Beloved UK foods platform British Corner Shop is expanding operations only a few months after relaunch – including a brand new wholesale division.
The expat favourite, which sold popular British goods to customers around the world for over 20 years, relaunched in July last year under new ownership after falling into administration twice.
The company is now moving its warehouse and fulfilment operations to a larger facility after “an extremely busy” few months following the relaunch, according to the new owners, with growing demand from US shoppers propelling its expansion.
Co-CEO Harvey Hayer said BCS has been “selling in excess of 3,000 orders per month”, which was “well over target”.
To meet the increased demand, the business has invested £2m in its new facility in Gateshead, which will be “fully operational by the end of February”, Hayer confirmed.
It will be the new home of BCS and its newly-launched wholesale division, which will “focus on a consolidated supply for businesses around the world who sell British products”, he said.
Read more: Meet the cousins behind the revival of British Corner Shop
The business has hired Angus Dinsdale, former head of procurement and reprocessing at exporter Ramsden International, as its new head of wholesale exports.
Prior to his time at Ramsden, Dinsdale spent 10 years at Smylies, the north-west based food exporter.
Ramdsen and Smylies are the country’s two leading companies in British food wholesale to the rest of the world.
“We are going to offer a consolidated supply on each delivery,” Hayer said. “Business could go directly to suppliers themselves but not all businesses need a full container of Cadbury’s.
“So we will offer mixed deliveries of all brands similar to what we do on the B2C side. We feel our great brand and great customer service will be emulated in this division which will help it excel”, he added.
Following better-than-expected demand in the US, new owners Hayer and Amar Dulay also now have “a strategy in place to open to the rest of the world in April”.
The company has only been selling to the American market since its relaunch as the new owners were keen to avoid the same financial turmoil faced by the previous team in the wake of Brexit.
BCS had historically largely exported to EU countries, but when costly new export requirements were imposed on UK goods after Brexit, the business struggled to recover and eventually entered into administration twice in the span of two years.
Hayer added: “We are also following the PM’s trip to Brussels very closely and hopefully if relations with Europe improve we will be looking to supply the EU very soon.”
Labour has promised to bring down trade barriers with Europe and make exporting easier and less expensive for UK businesses.
BCS’ revitalisation process has also counted with the backing of Smarter Capital, an e-commerce investor whose team includes many of the senior executives previously working at the beloved online platform.
“Our intention is to continue building this great brand as we look to break into new territories this year, scaling our operations, always striving to offer the best value and service when it comes to the distribution of British branded foods worldwide”, Hayer said.
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