CopriSystems is a family business specialising in the design innovation, manufacture and installation of bespoke structures for industry and sport. For over 35 years, they have been creating unique, flexible spaces that meet current specific requirements and allow for future progression. They offer a full turnkey service and guarantee high quality with a strong customer focus from start to finish.
Rafe Colenso, Director at CopriSystems speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What are your best-known products/solutions/services?
Flexible warehousing. We’ve always designed prefabricated structures for industrial use that are fit for purpose now, but can be easily adapted or relocated to suit a business’s ever-changing needs. Some would say it’s temporary warehousing, but our structures will stand for as long as you need them to and often they start their life as a short-term structural solution, but become part of a long-term growth strategy.
Which industry sectors are your customers in and which ones are growing fastest?
Within the world of warehousing, we work with a broad range of clients from major supermarket chains and online retailers to the military, global pharmaceutical brands and shipbuilders. E-commerce has obviously been growing rapidly to respond to changing consumer behaviour, but it’s not only the increasing demand for space that has been significant for us. It’s also the way in which this space is being used. From just-in-time to just-in-case, macro to micro fulfilment, stockpiling to last-mile delivery solutions, change has been coming thick and fast. A key phrase for this year seems to be elastic warehousing and that’s exactly what our buildings are designed for.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers, and how are you responding?
In this climate of uncertainty, we are finding that clients are predominantly looking for temporary solutions. Businesses are unable to look too far ahead and are therefore adopting shorter-term strategies with the anticipation of having to adapt quickly. This is such a turnaround for us, as we have spent many years demonstrating that fabric-covered warehouse buildings are not a second-rate, stop-gap alternative to bricks and mortar. The quality of materials we use and the high standard of workmanship we expect means that some of our structures are as old as the business itself. The buildings will stand for as long as you want them to so, if temporary is in demand, then we can work with that, but we’ll always find ways of letting customers know that they can also last for decades.
Can you tell us about any recent customer contracts and how you helped the customer meet their challenges?
Our buildings are intended to lead a dynamic life and in recent months we’ve been working with a number of existing customers on repurposing their existing warehouse structures as part of a move to consolidate their ways of working. Several times already this year we’ve been asked to dismantle a structure and re-install it elsewhere on site and, most recently, we’ve been at Wickes, removing six side doors from their warehouse as its usage changes from housing large double-decker trailers and operating as a loading bay to providing space for storage.
How does business in 2024 compare to previous years? What’s your strategy for succeeding in the current climate?
It’s all about efficiency – cost efficiency, energy efficiency and operational efficiency etc and we are focused on offering customers an efficient turnkey solution that helps them streamline communication, save money, meet deadlines, maintain consistently high-standards and reduce waste.
What’s the latest news from your company?
The big news is within the sports sector, as we recently launched our sister company PadelSystems to respond to the rapid growth of padel tennis and the huge demand for facilities. As with our industrial buildings, we design all the courts and indoor structures individually but many of our customers are coming to us with plans to develop disused warehouses into padel venues so even when we’ve got our sporting hats on, we’re looking at warehouse versatility and ways in which we can efficiently modify the use of these industrial buildings.
CopriSystems Ltd
t: 01380 830 697
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