of transport & storage firms report no AI use and no plans to adopt it, among the highest of any UK sector.
DSIT, 2026
AI for wholesale & distribution
Every order touched by hand three times.
Updated September 2026
I'm a London-based fractional AI officer helping UK distributors and hauliers automate order processing, supplier invoices, proof-of-delivery paperwork and reporting: the manual re-keying that quietly eats a depot's week.
The sector's own numbers
of retail and distribution businesses neither use AI nor plan to.
DSIT, 2026
of UK SMEs say they "use AI", but only around one in ten are actually automating any part of their operations.
BCC, 2026
The businesses that run on paperwork have automated the least of it.
Where the time actually goes
Four places the paperwork piles up in a typical wholesaler, builders' merchant or haulage firm, and roughly what a working system could hand back each month.
Order processing
~£900/moNow: orders arrive by email, phone and PDF attachment, and someone keys each one into the order system by hand: checking stock, pricing and account details as they go.
Instead: inbound orders are read automatically, matched against stock and price, and loaded as a draft ready for a quick human check before it's confirmed.
Supplier invoices & price files
~£600/moNow: supplier invoices are reconciled against purchase orders by hand, and price file updates are rekeyed line by line across thousands of SKUs.
Instead: invoices are matched to POs automatically and price file changes are loaded and flagged for exceptions only, not retyped from scratch.
Proof of delivery & haulage paperwork
~£450/moNow: PODs are chased from drivers and depots, scanned and filed by hand, and invoices wait on the paperwork catching up.
Instead: PODs are captured, matched to the delivery and filed automatically, so invoicing isn't waiting on someone finding a signature.
Reporting
~£450/moNow: margin, stock and depot performance are pulled together into a spreadsheet by hand, once a week, usually by someone who has better things to do.
Instead: the same numbers sit in a dashboard that refreshes itself, so the weekly build becomes a five-minute read instead of a day's work.
Illustrative arithmetic, not a quote: assumes a loaded staff cost of roughly £18/hour and hours typical of a mid-sized distributor (10–20 hours a week per line above), with 55–70% of that time released once the manual re-typing is removed. Your audit prices your own operation, not this one.
How it works
Four stages · most clients start at stage two
1. Readiness check
FreeTwelve questions, about four minutes, no signup. A scored breakdown across leadership, operations, data and people.
Take the check →2. AI Opportunity Audit
£3,500Half a day on site: in the office and on the warehouse floor. Every recommendation comes back priced in £/month saved. The roadmap is yours to keep, whether or not you hire me again.
Book a walkthrough →3. Fractional AI Officer
From £4,500/moMonthly strategy with you, the MD. Systems built with your team (order desk, warehouse, transport office) not around them, plus the training so they can run it themselves.
Ask about this →4. Installed systems
OngoingA live dashboard of your business, and a set of automations your own people can run and maintain without me in the room.
Ask about this →Most clients start with the audit, it's built to stand on its own, not as a funnel into the retainer.
Why not the usual consultancy
I build things myself
This page is hand-coded, at the same domain you're reading it on: no agency, no template. The readiness check is a working tool, not a mockup. You can see the rest of the work on the homepage.
Your team learns to run it
Coaching your order desk, transport office and warehouse team to run a system beats renting mine to run it for you. The capability stays in the building after I leave.
Priced in your arithmetic
Every recommendation carries its own £/month figure. If it doesn't pay for itself, it doesn't go on the roadmap.
Frequently asked questions
Is the readiness check free?
Yes. It's twelve questions, about four minutes, no signup, and gives you a scored breakdown across leadership, operations, data and people.
What happens during the AI Opportunity Audit?
Half a day on site, in the office and on the warehouse floor, costing £3,500. Every recommendation comes back priced in £/month saved, and the roadmap is yours to keep, whether or not you hire me again.
What does the Fractional AI Officer retainer include?
From £4,500 a month: monthly strategy with you, the MD, systems built with your order desk, warehouse and transport office rather than around them, plus the training so they can run it themselves.
Ready to see where you stand?
Start with the four-minute check, or skip straight to a conversation, whichever you'd rather do.
Prefer email? rory@roryphillips.dev