Frustrated by poor service and hidden costs when using third party logistics companies, Matthew Drennan has established an order fulfilment centre with a difference. Here, he talks about Lush Logistics’ journey so far and reveals why office space, transparent pricing and supporting local are helping this company pack a punch.
When Matthew Drennan and his wife, Emma, had their first child in their early 20s, Matthew knew he needed a career change to support his family.
The 21-year-old freelance coach began working full time in a major supermarket but the regular night shifts made it difficult to spend time with his new baby.
Matthew moved to an ecommerce sunglasses company where he thrived as its warehouse manager. But when the company was bought out, he didn’t want to relocate his young family to Swindon.
He instead took a job as an Operations Manager for a sports equipment company in Billingham.
When the pandemic struck, the company – which specialised in indoor racquet sports such as squash and badminton – furloughed most of its staff, including Matthew.
This break allowed Matthew some downtime and he enjoyed walks with the dad of his daughter’s best friend, Rob.
Matthew and Rob, who ran several businesses, would often talk about the things they found frustrating in their careers.
For Matthew, his biggest gripe was dealing with third party logistics companies (3PLs) that ecommerce enterprises often recruit to manage services such as inventory management, warehousing, fulfilment and shipping.
Matthew explains: “I had spent a lot of time dealing with 3PLs but it always seemed like it was one step forward, two steps back. Every time I identified an opportunity to save money, I would be hit with a hidden cost.
“Working in seasonal businesses, such as sunglasses, we had far more sales in the summer compared to the winter but we would get punished for that, too.”
When Matthew’s furlough ended, he returned to the sports equipment company but the daily commute from North Tyneside to Billingham began to take a toll.
“I was getting home in the evenings and the kids were already in bed,” Matthew adds.
Matthew met Rob for a coffee and the chat soon turned to business again. Matthew confided in his friend that he wanted to start a company.
At that point, Rob got his laptop out and started typing. Matthew was surprised when he asked what his friend was doing.
“Rob turned his laptop around and told me he’d registered a business for us,” Matthew reveals.
The pair agreed that Rob would help get the business established before stepping back to leave Matthew and his wife, Emma, to run the new company.
Lush Logistics Order Fulfilment Centre started in April 2022 as a third party logistics and storage facility.
Matthew wanted to focus on the ecommerce businesses that specialised in smaller B2C goods, which were often put at a disadvantage when getting their products packaged and shipped by a third party.
He took space in an office premises in North Shields and it wasn’t long before he attracted his first customer – a skin and hair care company.
Matthew worked with the company’s owner to create a streamlined process that ensured any sales the company made were packed and distributed by Lush Logistics in a timely manner and in a way that best reflected the company.
“We wanted to keep the product as true to the customer and their brand values as possible,” Matthew explains.
With this attention to detail, Lush Logistics attracted several more clients and began packaging and shipping everything from handmade mugs and tea towels to artisan piccalilli chocolate and sweets.
This allowed Lush Logistics to take additional space in its secure office premises.
According to Matthew, being based in such an environment is an important selling point:
“Everyone we spoke to really liked that their products were in a nice clean and tidy office space with carpets and windows. It wasn’t a dusty, crusty warehouse where their products were sat covered in muck.”
Transparent pricing is also crucial to Lush’s owners, as Matthew explains.
“Our clients like that we don’t have hidden fees. Our pricing structure is simple and based on five key things – storage, the picking and packing of goods, the postage and, if they want, we can arrange the packaging for their goods, too.”
Last autumn, Lush Logistics attracted its biggest client – a local hamper company – to date. The win allowed the order fulfilment centre to recruit its first members of staff.
With growing orders and employees, everything was falling into place for Lush Logistics. It was even nominated for a North Tyneside Business Award.
But tragedy struck when Matthew’s Grandpa died suddenly in November.
For a time, Matthew was unable to give his business his full attention while he attended to his grieving family. But the father of two reveals his family repaid this support by helping Lush Logistics ensure it could fulfil its pre-Christmas rush.
“My family chipped in on the weekends to pick up some of the slack for Christmas. It was a big effort, not just from me and Emma, but from everyone.”
This commitment to help others is important to Matthew who wants to create a community feel among his clients.
“My vision is that Lush Logistics becomes a community where clients can bounce ideas around and help each other. If one client needs support with, for example, their SEO, another client could help with that and vice versa. We are the thing that ties it all together, while fulfilling their orders, too.”
Matthew and Emma want to support local businesses and the local community, and the fledgling company already sponsors Whitley Bay Football Club’s U13s boys team.
Ask Matthew what the future holds for Lush Logistics and he talks about his ambition to expand the business and move into larger goods. But any of Lush Logistics’ success, its owner says, hinges on his clients’ success.
“We see ourselves as an extension of our clients’ business and our biggest ambition is to see them succeed. I know that might sound cheesy to some people, but it’s not for us.
“If our clients grow, we grow; it’s that simple.”
For more information visit www.lushlogistics.co.uk
