Despatchlab - technology and innovation to help businesses grow

At diamond, we are passionate about small business. And obsessed about enabling them to have access to all the fulfilment and delivery services they need to help their business to grow. We looked at two key challenges facing two key business groups – owner managed logistics companies and online retailers. There were two clear issues; Challenge One Small courier companies were missing out on business development opportunities due to lack of resources, national representation and the need for expensive and therefore prohibitive technology and inaccessible carrier services they needed to grow. Challenge Two Thousands of local small businesses need to complete on a global stage like a large scale retailer;  losing out because they didn’t have the technology (unless they joined a globally monopolistic logistics platform which was costly and not client centric), or having inadequate service provision from local providers, limiting cost effective access to the multiple logistics services. And we worked tirelessly to find a solution for these needs to fuel growth in the UK’s small business. The answer was creating a different business model, with cost effective technology and services to enable both parties. Help small courier companies to flourish and grow, by helping small business to do the same. It’s a symbiotic relationship. We created a three point solution to meet these needs.

• We created a network partnership model, giving a wide range of carrier services and using our buying power to help and support the smaller couriers
• We created despatchlab the platform on which this is all managed.
• We’ve built our network – 16+ service centres to date around the UK

Local courier companies have become network partners – our platform enables them to run a diamond service centre – giving them service diversity and technology that until now they have been unable to access or afford. And their new clients are the thousands of local businesses around the UK that now have access to the logistics support they need to deliver their products to their customers,  enabling them to compete on a global stage. We invested £1m in creating despatchlab – our platform. It combines fulfilment, multiple carriers and, uniquely, same day delivery – all fully integrated with online marketplaces whether it be Amazon, Ebay, Shopify or Magneto – or their own via our open API. It’s a low cost SaaS product which eliminates the investment that would have been needed by courier companies and retailers increasing accessibility, enabling smooth business growth. Now, UK local businesses can access all the logistics services they need to deliver – giving them a stable, flexible foundation on which to grow their business.  Small start-ups or scale ups don’t have to place their work in homogeneous warehouses – they can have a tailor made local logistics solutions that still enables them to deliver – whether its pallets to Preston or packets to Paris – and they can go and see and touch their stuff – still feeling connected with the logistics experience. Businesses such as Fatstickboards serviced by Craig and team in Bournemouth, Three Spirit Drinks London supplied by Jason leading his team in Guildford and Epic Stuff ably assisted by Amanda and her team in Bristol  - all now relying on diamond to deliver.  All enabled by the services and tech, enabling them to meet online retailer demand, fuelling growth. It’s all about building trust based relationships on which our small business can grow in mutual benefit – sharing one of our core values – Shared Success ©. Our innovation in this space is focused on twinning relationships with technology, not to mention our 27+ years’ experience working with thousands of SME’s around the UK. And we aim to scale it in the next 2 years to 100 sites around the UK - so whether you are a candle maker in Plymouth, or a car part spares dealer in Bolton –we have a local service centre nearby to help you deliver. Find out more here