Overview

Supermarket giant Asda moved one step closer to its goal of replacing Sainsbury's as the second-largest grocer in Britain when it purchased petrol forecourts and restaurants in the UK and Ireland from its sister company, EG Group, expanding its retail footprint significantly.

The forecourt sector demands always-on connectivity to support payment terminals, fuel pumps, CCTV and back-office systems. Multi-site operators require managed network solutions that keep sites trading through carrier incidents, maintenance windows and rapid rollouts.

Evolve was selected to provide managed network solutions for Asda's newly acquired forecourt estate, delivering PCI-aligned SD-WAN, resilient connectivity and 24/7/365 proactive support across the deployment.

The Challenge

In October 2022, Leeds-based supermarket giant Asda completed a £600 million acquisition of 116 sites from Co-op's petrol forecourt business. Operating these sites requires network infrastructure that keeps payment terminals, fuel pumps and CCTV live, maintains PCI DSS compliance and supports seamless customer transactions.

Forecourt operations depend on reliable connectivity for outdoor payment terminals (OPT), point-of-sale systems, third-party services and guest Wi-Fi. Network failures result in lost revenue, abandoned transactions and compliance risk. Evolve's role was to design and deploy managed network solutions that would protect trading minutes and scale predictably across the estate.

The Solution

Evolve conducted a six-month discovery phase with Asda to map the requirements, establish health checks and develop a deployment blueprint. This preparatory work built confidence in the rollout plan and established clear accountability between Evolve and Asda's teams.

The network solution was designed around several core principles:

Segmented SD-WAN architecture

Evolve deployed Mako Networks SD-WAN appliances to create isolated network segments for payment systems, CCTV, guest Wi-Fi and back-office operations. This segmentation reduces PCI DSS scope, protects payment flows and provides audit-ready evidence of controls.

Multi-path resilience with LTE/5G failover

Dual-WAN connectivity combined with 4G/5G cellular failover ensures sites remain operational during primary circuit outages or maintenance. Automatic path selection protects payment authorisations and keeps fuel pumps transacting through carrier brownouts.

Out-of-hours deployment with minimal disruption

Installations were scheduled overnight to avoid trading-hour disruption. Temporary communications maintained service during cutover windows, and sites operated on 4G/5G connectivity while permanent circuits were commissioned.

24/7/365 proactive monitoring

Evolve's UK-based Network Operations Centre (NOC) provides round-the-clock monitoring, incident response and vendor coordination. The proactive support model detects and resolves issues before they impact store operations.

PCI DSS Level 1 alignment

The network design maintains PCI DSS compliance through segmentation, access controls and logging. Mako Networks' PCI Level 1 certification supports Asda's compliance requirements and provides evidence for audits.

The deployment delivered a secure, resilient network package branded "Asda Express," tailored to support fuel sales, convenience retail, third-party integrations and guest Wi-Fi across the forecourt estate.

The Benefits

Maximised uptime through failover design

Multi-path connectivity with automatic failover protects revenue by keeping payment terminals and fuel systems online during carrier incidents.

Reduced compliance scope

Network segmentation isolates payment systems from guest and back-office traffic, simplifying PCI DSS audits and reducing the compliance footprint.

Faster, more reliable transactions

Application-aware routing prioritises payment traffic, ensuring card authorisations complete quickly even during network congestion.

Proactive issue resolution

The 24/7 NOC monitors network health continuously, coordinating with carriers and vendors to resolve incidents before stores are affected.

Minimal trading disruption during rollout

Out-of-hours installations and temporary 4G/5G connectivity ensured sites remained operational throughout the deployment.

Evidence-ready reporting

Centrally managed SD-WAN provides audit trails, performance data and compliance evidence to support governance and risk management.

About Evolve

Evolve delivers service-first managed network solutions for multi-site brands across retail, forecourts, QSR and hospitality. Our PCI Level 1-aligned SD-WAN, resilient Business Connectivity, Guest Wi-Fi and managed IT services are backed by a UK-based 24/7/365 Network Operations Centre.

We specialise in blueprint-led rollouts that protect trading minutes, reduce compliance risk and scale predictably across complex estates. Our proactive monitoring model means 86% of support interactions are outbound-we detect and resolve issues before sites feel the impact.

As Mako Networks' only Platinum Partner, we are the only network management company in the world to qualify as a PCI-certified Level 1 service provider, making us uniquely positioned to support hospitality and retail businesses requiring external PCI DSS certification.

For more information, contact us.