Jacob Corlett, the 29-year-old entrepreneur disrupting the logistics business, says he has rescued much of the 109-year old delivery company Tuffnells and plans to relaunch it within weeks. A move that could save hundreds of jobs.
One man and his horse.
Corlett swooped on parts of the collapsed Tuffnells logistics business in June. The Sheffield headquartered business had more than 4,000 customers including IKEA and Homebase. Its fleet of green liveried trucks served 33 depots across the country with a long history. Harold Tuffnell founded the company, in 1914, when he bought a horse and cart for £100 to deliver goods .
“We have secured a future for Tuffnells and are well on the way to launching 25 depots, part of this includes taking on nine of the original Tuffnells depot network that have been chosen for being strategically well positioned and suitable for our plans to invest significantly in onsite technology. This enables us to provide employment for several hundred former employees,” says Plymouth-based Corlett in an interview from Singapore.
The “Uber” of logistics
Corlett’s Shift company bought the Tuffnells assets out of administration to help increase its share of the logistics business. He founded Shift in 2017 and it has been called the “Uber” of the logistics business. If you want to move 10 fridges from Macclesfield to Manchester this afternoon, Shift is your company.
In reviving Tuffnells, Corlett has secured nine depots including one at Lee Mill in his home city of Plymouth. The others are in London, Birmingham. Manchester, Gateshead, Leicester, Wellingborough and Lanark. He plans to modernise the business with new technology to rebuild a national network.
A relaunch is underway.
Shift is also in advanced discussions with landlords about taking on another six former Tuffnells sites and is also talking to commercial property agents about leasing another 10 depots, not part of Tuffnells.
“We intend to relaunch Tuffnells in July when, with our tech overlayed and integrated, it will be an operationally efficient business with significant potential for the generation of ongoing and profitable growth. We are genuinely excited by the prospect and look forward to welcoming back former Tuffnells customers, partners and employees to the Shift family,” says Corlett.
Shift has begun rehiring former Tuffnells employees and hopes to have a network of 25 depots in operation by the time it relaunches.
A swift fall from grace.
It has been a topsy-turvy few years for Tuffnells. As recently as 2017, the company enjoyed a bumper year and planned to expand. In that year, the company’s 2,800 employees and 1,200 green vehicles pulled in £175 million in sales and a pre-tax profit of £12.2 million.
Yet rising costs, COVID and competition put paid to these profitable glory days. By June 2023, the company entered administration putting 2,000 jobs at risk.
Competition is ferocious.
Dr Ventsislav Ivanov, of Oxford Business College, said online retail account for one pound out of every four spent by UK shoppers and the competition in logistics is ferocious.
“The size of the cake may have grown, but a surge in new entrants to the sector means many are fighting for an ever smaller slice,” he says.
One of the youngest and fittest in this fight is Jacob Corlett, who is reviving an old business in search of pastures new.
