Edinburgh, 12th November 2025 – APP Wholesale Ltd (APP), the UK’s leading independent distributor and merchant of plumbing, heating products and renewable plumbing products, has implemented Podfather delivery software to streamline its nationwide logistics operation, further enhance its customer service, and enforce its environmental commitments. Operating across the UK, offering a nationwide next-day delivery service, APP stocks more than 40,000 products, across 16 locations, and makes up to 1,000 deliveries a day. Using the newly implemented Podfather solution, APP has already reduced its delivery failure rate to below 1 percent, it has reduced both mileage and fuel costs, and has introduced real-time customer updates.
“Prior to Podfather, our delivery operations heavily depended on back-office support for route planning, reporting, and customer service”, said Craig Stanford, Operations Director at APP Wholesale Ltd. “This created bottlenecks and inefficiencies, with manual tasks slowing us down and placing a high burden on our support teams.”
Before selecting Podfather, APP undertook a thorough benchmarking process, evaluating multiple systems for delivery management. Using criteria to evaluate functionality, integration capabilities, support, and sustainability impact, Podfather stood out for its comprehensive feature set and strong peer reviews. Podfather also aligned with APP’s operational goals and environmental commitments.
“Podfather offered a robust suite of tools including route planning, delivery optimisation, vehicle checks, real-time tracking, POD capture, and automated reporting,” Stanford continued. “In addition, its intuitive interface and strong support team made it the ideal choice, eliminating friction in our logistics operation and enhancing the quality and efficiency of our customer service.”
Now, using Podfather across multiple operation areas, APP has seen a saving in mileage and fuels costs achieved through smarter routing, it has also realised a significant reduction in paperwork and admin hours, and enhanced invoicing speed and accuracy. In addition, APP has been able to increase its job allocation capacity and completion rates, and has achieved a big improvement in customer fulfilment rates.
“Podfather has given us the ‘customer point of view’ so we know what we are doing well and where we have failures,” he added. “This means we can improve in any shortfalls or react quickly to short-term issues. We have already seen our failure rate drop to below 1 percent within a single month of roll-out and this programme of continuous improvement is something we plan to build on.”
“Strategically, Podfather has supported key milestones in the APP journey including digitisation of the customer journey, accurate metric capture, streamlining and fixes of back office and other internal processes and a reorganisation of our North of England and Scottish operations,” Standford concluded.
“Working alongside our own team, and with our other software partners, Podfather has also enabled custom enhancements like vendor codes, purchase order integration, and improved data flows, and we plan to expand its use across more branches and integrate additional features such as automated returns and enhanced reporting.”
APP Wholesale Ltd, part of Lords Group Trading plc, is a leading distributor of high-quality plumbing, heating, and renewable solutions across the UK. Committed to delivering exceptional service and innovative products, APP supports professionals in the industry with a comprehensive range of products from trusted brands. With a focus on sustainability and efficiency, APP is dedicated to meeting the evolving needs of merchants, installers and their customers. The company operates through two primary divisions: APP Plumbing and Heating, with eight distribution centres nationwide, and Mr Central Heating, with 11 branches across the UK. This extensive network enables APP to provide reliable, local service and rapid access to essential products.
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CONTACTS:
Faith Clark, PR for editorial and advertising enquiries, Tel: 01603 211691, Email: faith@spatiallyaware.co.uk
Jane Geary, Podfather, Marketing Director, Email: jgeary@podfather.com
About Podfather
Podfather is a thriving technology company that specialises in the development, delivery and support, of software solutions that help companies plan and manage their vehicle fleets more efficiently.
Podfather has been helping companies manage their fleet logistics for over 25 years having launched in the year 2000. Initially specialising in bespoke software development, Podfather has developed one of the UK’s leading solutions incorporating route planning and optimisation, vehicle checks, ETA notifications, tracking, electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) and reporting.
With over 70,000 users, Podfather works with companies of all shapes and sizes, from industry giants such as Tarmac and Breedon to well-known names such as Rexel and Bidfresh, and everything else in between.
Located in Edinburgh, Podfather is not just a business, it’s not just a solution; Podfather is a team of hard-working, dedicated individuals who are committed to helping companies solve complex logistics problems with smart, yet easy to use, to software.
