East of England Co-op looks to eliminate downtime across 200 Sites with TNS Secure SD-WAN deployment
Transaction Network Services (TNS) reports that East of England Co-op has deployed TNS Secure SD-WAN across more than 200 sites.
East of England Co-op required a more reliable and scalable network to support its growing digital footprint. Its previous infrastructure created operational challenges, with failover times of up to 90 seconds, disrupting PoS transactions and impacting store performance. Services were also fragmented across multiple provider divisions, limiting visibility, increasing costs and leaving no single point of accountability.
TNS Secure SD-WAN consolidates multiple network lines into a single, resilient connection with built-in redundancy, helping reduce failover from 90 seconds to instantaneous and providing uninterrupted transactions and back-office operations.
Centralised dashboards now provide East of England Co-op with real-time visibility across all locations, helping to improve compliance management and strengthen security oversight. The fully managed service model delivers a single point of accountability, allowing for simplified operations and faster issue resolution. The network provides a foundation for Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives, energy management systems and advanced in-store analytics.
Richard Helliwell, Head of Technology Services at East of England Co-op, says: “Reliable connectivity is critical to delivering seamless customer experiences across our stores. By partnering with TNS, we now have a resilient, future ready network that supports our day-to-day operations while enabling continued innovation and growth across our estate.”
Since deployment, East of England Co-op says that it has achieved uninterrupted connectivity across its network, with zero visible downtime during failover events. The move to a single managed service has simplified operations, reduced vendor complexity and delivered estimated operational savings of 10–15% through line consolidation and improved efficiency, it adds.
“East of England Co-op demonstrates how retailers can transform operations when connectivity is reliable and simple to manage,” says Matthew Thomas, Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Transaction Network Services (TNS). “TNS Secure SD-WAN provides the resilience and visibility multi-site retailers need to eliminate downtime today while building a platform for future innovation.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Physical stores will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
