation we have ever undertaken.”

Mark, the program sponsor, adds, “This program is, quite rightly, highly visible. We have established a strong governance function comprising directors, our executive board, and a supervisory board of representative members. We wanted to overlay that governance with independent, third-party expertise to validate our progress from multiple perspectives, including technical, governance, and risk. When we talked to Wellingtone, they provided a compelling proposal. So far, Wellingone’s consultant has produced four quarterly reports. They are structured against an international audit standard, with graded insights benchmarked against recognized best practices. Wellingtone’s consultant displayed expertise and authority. She skillfully positioned her questioning to uncover any risks or issues across all stakeholders and the supply chain so that we could address them proactively. The quality of the reports has been superb and has given us real confidence that we are on track.”

Wellingtone’s quarterly reports, benchmarked against international audit standards, provided insights into the project’s trajectory. Their consultant’s expertise uncovered potential risks proactively.

Future-Proofing with Microsoft Planner

Looking ahead, GS1 UK is collaborating with Wellingtone to adapt training to Microsoft Planner’s new capabilities. “We know that Microsoft is taking Planner to a whole new level as a project management tool,” says Joe. “Wellingtone is supporting us in getting ahead of the curve so that we can introduce people to, for example, resource and dependency functions as they roll out. I would recommend the quality of Wellingtone’s engagement and training to anyone in the project management space. I have already done so several times!”