The Pioneer interview with... David Clayton-Smith

David has spent much of his career pioneering in the commercial and healthcare sectors. As a Commercial Director at Halfords, he reinvented their customer offer, notably introducing their most profitable line, the ‘We’ll Fit It’ service. He has also worked at the Board level for various large retailers, including Courage and Boots, and held Non-Executive Director roles across the private, public, not-for-profit and charity sectors.

However, David has spent most of his career in healthcare as both a Chairman and Non-Executive Director of multiple NHS Foundation Trusts. He is currently Joint-Chair of Dorset HealthCare and Dorset County Hospital, where he helped transform their NHS 111 services, shifting the focus from call centre metrics to patient support, successfully triaging patients to the right care on the same day.

Tell us about your time at Halfords. How did you think about customers, and what challenges did you tackle in a customer-led way? 

Halfords was a successful business with a strong reputation for its own label and brand. When I joined, they provided car parts for customers much more affordably than garages. Back then, we had a real competitive advantage in our buying and branding and delivering great quality. But it was clear that while we were having great success, we would soon become much less relevant. Cars were getting more reliable and complicated to fit parts on, making it increasingly challenging to sell parts for people to do it themselves. They would go directly to a garage instead, but of course, service intervals were extending too.  

So, I faced a real challenge in convincing the exec team that a change was needed, even though we were being successful. To do that, I facilitated a discussion where the exec team listened to direct feedback from customers. It was so powerful that we introduced the “We’ll Fix It” service across our stores, which bundled labour and part costs into one product offering where we’d provide and fit the part there and then. For customers, this meant the high-quality and competitively priced parts they’ve always had without the need to go to a garage to get it fixed. It’s since been one of their most profitable services and is still going 20 years later!

What does it take to be customer-led in the NHS? Can you share some examples of pioneering customer work in the healthcare sector?

The NHS is a complex organisation. It is very fragmented. They are also one of few nationally branded services. However, in reality, their services are mostly delivered locally. 

When I started working there, I witnessed patient care pathways involving many different clinicians and therapists, all provided very separately from each other. The opportunity to become customer-focused in the NHS required thinking about the way members of the public consumed the service and how it was delivered.

An excellent example is the 111 system, which has evolved to become a well-run service despite its complexity in navigating patients to get help. As part of the evolution, it required teams to think of 111 not as a call centre and the conventional metrics associated with one but as the start of the patient journey directing them to the most appropriate service. To do that well, you need to understand who is calling to provide the best information and avoid repeat issues. 

The Dorset HealthCare Service, where I now work, does this really well. Dorset operates with many community hospitals, so they have much more control over their service. If you phone 111, and it doesn’t require you to go to a main hospital, they can look at all the appointments in the community hospitals to provide that service. It’s great because it gives patients a fast response, meaning you don’t have to unnecessarily go to an A&E and spend the 3 hours in a waiting room, clogging the system and making it slower for those who need it. 

Another great example is the “Steps to Wellbeing” programme, which simplifies access to talking therapies without needing a GP referral. It’s used a lot by students, who can self-refer themselves. They can then get sessions, which they can drop in and drop out of as and when they want to. It’s great because it moves away from a “doctor knows best” approach to putting patients at the centre of their own care, allowing them to access and talk about what they need and tailor it to their specific requirements without ever needing to see a doctor.

What does pioneering on behalf of customers mean to you? Why do organisations find it so hard?

Pioneering on behalf of customers means genuinely listening and understanding their needs, not just hearing their words. I think organisations struggle with this because it represents a shift in power dynamics. It requires a change in mindset from “I know the answers” to “I know how to listen to people and creatively solve problems.” But the power shift also requires a change in skillset. The skill becomes being able to listen, gather perspectives from all those important voices (e.g. patients, caregivers, friends, healthcare professionals), make sense of it all, and co-create an excellent service off the back of it. You must have an open mindset, not be stuck on your own ideas, and take that real 360-degree approach.

Are there any customer pioneer organisations that you particularly admire?

There are two organisations that I particularly admire. The first is AO, the home appliance retailer. They know that when a washing machine stops working, it’s not something people want to spend much time thinking about. They just want it to work. They are so good at ensuring you have a new machine installed and working again within 24 hours. The service is just amazing. 

I also really like Laithwaite’s Wine. I’ve been their customer for a while, and they are so good at making you feel important. I’ll get a personal phone call from someone every so often to see how things are and if there is anything I want. Yes, I can do it online, but it’s like having a personal shopper. They know everything I’ve brought before, so I never have to explain it again. Their personalised marketing strikes a great balance of telling me something about a new wine I might like without feeling intrusive. It feels like they are sharing it because they know I’ll like it.