Innovation Isn’t Just a Buzzword: Why Telecom Strategy and Fuel Cards Matter More Than You Think in 2025

You hear the word “innovation” tossed around a lot. In boardrooms. On LinkedIn. In pitch decks. But what does it actually mean when you’re running a business in 2025? Not just surviving, but trying to grow, compete, and stay relevant?

Turns out, it’s not always about flashy tech or billion-dollar ideas. Sometimes, it’s about the stuff that feels boring. Like telecom. Or fuel cards.

The Quiet Power of Telecom Strategy

Let’s start with telecoms. Not the most glamorous corner of your business, right? But in 2025, it’s the backbone. The nervous system. The thing that makes everything else work.

You’ve got remote teams. Hybrid meetings. Cloud-based CRMs. AI-driven customer service. None of it functions without a solid telecom setup. And yet, so many businesses treat it like an afterthought.

Smart companies are doing the opposite. They’re building a strategy around telecom. Not just choosing a provider, but designing workflows, data flows, and customer journeys that depend on fast, secure, scalable connectivity.

Think about it. Your sales team is on the road. Your support team is in three time zones. Your data is in the cloud. If your telecom fails, everything else collapses.

Innovation Isn’t Always Appealing

Marc Boelen, former CEO of 2XU, talks about innovation as a mindset, not just a product pipeline. It’s about rethinking how you do things, how you solve problems, and how you connect with customers.

Telecom fits right into that. It’s not just about bandwidth. It’s about agility. Can your team pivot when a client changes specs at the last minute? Can your systems handle a surge in traffic during a product launch? Can your customer service respond instantly, without lag?

If the answer’s no, you’ve got a telecom problem. And that’s an innovation problem.

Fuel Cards: The Unexpected Hero of Operational Efficiency

Now let’s talk about fuel cards. Another thing that feels unexciting. But if you’ve got vehicles on the road, sales reps, delivery vans, service techs, fuel cards are a game-changer.

In 2025, fuel costs are volatile. Sustainability targets are tighter. And fleet management is more complex than ever. Fuel cards help you track spending, control usage, and optimise routes. They’re not just payment tools – they’re data tools.

And the differences between them? Huge.

Quick Comparison: What’s Out There

1. Fuelplus Card (Equivalent to WEX FlexCard): Accepted at more than 3300 UK stations, including Morrisons, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s. They have fixed weekly pricing and great coverage and flexibility for fleets.
2. Fleetmaxx Maxx Control Card (Equivalent to Shell Business Card): Businesses struggling with thier credit history can go for the Fleetmaxx Maxx Control Card since they require no credit checks. Also, they are accepted at Shell, BP, Esso, Texaco, and supermarket stations.
3. Radius Velocity + REV Card (Equivalent to Edenred Essentials): Accepted at 8,300+ fuel stations and 33,500 EV charge points. They are ideal for businesses focused on sustainability and operating with mixed fleets.
4. Radius Future Card (Equivalent to ExxonMobil BusinessPro): Accepted at UK brands such as Shell, BP, Esso, and Texaco. The card includes a Carbon offset feature and offers fixed weekly or pump saver pricing.
5. Fuelplus or Allstar Small Fleet Card (Equivalent to Coast Fuel Card): Best for small to medium fleets, and they offer loyalty rewards up to £0.04/litre savings. Supermarkets and major fuel networks accept this card.

Choosing the right one depends on your routes, your volume, and your priorities. Want flexibility? Go open-loop. Want control? Look for granular spend limits. Want rebates? Compare per-gallon returns.

Telecom + Fuel Cards = Real Strategy

Here’s where it gets interesting. When you combine smart telecom with smart fuel management, you get something powerful. You get visibility. For a classic fuel cards comparison tool, check out https://www.icompario.com/en-gb/.

Your fleet team sees fuel usage in real time. Your finance team sees costs by driver, by route, by region. Your ops team reroutes based on traffic and fuel prices. And your telecom system ties it all together, data flowing from mobile apps, GPS trackers, and cloud dashboards.

It’s not just logistics. It’s a strategy. More likely, an innovation.

Leadership Matters

Boelen emphasises leadership’s role in driving innovation. Not just approving budgets, but setting the tone. Encouraging experimentation. Accepting failure.

That applies here, too. If your team’s still using paper receipts for fuel or calling in orders manually, it’s not a tech problem. It’s a leadership problem.

Innovation starts with asking better questions. Why are we still doing it this way? What’s the cost of not changing? What tools are out there that we haven’t tried?

Fuel cards and telecom systems aren’t just tools. They’re opportunities. To save money. To move faster. Most importantly, to make smarter decisions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

One of Boelen’s big points is about breaking silos. Innovation happens when teams talk to each other, when marketing knows what ops is doing, and when finance understands tech.

Fuel cards and telecom force that conversation. Fleet managers need IT to integrate systems. Finance needs data from fuel cards. HR needs telecom tools for remote onboarding.

Suddenly, everyone’s working together. Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s necessary.

Agility Is the New Currency

Markets shift fast. Customers change their minds. Supply chains break. If your systems can’t adapt, you’re stuck. Telecom gives you agility. Fuel cards give you flexibility. Together, they give you resilience.

You reroute a driver in seconds. You switch to a backup network during an outage. You analyse fuel spend and cut costs before the next quarter. It’s not reactive; it’s proactive. And that’s what innovation looks like in real life.

Culture of Innovation Starts Small

Boelen talks about building a culture where people aren’t afraid to fail. That doesn’t mean launching moonshot projects every week. It means trying new tools. Testing new workflows. Asking dumb questions.

What if we switched fuel cards? What if we moved our telecom to a cloud-based system? What if we gave drivers mobile dashboards?

Small changes. Big impact.

Recognising the Wins

Innovation isn’t just about ideas. It’s about outcomes. Boelen says recognising and rewarding innovation is key. So, when your team cuts fuel costs by 12% using a new card?

Celebrate it. When does your IT team improve call quality by switching providers? Shout it out. It reinforces the mindset. It shows that innovation isn’t just a buzzword – it’s how you win.

Innovation Is Everywhere

You don’t need a lab. Or a billion-dollar R&D budget. You need curiosity. You need leadership. You need tools that work.

Telecom and fuel cards aren’t glamorous. But they’re essential. They’re where innovation lives. In the systems, the workflows, and the decisions that happen every day.

So if you’re building a strategy for 2025, start there. Look at your network. Look at your fleet. Ask better questions. Try new things because innovation isn’t just about what’s next. It’s about what’s better.