Halo ITSM Case Study
How Wolseley Replaced ServiceNow with Halo in Just 10 Weeks
A landmark migration from a global ServiceNow environment, completed in just 10 weeks. Proof of what's possible when Halo ITSM is in the right hands.
A landmark migration from a global ServiceNow environment, completed in just 10 weeks. Proof of what's possible when Halo ITSM is in the right hands.
Wolseley is one of the UK's leading specialist merchants in plumbing, heating, cooling, and infrastructure. The company operates around 600 branches nationwide and employs over 5,000 people across its support centres in Ripon and Warwick.
Wolseley's brands (including Plumb Center, Climate Center, and Pipe Center) support a broad customer base ranging from tradespeople to large-scale contractors. Their IT team supports a wide-reaching service operation of around 250 agents across multiple departments.
Wolseley had been operating within a global ServiceNow environment under its former parent company, Ferguson. Following a demerger, the IT team needed to find a new ITSM platform that aligned more closely with the size and autonomy of the UK business.
While ServiceNow had served Wolseley during its time under Ferguson, the inherited global setup had become a blocker to progress. Even simple changes to forms or workflows required third-party involvement, often taking weeks or months to complete. The system also lacked local admin flexibility and had become increasingly expensive to maintain.
"It would take days, weeks, months sometimes to do a simple form change on self-service. It was really holding us back — where we could push the technology to us as a department, us as an organisation, and more importantly to our users."
— James Crotty, Service Desk Manager, Wolseley UKWith only 10 weeks for implementation, Wolseley required a flexible platform that could be deployed rapidly and scaled across the business. It also needed to support around 250 agents across multiple departments and include chatbot functionality so frontline staff could request support without stepping away from customers.
Halo ITSM was selected following a competitive RFP process. Its clean UI, modular structure, and focus on no-code/low-code customisation enabled the team to move quickly without sacrificing functionality.
Despite the strict ten-week deadline, the project was delivered two weeks early, a testament to both the Halo team's collaboration and the inherent simplicity of the platform.
"Implementation was, dare I say, really easy. It was not like other stuff we've done. Halo was almost straight out of the box. It's a no-code, low-code customisation."
— James Crotty, Service Desk Manager, Wolseley UKThe team launched with a fully redesigned self-service portal, including approval workflows, automation, live chat, and chatbot features from day one. Live chat adoption grew rapidly, enabling frontline staff at trade counters and branches to request support without interrupting customer service.
"People on the trade counters and branches are able to carry on serving their customers whilst having a quick chat with us."
— Mark Abbott, Service Operations Manager, Wolseley UKOne of the standout wins was consolidating everything under a single self-service portal: no additional links, no switching between systems.
"One of the key reasons is it's all under one tin. It's all under our self-service portal — no need to click another link. That's been probably one of the biggest wins for us."
— James Crotty, Service Desk Manager, Wolseley UKWith the success of the IT rollout, other departments (including Finance, HR, and Distribution Centre helpdesks) adopted Halo, supported by IT through shared guidance and best practice. A consistent user interface and reporting structure streamlined the rollout across teams.
Halo ITSM has transformed Wolseley's ability to deliver fast, efficient support, both within IT and across the wider business.
With a strong relationship established with Halo's team, Wolseley is now exploring AI features (including predictive ticketing, summarisation, and virtual agents) as the next step in improving service delivery.
"Halo's already ahead of the game in that. From our perspective, we're just starting to implement AI now. It's going to be an absolute game changer."
— James Crotty, Service Desk Manager, Wolseley UKGet in touch and one of our consultants will be in touch within one business day. No commitment, no sales pressure.
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