Condor to invest £2.5m into going digital

Wednesday 27 June 2018

Condor is set to plough £2.5 million into new technology over the next two years, with plans including vehicle check-in using automated number plate recognition, and a mobile app allowing online seat selection and duty free ordering.

Over the initial two years of the five-year programme, the ferry company will invest £2.5m into Project SMART - which aims to overhaul both the experience of passengers, and the working practices at the firm.

CEO Paul Luxon said the first phase of the project would cover freight management, operational processes, IT communications, infrastructure, eCommerce and yield management, plus better analytics and reporting.

Mr Luxon said: “Digitalisation for Condor represents a key investment in the future and sees the launch of a five-year programme to develop technology, infrastructure, systems and people in order to transform the way the company does things. 

“Under the moniker of Project SMART, this is about making working lives easier, more efficient and improving customer service and satisfaction, and will impact positively on the three parts of the business – daily freight cargo, seasonal visitor traffic and islander lifeline travel.”

Pictured: Paul Luxon announces the launch of a five-year investment plan of £2.5m which aims to digitise the Channel Island ferry provider.

In the longer term, Mr Luxon added he expected a “quantum leap” for commercial shipping, with the development of ‘smart ships’ and ‘smart ports’: “This means autonomous cargo ships sailing along the world’s shipping lanes and fully automated ports where all devices are connected through the internet with passengers self-checking-in using automated number plate recognition and LED displays.”

As a result of the investment, Condor hopes that passengers will benefit from new functionality such as a mobile app which allows online seat selection and duty free ordering, social media integration and freight management.

Pictured: Project SMART plans to create a mobile app for passengers to allow online seat selection and duty free ordering.

Mr Luxon also said a key driver for the project was to make it easier for customers to deal with Condor. He said: “We want to make it simpler and more straightforward by addressing demands for customer service through digital tools and by embracing the digital change. It is about meeting today’s expectations and at the same time setting the company up to meet tomorrow’s too.”