Consultancy Report For Digilink
Distinction Grade | Client-Facing Consultancy Project | Sustainability, Operations & Financial Feasibility
Context:
This project was developed as a client-facing consultancy report for DigiLink, a Leicester-based smart-home installation company operating a fleet of diesel vans across the Midlands. The company faced a growing strategic challenge: rising diesel costs, tightening environmental regulation, changing customer expectations, and increasing pressure for businesses to demonstrate credible sustainability action.
The project required me to move beyond a purely theoretical sustainability recommendation. I had to assess whether an electric vehicle transition was actually realistic for the business, given its operational requirements, financial position, charging access, and risk exposure.
Problem:
The central problem was not simply whether electric vans were “better” or more sustainable. The real question was whether DigiLink could transition from diesel to electric vehicles in a financially viable, operationally practical, and low-risk way.
Although EVs offered lower running costs and environmental benefits, the business faced several constraints: upfront cost, uncertain government incentives, public charging inconsistency, infrastructure requirements, and limited financial flexibility. A full transition could create reputational and long-term cost advantages, but it could also expose the business to disruption if implemented too aggressively.
My Role:
My role was to act as an independent student consultant: diagnosing the business problem, researching the EV transition environment, evaluating feasible options, and developing a recommendation that balanced sustainability ambition with financial and operational realism.
I approached the project as if I were presenting to DigiLink’s management team. This meant anticipating likely concerns around cost, downtime, charger access, vehicle suitability, staff adaptation, and implementation risk. The final recommendation therefore had to be practical rather than idealistic.
Method:
I used a combination of strategic, financial, operational, and geospatial methods.
The report applied PESTLE analysis to assess the policy, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental forces affecting DigiLink’s fleet transition. I also used SWOT-style reasoning to connect those external pressures to DigiLink’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
A major technical part of the project involved learning how to use QGIS with OpenStreetMap data and EV charging-location data. I also explored how to use the ZapMap API to identify EV charger locations and convert that information into map layers showing charging infrastructure around DigiLink’s operating zones. AI tools helped me understand API logic, structure requests, troubleshoot the workflow, and think through how to convert technical data into usable consultancy visuals. However, all figures and recommendations were cross-checked against external sources and interpreted through the business problem rather than treated as automatic outputs.
Figure 1: Application of ZapMap API using OpenStreetMaps (QGIS) to visualise EV charger spread accross a 200 mile service zone for DigiLink.
I also compared leasing options, EV van specifications, operating costs, grants, workplace charging support, and phased implementation choices. This allowed me to evaluate low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk transition pathways.
Output:
The final output was a consultancy report recommending a phased three-year EV transition strategy.
The recommendation was to avoid an immediate full-fleet switch and instead pursue a moderate-risk phased approach:
Year 1: Pilot three electric vans, install initial workplace charging, train staff, and collect real-world performance data.
Year 2: Expand toward a 50% EV fleet, introduce modular cargo systems (See figure 2), refine routing, and increase charging capacity.
Year 3: Complete most of the transition while retaining one or two diesel vans as contingency for remote or high-risk service areas.
The report also included original QGIS maps, financial comparisons, EV leasing tables, vehicle specification comparisons, policy analysis, and an implementation Gantt chart. The recommendation aimed to help DigiLink modernise responsibly without overextending its financial position.
Skills Applied:
Consultancy research
Client-facing problem framing
Sustainability analysis
PESTLE and SWOT analysis
Financial modelling and cost comparison
QGIS mapping
OpenStreetMap integration
ZapMap API exploration
AI-assisted technical learning
EV infrastructure analysis
Policy and grant research
Risk assessment
Implementation planning
Report writing
Strategic recommendation development
Key Insight:
The biggest insight from this project was that sustainability recommendations only matter if they can survive contact with real business constraints.
A full EV transition looked attractive from a branding and environmental perspective, but the more responsible recommendation was a phased strategy that protected the business from operational disruption and financial overexposure. This changed how I think about consultancy: good advice is not just innovative or trend-aware, it has to be viable for the specific client, at the specific time, with the specific resources available.
Reflection:
This project became one of my most valuable academic experiences because it forced me to learn across multiple areas at once. I had to understand EV policy, vehicle economics, charging infrastructure, SME financial limitations, mapping software, API-based data extraction, and implementation risk.
The most technically challenging part was learning how to use QGIS and EV charger-location data to produce meaningful infrastructure maps. At first, working with API logic and geospatial data felt unfamiliar, but it became one of the most rewarding parts of the project. It gave me a practical sense of how technical tools can support business decision-making when used carefully.
I also learned how useful AI can be when treated as a learning assistant rather than a replacement for judgement. AI helped me understand unfamiliar technical steps, brainstorm workflows, and improve the structure of my analysis, but the final interpretation still depended on my own research, source-checking, and business reasoning.
Overall, this project strengthened my interest in applied consultancy, sustainability strategy, and operational problem-solving. It showed me that the kind of work I enjoy most sits at the intersection of research, analysis, technology, and practical decision-making.
