The numbers, before the story.

Most consultancy case studies start with a story and end with a vague claim. This one starts with the numbers, because the numbers are unusual enough to lead with.

Sip Champagnes is a UK wholesale distributor. It is also where ODEG’s working method was tested — by being applied, not described. We redesigned how the business operated and built the AI workflows, automations and internal tools to support the new shape. The figures below are taken from Sip’s own audited management accounts, comparing the nine months after switch-on to the nine months before.

What changed first.

Before any AI was switched on, the operating model was redesigned. Where work began, where it ended, who owned each handover, how exceptions were treated. Without that, AI just speeds up the wrong process.

The biggest unlocks were the most ordinary. Order processing moved from inboxes and re-typing to a single review surface. Stock and forecasting moved from a Friday spreadsheet to a continuously-updated picture. Invoice chasing moved from awkward phone calls to polite, automatic, on-time reminders. None of those are glamorous — they are simply where the friction sat.

What held into the next quarter.

It is easy to move a P&L for a single quarter. The harder test is whether the trajectory holds. Through Q1 2026 it did:

• Gross margin sustained above 35%, nine months after switch-on.
• Operating run-rate at break-even, on track for post-tax profit this year.
• Order-processing automation running above 95% straight-through on priced lines.

The point of this journal entry is not to claim the same numbers are possible everywhere. They will not be. The point is to be specific about what is possible when strategy and implementation sit in the same room — and to be specific in audited numbers, not vague language.