Hutch Logistics - Delivering the whole package with the help of Let’s Do Business Finance and the Recovery Loan Scheme
With the help of finance through the Recovery Loan Scheme, Chelmsford-based Hutch Logistics has changed the game for e-commerce businesses, by combining bespoke technology with a new age logistics solution to deliver a seamless and personalised experience for their customers.
Hutch Logistics, based in Chelmsford, Essex, secured £120k business finance under the Recovery Loan Scheme to secure a new premises fit for their future expansion, enabling them to onboard new customers and upscale operations, as well as provide more jobs in the area.
Co-founders Sait Cham and Ben Toogood began their journey to Hutch by both working together at a start up business in London in 2018 which centred around a cutting-edge same day delivery service on anything from McDonald’s to Rolex’s, with Sait working on operations and Ben the technology.
Thinking outside the box
After parting ways but both continuing to work in logistics, it became apparent to both that fast and on-demand services were where the industry was heading.
Fast forward to pre-pandemic 2020, with both Ben and Sait now consulting for companies of all shapes and sizes, a problem for many e-commerce businesses became a common theme – they loved their products, their marketing, and their businesses, but picking and packing orders became an overwhelming task. Personalised, beautifully and thoughtfully packaged goods were what customers enjoyed, with the rise of ‘unboxing’ videos trending on social media. They wanted to set their customer experience apart from the rest, and have their packages arrive quickly and seamlessly.
The solution?
The ability to outsource the picking and packing of their orders, to an all-in-one service that combined e-commerce orders into a simple and stylish interface, with a team that could take care of the packing of orders in line with their branding, and send them out that day.
“A lot of new e-commerce companies didn’t have the backgrounds to run an actual order and packing platform that functions end to end– one company approached Sait and asked him to consult for the logistics side of their operation given his background - and a solution like Hutch became clear”
– Ben Toogood on the beginnings of Hutch
Meet Hutch Logistics.
With the vision in mind for an innovate solution fit for a new generation of e-commerce businesses, Sait got back in touch with Ben about what he had in mind – and then, by combining their expertise, Hutch was born.
Three e-commerce businesses already lined up to be their starting point, Hutch had its small beginnings in a single storage unit in Bow, London. This new approach to logistics involved working long days, lots of trips to the Post Office, and throwing everything they thought they knew about logistics out of the window. Hutch was to be a solution that would seamlessly combine a modern physical infrastructure with purpose-built technology, that put the power back into their customers hands, and let them focus on building their brands.
Gaining momentum
Quickly outgrowing their storage unit in London, the pair made the decision to move to Harrow to allow Hutch the space to grow. With more and more companies becoming aware of an alternative to their endless trips to the post office, it didn’t take long before Hutch Logistics gained more and more customers – resulting in another move to a newer, bigger storage space spanning several thousand feet. Now the largest company in their Harrow storage space and serving 40 brands from London to all over the world, Ben and Sait realised their growth was now limited by the space they had, and they needed to think bigger.
Although already a big success, Hutch Logistics was still a new company. The co-founders wanted a new space that would maximise their potential and provide them a space that would serve for years to become, but quickly realised that financing a larger unit might prove difficult.
Having initially had equity funding from Angel Investors to get Hutch off the ground, and wanting to retain capital to fund their future investment in the business, Ben and Sait began to search for alternatives to financing this next move.
““We decided to look for financing options to help, and to use our capital to improve the business instead of tied into a rent deposit.””
Researching into their options and potential rates for businesses moving to the area, native to Essex Ben enquired with Chelmsford City Council to find out about available support for businesses.
Chelmsford City Council referred Ben and Sait to Let’s Do Business Group and Backing Essex Business, and told them about the potential for business finance from a Community Development Financial Institution as opposed to a traditional bank loan.
After getting in touch with the service and working with business manager Graham Johnson at Backing Essex Business, the pair began the process of applying for debt finance under the Recovery Loan Scheme from Let’s Do Business Finance. This approach to finance allowed them the possibility to retain their cashflow to keep investing in their new business, while providing the opportunity to gain funding to secure a new fit-for-purpose space.
“Graham was fantastic - he came to visit the site we were looking at leasing, and he was really helpful, helping us look at the financials and the time scale we would be repaying the loan over, and how much we’d actually need for the investment to get it right.
We loved the process of working with Let’s Do Business”
Securing £120k through the Recovery Loan Scheme, Sait and Ben could get to work – putting plans in place, and moving the operations for Hutch from Harrow to set down roots in Chelmsford.
The Recovery Loan Scheme, an initiative from the British Business Bank, was extended in August 2022 to provide businesses seeking finance to grow following the COVID19 pandemic. Accredited providers like Community Development Finance Institution Let’s Do Business Finance are able to administer finance facilities under the scheme to eligible businesses and help them stay on track with their goals.
““The scheme that Let’s Do Business had in place was a good fit for us – at that stage of the business, a lot of finance providers wanted certain security or assets on the balance sheet, but as we’ve always tried to be quite an asset-light business, that made us unsuitable for most lenders to take us on””
Space to grow
“Our growth was halted until we got more space, and now we’re in a much bigger 13,000sq ft unit in Chelmsford, four times the amount than we had in London, and it’s still easily accessible with the ports”
Working with 40 brands by the time of their move from Harrow, the new Chelmsford warehouse gave Hutch the breathing space to allow for the onboarding of more brands. With 13,000sq ft now to play with, and only a third of that space full, Ben and Sait believe they have the ability to increase their revenue threefold over the next 12-18 months, with potential for another site longer term.
As well as the much larger space to work with, the move to Chelmsford had the added benefit of a great talent pool to grow the team at Hutch. Previous to the move, they had been using agency and casual staff, but Ben and Sait felt it was important to lay down real roots and to provide more a more stable staffing solutions for people local to Chelmsford and Hutch as it grows. On any given month they now have 20+ people on payroll, with this number increasing during seasonal peaks such as Black Friday and Christmas.
“You need people who really care about the brand and you can invest in training. That’s why we wanted to set down some roots in Chelmsford – now we’re building a team that we hope will be with Hutch in 10, 20 years time”
Interested in finding out more about Hutch Logistics? Visit their website https://www.tryhutch.co.uk/
