NEWS
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURE : DAZ MACK
EXPANSION IN STORE
Special – Sovereign Supply Chain is growing but directors Mat Bruce and Kris Marsay say they will always keep the personal touch .
Warehouse firm confirms expansion plans are on track as it looks to partner with more e-commerce retailers
It provides warehouse service solutions for businesses small and large – but Middlesbrough-based Sovereign Supply Chain doesn ’ t have “ customers ”.
Co-founder and owner Kris Marsay explained : “ We don ’ t call them ‘ customers ’ – we call them partners . It ’ s a two-way thing – we try to grow with them and vice versa .
“ We have a lot of experience in the industry , so we ’ d like to try to share that with people who don ’ t have it and might need it .”
It ’ s that sort of friendly informality , coupled with gold-standard professionalism in commercial warehousing , fulfilment and managed transport services , that makes Sovereign stand out from the crowd .
From its 14,000-sq ft complex at Cannon Park and a 28,000-sq ft facility on the TeesAMP cluster at Riverside Park , Sovereign has , in just three and a half years , firmly established itself as a “ go to ” for many firms looking for help with their warehousing needs , stock management and requirements to get stock shifted safely , securely and speedily .
There ’ s more to come , too , with Sovereign now able to confirm an impending summer opening of a third warehouse – a large unit in the Teesside area that will more than double its footprint in terms of capacity .
But despite some of its partners boasting huge turnovers , the firm is keen to attract smaller players too .
Kris told Tees Business : “ There isn ’ t one particular size of partner we look for , but we would like to work with more local or e-commerce-type businesses to be part of our growth – we ’ re on a growth trajectory as well , so we ’ d like to partner up in a sense .
“ For example , it could be an e-commerce business that ’ s taken off from a front room or garage but is getting too big to manage , or one that ’ s reached quite a size but needs an efficient and flexible warehousing solution .
“ I ’ ve spoken to people in the past few years who had good business ideas and initially did really well , but it ’ s come to the point where they were that busy picking , packing and wrapping stuff and taking it to the Post Office , it ’ s overwhelmed them .
“ It ’ s gone from being a really good potential business to someone just packing it in because it ’ s become unmanageable – and they ’ ve not realised our kind of service is out there .”
But how exactly does it work at Sovereign ?
Kris explained : “ We ’ re a warehousing business focused on commercial storage and distribution . We ’ ll take receipt of your goods , then check , store and distribute them .
“ We have partners ranging from multi-billion-pound turnover blue-chip companies that outsource all their storage of packaging and raw materials , to smaller e-commerce partners who might have a few pallets of stock they sell online .
“ We hold that stock , an order comes in , we pick it , we pack it and we send it out for them , so it ’ s a pretty seamless system .
“ A partner might be a large manufacturer – for example , we stock 2,400 pallets for one local company . The partner orders their materials in bulk , we ’ ll receive it directly from their suppliers , check it , and store until awaiting call off .
“ This whole process is managed by our WMS system , which gives our partner a fully transparent view of all stock management .”
There ’ s an ability to adapt to circumstances too . Kris explained : “ We offer a flexible cost model , so you pay for what you use . By cutting out commitments on rent , rate , utilities , buildings and staff , it means that if there ’ s a downturn in work , as the partner you ’ re not left panicking about how you ’ re going to manage .”
With the new Teesside premises imminent , Sovereign is ideally placed to continue its impressive expansion – but it will still keep that personal touch Kris and fellow director Mat Bruce feel is so important .
Kris added : “ We ’ ve grown the business over the past three years , and it ’ s all been organic . We now need the additional space to continue our growth and to facilitate current and future demand .
“ It ’ s a case of not standing still while maintaining our general principles . And basically , it ’ s still about making our partners ’ lives easier .”
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