UK health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett focuses on DSARs with Aiimi AI powered workplace platform

Holland & Barrett says that it has dramatically cut the time and effort required to process Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs), saving an estimated 3,000 hours annually with the help of Aiimi’s Workplace AI Platform. 

The UK health and wellness retailer saw an 83% year-on-year increase in DSARs.

Thousands of hours were being spent on manually locating, assessing and redacting sensitive information from large volumes of unstructured data. Failure to complete a DSAR can damage public trust and leave organisations in hot water with the ICO, risking fines of up to £17.5 million for non-compliance. H&B needed a way to ensure the rigour of the process without sacrificing more time. 

It implemented Aiimi’s Workplace AI Platform to create an end-to-end DSAR solution.

Before partnering with Aiimi, setting up a DSAR took on average a week. It now takes 15 minutes. Delivery time on complex DSARs that would previously take four weeks now take on average a single week, with some being completed in a matter of hours  There has been a 98% reduction in effort required to rerun a DSAR - down from two weeks to less than an hour, as previous DSARs are retained on the system 

This is set to save Holland & Barrett’s Data Protection team 3,000 hours every year, freeing up staff to tackle more valuable and strategic tasks. The retailer now has the ability to comb through huge volumes of data across multiple sources in minutes through a single solution. 

Holland & Barrett can now return data that it can fully trust. Automated processes reduce opportunities for human error. Redaction of sensitive information, which was previously a time-consuming and awkward process, can be completed with a single click. Manual interaction with the process is now limited to verifying data, meaning that DSARs return information for the public which is even more accurate and reliable. 

Holland & Barrett will continue to work with Aiimi on rolling out the Workplace Insight Platform into other areas of the business.

Steve Salvin, CEO and Founder at Aiimi, comments: “Organisations everywhere are seeing a surge in disclosure requests as the public become more aware of their data rights. For data protection teams, meeting these requests has traditionally meant weeks of manual work.”

“Harnessing AI to handle the heavy lifting frees people to focus on the areas of data protection that require judgement, context and human oversight -  where they can deliver the most value. We’re excited to be working with Holland & Barrett to advance their data capabilities and look forward to exploring new ways to unlock value and empower teams with smarter, faster access to data.”

Hollie Mela, Data Protection Officer at Holland & Barrett, says: “Before using Aiimi’s platform, setting up a DSAR might have taken us a week. Now, we can run a request in a few minutes. The difference this has made to our delivery times is genuinely night and day.”

“Instead of struggling against tight deadlines, the team now has the breathing room to focus on accuracy and rigour in the results. Most importantly, the platform delivers data we can trust - allowing us to provide data subjects with their information more quickly and reliably.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.