This month, Parcelhub are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the startup of the company in 2003. Now part of the Whistl Group, the business began as Mail Workshop from a site in Nottingham.
The business launched through offering customers a more competitive pricing for handling their post and parcels. Assisted by family members, partners Mark Rosenberg and Steve Riley hired office and warehouse space and began fulfilling customers’ orders.
Very quickly the team realised their customers wanted to be kept up to date with tracking and status updates on their items. Programmes to process data were written, and as this developed the team switched their focus to the customer service experience.
They contracted their first software development company in June of 2008 and with this saw the beginnings of “Parcelhub” being rolled out to customers by the October. The Parcelhub system was their very own labelling and tracking software that could be simply installed at a customers’ premises. Making it easier to keep tabs on their items.
How Charles Bentley uses Parcelhub
So, 20 years on, what does a Parcelhub customer look like in today’s ecommerce world? One such client is Charles Bentley a global supplier of stylish and fantastic quality home, garden and leisure products. They have been seeing massive growth since they went online in 2005 and as the company grew and its requirements became more complex, they needed an efficient logistics partner to meet their delivery needs.
Prior to working with Parcelhub, Charles Bentley utilised an alternative supplier which could not offer a carrier management solution to match the integrated system which Parcelhub has created. After several months of consultation, which involved a thorough review of Charles Bentley’s internal systems, Parcelhub presented a tailor-made solution to fit the retailer’s needs. This was the beginning of Parcelhub’s working relationship with Charles Bentley in 2012.
Seven years down the line, Parcelhub now processes and ships in excess of 21,000 items a month for Charles Bentley via the multi-carrier delivery management platform.
Items shipped range in size from 100 grams to 1,000 kg and can be anything from an envelope to pallets, ‘leave safe’ and delivered with a signature. Most items are despatched on one of Parcelhub’s direct carrier contracts but the flexibility of the software allows a number of Charles Bentley’s own contracts to be utilised also.
– Andrew Steel, eCommerce Director, Charles Bentley
Cost saving and dedicated technical support are just two of the key benefits to Charles Bentley. Thanks to the integration of Parcelhub’s Enhanced Delivery Management offering within Charles Bentley’s own systems and processes, the company saves on the cost of employing extra staff.
We would have to employ at least three additional customer service advisers of our own to manage the carriers. That’s a big saving for a business like ours. We really do see Parcelhub as an extension of our own business, and we have spent the last three years further integrating and refining the Parcelhub customer service team to create more efficiencies and strengthen our proposition.
– Andrew Steel, eCommerce Director, Charles Bentley
Parcelhub Whistl acquisistion
In 2018, Whistl accelerated its expansion in parcels and fulfilment with the acquisitions of Parcelhub and Mail Workshop. and Parcelhub became the primary business and by 2019, Mail Workshop as a company was no longer, with everything now sitting under Parcelhub, although the hand fulfilment and pick and pack still operates in Nottingham. In 2020, Steve Marjoram was appointed Managing Director.
We are delighted to celebrate our 20th anniversary. From small beginnings to becoming part of the Whistl group, we continue to help shippers overcome carrier management challenges. Today, with regionally located depots throughout UK multi-channel retailers, brands and wholesalers now benefit from one point of contact for our flexible and scalable delivery management services.
– Steve Marjoram, Managing Director, Parcelhub
