Edinburgh based Blaze Logistics shares its plans to improve fulfilment for Scottish eCommerce clients by joining nationwide network Diamond Logistics as it expands to offer a truly national service.
Blaze Logistics is a child of the pandemic which has grown – very quickly – into a high achieving adult.-2.jpeg)
Joseph Smith, director and founder of Blaze Logistics, launched the business just over 12 months ago, having recognised the opportunity to service online retail as it boomed during lockdown.
Now, Blaze Logistics officially joins Diamond Logistics as the first Network Partner in Scotland – to provide a full range of logistics services to Scottish businesses. With Blaze Logistics on board, Diamond Logistics is set to offer services from Edinburgh to Plymouth, and all major towns in between. It’s now one of few courier companies in the UK which offers a genuinely national service.
“The support I’m most looking forward to receiving from Diamond Logistics,” explains Joseph, “is around education of the courier network itself. We want to gain this inside knowledge from Diamond so we can advise our clients on the best shipping methods – not just to control costs – but to improve their experience. This will help them to select the right carrier, that will protect goods but also their brand.”
Joseph and his team now offer SameDay, Overnight and International delivery services to their Scottish clients as well as the services it provides to branded carriers such as Amazon and DX.
Opportunity for Scottish eCommerce businesses
“The opportunity for us to improve eCommerce and fulfilment in Scotland is around later cut-off times’, Joseph adds. ‘It’s difficult to distribute to the rest of the UK from Scotland. There’s a long distance between us and the other side of England, so the line haul must leave exceptionally early. By being close to Scottish eCommerce clients, we can offer later cut-off times for overnight deliveries through the Diamond Logistics network.’
eCommerce clients based in Scotland which outsource their logistics to Blaze Logistics, will have the opportunity to use Diamond Logistics’ Despatchlab technology which offers users an easy client interface with API Integration.
“We’re the only Network Partner in Scotland, which means we’re taking Despatchlab technology to the marketplace for the first time here. Having talked to clients already, I know that they haven’t come across this solution before. It’s such a buzz educating them on its benefits.”
Joseph wants to help Scottish brands with their fulfilment journey, so they can focus on marketing their business and selling products.
Blaze Logistics’ Scottish eCommerce clients will now benefit from Diamond’s expertise in eCommerce and SameDay, Overnight and International delivery.
Its eCommerce specialities include artisan alcohols like Sacred Gin, quality food brands, exclusive homeware, babywear and gifts.
SameDay specialities include the medical sector, Formula 1 and quality retail.
Business expansion with Diamond Logistics
As Joseph’s business evolved, he knew he must find a tech solution which would help him manage the ad hoc SameDay activity he had taken on, which followed paper-based processes.
“As I was reaching out to the market to find a tech solution, I found Diamond Logistics. It showed me that I didn’t just need a tech solution, what I actually needed was to futureproof my business. As soon as they told me about Despatchlab I was sold almost straight away because of its multi-faceted elements. It meant I could offer Sameday, Overnight and Fulfilment. It gave me all the tools I needed to go out and truly sell to Scottish businesses and compete with other operators.”
Strong pipelines of fulfilment and overnight customers
“Over the next 12 months we have a strong pipeline of fulfilment and overnight customers that we are already actively engaging with.” Joseph expects “endless opportunities” to emerge from his partnership with Diamond Logistics.
“I can also see us doubling our warehouse space and fleet for our overnight and next day services within that timeframe.”
Claire McKinney, Learning and Development Officer at Diamond Logistics, who has worked closely with Joseph and his team, says: “The new Network Partnership with Blaze Logistics is exciting. This partnership will strengthen our nationwide network allowing us to better service our clients anywhere in the United Kingdom.
“Having visited the new office recently and witnessed the passion, desire, and commitment of the Scotland team I can say with confidence they are a perfect match and great asset to the Diamond Family.’
Creating jobs for local people
According to Joseph, Blaze Logistics arrived at the right time to build a strong team. As skilled local people lost jobs as a result of the pandemic, he was able to recruit them. He remains unaffected by the driver shortage exacerbated by Brexit, which saw a big return of workers to their country of origin.
He explains, ‘Many established courier businesses which relied on EU workers have suffered from Brexit due to the exit of a high number of workers. As a business, we launched as people were losing their jobs elsewhere. We were able to take on local people, from outside the courier world, from more traditional vocations. We’re finding that they like it, and plan to stay.’
Scotland’s first Diamond Logistics Network Partner is a growing business with exciting plans. Joseph is confident that his leadership team – which includes Operations Manager Ross Henderson – will continue to blaze this Edinburgh to Plymouth route with confidence alongside partner Diamond Logistics.
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