With its sights firmly set on growing sales from £74million this year to £200m, M and M Direct needed the infrastructure in place to deliver on that ambition. Their new facility in Herefordshire is set to do just that. M and M Direct is one of the UK’s top online fashion and sports retailers specialising in discounted end of range and last season product. They sell high-end brands such as Nike, Adidas, Timberland and Ben Sherman, at prices discounted by as much as 75%, through their on-line shop and call centre.
Established over 20 years ago and employing around 500 people, this Leominster based e-retailer has seen its business go from strength to strength.
M and M chief executive Steve Robinson recognised the need to have the capacity in place to realise his growth plans and acquired a 210,000 sq ft former MOD warehouse in readiness. Steve brought in The Logistics Business as consultants and project managers to deliver the project.
The Logistics Business’ Graham Mawdsley takes up the story. “We began with planning the layout of the new distribution centre and the operating processes that will drive it, in order to achieve the aggressive sales strategy and growth targets set by Steve.
“We needed to ensure that the capacity and flexibility for bringing in new products was built in, to give the building the longest possible life-span.
“This was a complex re-fit of an existing building, which involved many contractors working to rigid deadlines. The scale of the project meant that it came under the Health and Safety Executive’s CDM regulations 2007 and this adds a level of complexity that is often daunting to small-to-medium sized companies. However, The Logistics Business was able to provide the expertise and resource to fill the roles of Principal Contractor and CDM Co-ordinator and to set up the management procedures needed to satisfy the CDM requirements. We also provided full-time site management whilst the work was carried out.
“The timescale for delivering the project was so tight that several suppliers said it couldn’t be achieved. But, through careful planning, choosing the right solution and the right supplier, by managing the work and closely supervising the site, the project was delivered on time and to budget”
For Steve and his management team the involvement of The Logistics Business meant not only was the project successfully delivered on time but that he could get on with the day job confident in the knowledge that the project was being run by people who knew and understood his business.
He said: “We successfully opened the distribution centre on time, on budget and with very few complications. We even managed to cope with some unexpected surprises on the way! The Logistics Business helped us achieve all our objectives and took away any burden the CDM regulations would have put on our internal team”.
The Logistics Business
Tel: 01527 889060
www.logistics.co.uk
Comments are closed.