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Business Technology
My Parcel Delivery: Where there's a queue, a game-changing idea isn't far behind
3 min read
04 March 2015
Back in 2010 inspiration struck David Grimes as he stood in a post office queue impatiently waiting to send some parcels. Unfortunately the only alternative was to use expensive couriers which would erode profitability. The solution was Everline Future 50-listed My Parcel Delivery – a site designed to make normally inaccessible services available to all.
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Name: My Parcel Delivery
Industry/sector: Delivery
Date founded: 2010
Founder: David Grimes
Location: Manchester
“We have one clear priority,” the company declares, “making sending simple”. That’s exactly what Grimes did by creating one of the UK’s most innovative and fast-growing companies in the online parcel delivery market.
In an industry infamous for poor customer care, they have doubled the customer service team and elevated the belief in customer service once more. Consequently, repeat orders have increased by 57 per cent. The company also achieved aggressive growth year-on-year, overcoming the current challenging market conditions to become a key player.
This growth can be seen across all areas of the business, not least in last year’s financial results where My Parcel Delivery achieved an extraordinary increase in sales of 95 per cent and gross profit of 65 per cent. As expected, this captured a lot of attention and the company went on to secure substantial investment earlier this year with more than £1m from Praetura Capital and £500,000 from Seneca Partners.
Grimes said: “This new investment will enable us to accelerate our growth plans, to offer creative parcel delivery services and tools to expanding ecommerce businesses and to give the rapidly growing parcel delivery market the innovation it needs. EBay sellers in particular are demanding greater efficiency to protect their customer feedback ratings and we need to support them in achieving that.
“Businesses need an alternative to Royal Mail that’s cheaper, more efficient and more in tune with the way they operate modern e-commerce enterprises. With the recovery in the UK economy, e-commerce businesses are well-placed to benefit from the growth in international export activity too. But they need access to low cost shipping plus the technical and regulatory know-how required to deliver goods overseas. We can provide such help, and this represents a key growth area focus for us in 2014.”
Following this growth, “it was essential that My Parcel Delivery move to new offices”. The new 23,000 sqft unit based in Trafford Park, Manchester, has provided a warehouse for service diversification.
“We launched My Parcel Delivery in the middle of a deep recession, but it was an ideal time as businesses were looking for ways to cut their shipping costs and we were there to provide money-saving, time-saving and hassle-free services when they needed it most,” said Grimes.
“The ecommerce sector has seen tremendous growth in the past 12 months and the traditional approach of taking parcels to the Post Office and queuing should be a thing of the past for the entrepreneurial firms that are fuelling the turnaround in on-line retail and the wider economy.”