LDC, the private equity investor, has exited its investment in J&J Global Fulfilment (J&J) to QLS, a Netherlands-based eCommerce fulfilment specialist, following five years of growth.
During the partnership with LDC, J&J expanded internationally, more than quadrupled revenue and invested in its people and proprietary eCommerce technology platforms.
Headquartered in Northampton, independent eCommerce fulfilment provider J&J serves more than 350 high growth mid-sized brands and online retailers.
LDC backed J&J’s management team, led by founder James Hyde, in March 2020 with an £11m investment to fund operational expansion and wider future growth initiatives. Since then, J&J’s growth has been driven by both UK and overseas expansion alongside investment in its eCommerce software platform.
With LDC’s support, J&J invested in a new purpose-built 200,000 sq ft facility in Northampton and established new operational capabilities in Holland, USA, Australia, Canada and Poland – bringing its total number of sites across the UK, Europe, Australia and North America to seven.
It also invested in its first US-based sales team and international sales now represent more than 30% of orders, up from 8% at the outset of its partnership with LDC.
Over the last five years, the business has grown revenues by 415% to £74m. It has also invested heavily in its workforce, growing global headcount by 350 to 470 over the same period, and increasing its annual orders fulfilled from 2.1 million to 8.5 million, fulfilling over 35 million global orders.
In addition, LDC has supported J&J to enhance its company culture. The business is certified as a Disability Confident workplace and has been named Employer of the Year at the Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards.
The transaction was led by Chris Baker, partner at LDC. J&J CEO Emma Dempsey, alongside the rest of J&J’s management team, will continue to lead the business as part of the QLS Group, which is backed by private equity investor Waterland.
Emma Dempsey, CEO, J&J Global Fulfilment, said: “From the very beginning, LDC understood our business, appreciated our culture, and backed us while giving us the confidence, resources and freedom to run the company our way. We are now perfectly positioned to seize new opportunities as part of QLS.”
