British delivery group Whistl has taken over regional fulfilment specialist Spark Ecommerce Group as it continues to expand through selective acquisitions.
The group, whose core business lies in mail and parcel delivery, last year bought Prism DM and re-branded it as Whistl Fulfilment earlier this year. In June this year, Whistl followed up with the acquisition of e-commerce shipping companies Parcelhub and Mail Workshop.
In the latest deal, Whistl has acquired privately-held fulfilment and contact centre company, the Spark Ecommerce Group, based in Gateshead, north-east England, for an undisclosed sum.
Spark, a successful 20-year-old company with 200 employees, had a £15m turnover last year. It consists of Spark Response, providing contact centre and fulfilment services to some of the UK’s most recognisable brands, Spark Etail, an online retailer for ethical products through several websites. Recent clients include WW (formerly Weight Watchers), FitFlop, Micro Scooters, Shark Ninja and PGA European Tour.
Spark Ecommerce Group will be rebranded Whistl Fulfilment and will continue to operate from the North East with its existing operations and leadership team.
Nick Wells, CEO of Whistl said: “We are looking forward to integrating the Spark Ecommerce Group into the Whistl family as part of our strategy to grow our business in the parcel, fulfilment and international arenas. Spark brings to Whistl great people, great brands and a shared philosophy of providing outstanding customer services to our clients.”
Peter Slee, Managing Director, Spark Ecommerce Group, said: “We have a great team here at Spark and we have been looking for a partner who can take us to the next level, yet retain our entrepreneurial, customer focussed approach to doing business. I look forward to working with Nick and his team to integrate our company into Whistl Fulfilment.”
Headquartered in Marlow, north of London, the Whistl group of companies now 2 fulfilment centres and 8 depots across the UK.
Meanwhile, its Parcelhub subsidiary has integrated the Linnworks ecommerce order management system into its carrier management system enabling Linnworks customers to handle their shipment processing and label printing within their browser and a few clicks.
Merchants powered by Linnworks can now save time with Parcelhub’s accelerated label production and have access to a single interface of 20+ carriers and 600+ services. Online sellers will be able to save money by deploying the free user-friendly order management software and accessing tailored cost-effective shipping, due to the collaborative buying power of the Parcelhub offer, all managed in a single invoice.
Merchants accessing Parcelhub from the Linnworks Application Store, can also enhance their customers’ delivery experience with the Parcelhub SMART Notifications platform. It identifies carrier-specific sequences of scan events that might lead to delivery problems such as bad address events and Parcelhub’s customer services team proactively step in to rectify ‘where is my parcel’ issues before they develop.
Mark Rosenberg, Managing Director, Parcelhub said: “Parcelhub continues to innovate the enterprise carrier management sector, and with our acquisition by the Whistl Group, we will continue to invest in our parcel technology and customer services offerings. Not only do mid-market retailers benefit from bespoke delivery management solutions, they are increasingly outsourcing their customer support operations with us.”
