The Operation, In Detail
Specification, service levels, the order lifecycle, returns and escalation — the reference pages a fulfilment buyer needs before an enquiry is worth making. Including the parts that are less flattering.
The numbers a fulfilment buyer actually checks
Capacity, cut-offs, scanning and security in one table, so you can size us against your operation before you spend a call on it.
| Attribute | Standard | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Total facility area | 90,000 sq ft across 2 regional hubs | Combined operating area across Daventry and Dartford facilities |
| Pallet positions | 7,000 racked positions | Standard UK (1200×1000) and Euro (1200×800) pallet racking |
| Bin & shelf locations | 24,500 dynamic pick faces | Small-item pick faces for fast-moving lines |
| Daily order capacity | 12,000 orders dispatched / day | Peak daily throughput capacity with extended shift staffing |
| Same-day dispatch cut-off | 15:00, Monday to Friday | Orders received before the cut-off with stock available ship the same day |
| Operating days | Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays | Saturday and peak-period working agreed per client in advance |
| Goods-in booking | Dock slot booked against an ASN | Deliveries are counted against the advance notice on arrival |
| Stock control | Barcode scanning at goods-in, pick, pack and dispatch | Every movement is scanned to a location, so the trail survives an audit |
| Cycle counting | Rolling counts by location | Continuous counting instead of an annual shutdown |
| Security | Alarmed and CCTV monitored, with caged storage for high-value stock | Access controlled, with a separate secure area available on request |
What happens between the checkout and the doorstep
Seven stages, two of which are control points that stop an error rather than report it afterwards. Knowing where those sit is the difference between a process you can audit and a black box you have to trust.
- 1
Order received
Pulled from your channel continuously, then checked against your routing rules — hold, prioritise, split or send straight to the floor.
Within minutes
- 2
Inventory allocated
Stock is reserved against the order immediately, so it stops being available to every other channel before a picker has moved.
Immediate
- 3
Barcode scanned at pick
The location is scanned, then the item. A mismatch stops the line here. This is the first control point.
Control point
- 4
Picked & packed
Items scanned again at the bench against the order lines, then packed to your written specification — carton, void fill, inserts, slip.
Control point
- 5
Label generated
Rate-shopped across carrier accounts at this moment, weighing service level against price. The label prints only once the order reconciles.
On reconciliation
- 6
Carrier collection
Manifested and staged on the dispatch lane for the day's collections. Orders in before 15:00 leave the same day.
Same day
- 7
Tracking sent
The dispatch and tracking reference are written back to your channel, which triggers the shipping notification your customer expects from you.
At dispatch
What we commit to, and what happens when it slips
These are the standards written into the service agreement. The exceptions are listed with them, because a service level with no stated exceptions is a marketing line rather than a commitment.
| Commitment | Standard | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Order cut-off | 15:00, Mon–Fri | Orders received before 15:00 on a working day, with stock available and payment cleared, are dispatched that day. |
| Dispatch after cut-off | Next working day | Orders received after the cut-off, at weekends or on bank holidays are dispatched on the next working day. |
| Goods-in put-away | Within 2 working days of a booked delivery | Counted against the ASN on arrival, then racked and available to pick. Unbooked or unlabelled deliveries take longer, and we will say so on the day. |
| Pick verification | Scanned at pick and at pack | A mismatch stops the bench before a label prints. This is a process commitment — the resulting accuracy figure is only published once it is measured over a full quarter. |
| Returns processing | Within 1 working day of receipt | Inspected against your grading rules, then restocked, quarantined or written off, with the reason recorded against the SKU. This figure is the commitment the rest of the site quotes — change it here and it changes everywhere. |
| Exception reporting | Daily, by 12:00 | Short picks, damages, stock discrepancies and carrier failures arrive as a report with a decision to make, rather than being found by you later. |
| Enquiry response | One working day | Quotes and account queries answered within one working day. Operational issues during working hours go to the dispatch desk by phone. |
When these do not apply
Naming the exceptions up front costs us a little credibility on the page and saves a great deal of it on the account.
- Stock is not physically available, or the count does not reconcile at pick.
- The order is held by a rule you set — fraud review, address validation or a payment flag.
- Carrier network failure, industrial action or severe weather stops collections.
- Peak periods where a different cut-off has been agreed with you in writing in advance.
- Non-standard handling — oversized, hazardous or two-person items — quoted separately.
What happens to a parcel that comes back
Returns are where most fulfilment relationships quietly go wrong: stock disappears into a corner, the customer waits for a refund and nobody owns the decision. Ours is a defined sequence with a recorded outcome.
- 01
Received and identified
The return is booked in against the original order. Where a return reference is missing, it goes to an unidentified bay and appears on the exception report the same day rather than sitting anonymously on a shelf.
- 02
Inspected against your rules
You set the grading rules during onboarding: what counts as resaleable, what needs repackaging, what is rejected. Operatives apply your rules rather than their own judgement.
- 03
Outcome recorded
Restocked, repackaged, quarantined or written off — with the reason coded against the SKU, so recurring product faults become visible instead of anecdotal.
- 04
Reported back
Return outcomes are written back to your channel where the integration supports it, and summarised in your reporting so refunds are not held up waiting for a manual check.
Stock discrepancies and damage
Three situations account for almost every dispute between a brand and its 3PL. Here is how each one is handled.
Damage found at goods-in
Photographed and reported the same day, before put-away, so you can claim against the supplier or the inbound carrier while the evidence is still current.
Damage found during picking
Quarantined and recorded against the SKU, and it appears on your exception report. It is never quietly deducted from the count.
Count does not match the system
The location is recounted and, if the gap holds, frozen pending investigation. You get the figure and the movement history behind it, not a corrected number with no explanation.
Escalation
Who to contact, in what order, and how long each stage should take.
Your account manager
Same working day
Day-to-day queries, order exceptions, stock questions and dispatch chasing.
Operations manager
Within one working day
Anything unresolved at level 1, repeated service failures, or a decision that affects your service levels.
Directors
Within two working days
Contractual matters, claims, and any failure that has already been escalated twice without resolution.
The buildings your stock actually sits in
Which sites we run, how each one is held, and what it is equipped to do. A 3PL that will not tell you whether a hub is theirs or a partner's is telling you something.
Midlands Central Fulfilment Hub (Hub 01)
Daventry, Northamptonshire
Primary eCommerce pick, pack, returns and pallet storage
We hold the lease and run the floor with our own staff and systems.
- Area
- 55,000 sq ft
- Pallets
- 4,200
- Bin locations
- 16,500
- Cut-off
- 15:00 Mon–Fri
- Redcare-connected intruder alarms
- 24/7 CCTV coverage across all aisles and benches
- Access-controlled turnstiles and biometric dock doors
- Caged high-value storage vault
London & South East Gateway (Hub 02)
Dartford, Kent
Inbound container devanning, cargo cross-docking and London final-mile staging
We hold the lease and run the floor with our own staff and systems.
- Area
- 35,000 sq ft
- Pallets
- 2,800
- Bin locations
- 8,000
- Cut-off
- 16:00 Mon–Fri
- Perimeter fencing and ANPR gate control
- High-definition CCTV and dock surveillance
- Monitored environmental and climate control
Goods in trust
£500,000 indemnity per claim
Cover for client stock while it is in our care
Public liability
£10,000,000 indemnity
Standard cover carried across the operation
Freight liability
RHA Conditions of Carriage
Standard £1,300/tonne, CMR for international freight
Come and see it on a normal Tuesday.
Ask for a mid-shift visit rather than a scheduled tour. Goods-in, the pick faces and the pack benches under load will tell you more than this page can.