Foresight Group, a listed regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has made a £700,000 growth capital investment into We Are Fulfilment Limited (WAF), using equity finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).
The Nottinghamshire company connects e-commerce businesses’ sales channels – such as Shopify, Amazon, eBay and others – with WAF’s warehouse management system so that businesses can receive and ship customer orders. It was founded in 2022 by business partners Trent Peek and Richard Ardis who spotted an opportunity after failing to find a fulfilment service for their own e-commerce businesses.
In its first year, WAF experienced rapid growth by partnering with over 60 e-commerce businesses and reached full capacity at its current warehouse facility. The investment will enable WAF to open a second fulfilment centre, improve automation of its systems, optimise supply chain processes across its two fulfilment centres and create high-quality, local jobs.
Following investment, the company has appointed Jamie Clark, a supply chain specialist, as Chief Operations Officer, and Sarah Gilling, former Managing Director of Ocean Saver and an existing partner of WAF, as Chief Finance Officer.
Commenting on the investment, Trent Peek, co-founder and CEO at WAF, said: “We’ve experienced meteoric growth in the last year. As the e-commerce markets continue to show double-digit growth in the UK, the need for reliable, transparent fulfilment is enormous. With this support from Foresight, we’ll strengthen our offering to existing clients and we’re poised to deliver even better customer satisfaction for our growing number of partners.”
Line Kristine Gauteplass, investment manager at Foresight, added: “We are delighted to support Trent and Richard and the rest of the team at WAF to enable them to achieve their business ambitions. The company has demonstrated significant growth, attracted a growing customer base and built an excellent reputation within the fulfilment and e-commerce markets. With our investment and support, WAF is well placed for its next stage of growth, and we look forward to being part of its growth journey.”
Will Morlidge, Chief Executive, D2N2 LEP, said: “I was delighted to support this new investment that will enable the business to expand, improve processes and create high quality, sustainable jobs in the D2N2 region. It is great to see WAF going from strength to strength.”
