Achieving ambitious growth targets with digitisation – Q+A with DTM’s CTO Matt Lee
Matt Lee is the CTO at DTM, the largest independent tyre management provider in the UK. In our interview, Matt talks about overseeing the development of a Snowflake data warehouse and suite of Power BI dashboards for both internal users and customers, future plans for the business, and highlights from his career.
Matt, as CTO, you had strategic oversight of the successful digitisation project at DTM. Can you provide an overview of the project, including its implementation, changes, and efficiency improvements?
DTM has historically operated with a single-channel focus, relying on our call centre telephony to deliver exceptional service for customer job bookings and deployments via our network partners. However, we recognise that customers now expect more flexibility in how they interact with us, preferring a choice of channels. Additionally, DTM has ambitious growth targets that can only be achieved through a strategic use of technology. This means leveraging data more effectively, driving operational efficiencies, and introducing automation across new delivery channels.
In collaboration with our partner CIL, I established a new data team at DTM and developed a Snowflake data warehouse, along with a suite of Power BI dashboards for both internal users and customers. By working closely with several key customers, we tailored the information to meet their business needs while also keeping our entire customer base in mind, allowing us to create a single scalable product. This approach has significantly reduced the need for handcrafted data files and has enhanced the level of insight into our own business operations.
I also integrated third-party data to improve the effectiveness of our call centre by providing agents with more detailed information on the vehicles they are handling. Simultaneously, we redesigned the agent interface’s user experience (UX) to ensure a smoother workflow, significantly reducing the time spent on each call.
Additionally, we digitised all of our complex customer contracts, enabling us to provide relevant data directly to our call centre teams. This eliminated the need for them to reference off-system information, streamlining their workflow and improving efficiency. Our biggest challenge to date has been launching a new digital channel to complement our existing telephony channel. This enables customers, fleet managers, and drivers to book jobs online, eliminating the need to speak with an agent. As a result, we’ve been able to scale without increasing staff while maintaining our high standard of service. The digital channel has been a resounding success, with excellent feedback and strong customer engagement. In fact, over 10% of our jobs are now booked digitally—a remarkable achievement for functionality that has only been available for six months!
What were the key learning points from the project? What aspects were successful, and what would you do differently?
Digital transformation is about more than just delivering technology; it’s been said many times before, but the people side of change – winning hearts and minds – is both the most critical and the most challenging aspect of any transformation. I’ve fostered a culture of close collaboration with the DTM business, shaping a digital roadmap that the technology team can execute effectively, laying the foundation for shared success. My team might joke about my constant reminders to stay “close to the coal face” and at the heart of the problem, but this approach ensures we deliver the right solutions collaboratively. As a DTM team, we’ve worked tirelessly to enhance our digital product based on customer feedback, and it’s fantastic that we’re already surpassing the usage targets we set for ourselves.
How do you envision DTM changing and growing in the next two years? How do you see yourself contributing to that change?
As I mentioned earlier, we have ambitious growth targets for the next few years. Our customers have come to expect outstanding service through our well-established telephony channel, and as a management team, our goal is to deliver even more but with greater efficiency. Digital transformation is at the heart of making this possible. My vision is for DTM to become the ‘Uber for tyres,’ offering our customers, fleet managers, and drivers a seamless end-to-end digital experience while still providing the flexibility to switch channels if needed. Our philosophy is simple: whether customers access our services through digital portals or by phone, they’ll receive the same exceptional service they’ve come to rely on. Additionally, we’re exploring ways to enhance our digital partnerships with suppliers, making it easier for them to work with us and ensuring DTM remains their partner of choice in the industry.
How has the investment from Palatine Private Equity supported the growth at DTM?
Palatine has been incredible. The support – and the challenges – they’ve provided have been instrumental in shaping and evolving our digital strategy. Having access to a network of experts and peers to help refine ideas has been invaluable, and their willingness to back my proposals to accelerate the roadmap’s execution has been crucial to DTM’s digital success.
Reflecting on your career, what has been the most challenging and enjoyable aspect so far?
That’s a really difficult one to answer! I began my career as a developer, working on one of the first digital banking platforms—before digital banking was even a concept. Since then, I’ve delivered national infrastructure to support cash access through the UK’s ATM network, built new global security platforms, and developed cutting-edge retail systems. Each project has been challenging in its own way, and that’s exactly what I love about IT: breaking down barriers, understanding complex problems, and working collaboratively to solve them.