Paul Gisbourne comments on his ambition for HBC,

I will be supporting HBC with its continual growth trajectory, the People Strategy to further develop its high-quality colleagues and to maintain its high standards of commerciality as we navigate through our next phase of growth.

Paul explained;

Having had the privilege to work with some major businesses over the last thirty years of my logistics career, Sameday Delivery services and Final Mile is part of my DNA. Working within this sector for this period of time, I have certainly learnt how vital a nimble courier operation is to the UK supply chain - supporting many industries from healthcare, retail, tech, manufacturing and the public sector to mention a few.

My first role in the industry was for TNT, managing a very sensitive courier operation that was responsible for the movement of human transplants between hospitals which taught me the urgency and the meticulous requirements for the delicate handling of clients, recipients, and couriers. One thing that is similar across all businesses I have had the benefit of working with, is the importance of quality people within this industry who tend to step up, take accountability, thrive on ownership, plus go above and beyond to maintain client relationships and deliver on promise.

Paul continues on the subject of what are his motivators;

Being passionate about leading colleagues through significant growth and transformational change whilst remaining customer-centric, has been my core focus in this highly demanding sector. Providing platforms for autonomous working, investing time and support into colleagues’ development, and creating the right environments for our employees to thrive, is critical in my view and part of my leadership style.

Paul has had a successful career in Logistics, with a few of his professional achievements including the migration of 22 acquisitions over a 9-year period of various sizes to complement the organic build. He has delivered a 15% YOY growth continuously within his Sameday career in all businesses in both revenue and EBIDA, mobilised the largest Cargo Bike fleet in London to reduce the carbon footprint in the capital and worked with the strongest Exec team in his CitySprint days to create the largest Sameday National Courier Network within the UK.

When asked why Paul chose to join the Senior team within HBC –

HBC have created something incredibly special in the Southeast of England. With a very dynamic team that flourishes on growth, provides exceptional operational services to their clients and a business that has the appetite to keep on pushing for greater market share. The HBC owners share the same values and complement each other with varying styles and skill sets, and all have the same mission of providing the best service possible for their clients and equally innovating through ‘Smart Logistics Manager’, the in-house built operating platform, which makes trading with HBC from a client and courier perspective, a company that is easy to do business with.

HBC Logistics, has provided same day and scheduled deliveries for businesses all around the UK, Ireland and Europe since 2017. In just five years, they have grown an enviable reputation in professional urgent deliveries and warehouse storage services - beginning in just a 5,000sq ft warehouse in Letchworth to relocating their entire operation to a 62,000sq ft facility in Stratton Business Park, Biggleswade at the end of this year.

Excited about the express final mile future

A word from IOC fellow, HBC Director, Ben Weldon –

Ben Weldon, IOC fellow, founder and Director for HBC Logistics is incredibly excited about the future. “

To attract Paul Gisbourne to our business, we certainly must be doing something right. Paul joins us with extensive knowledge and expertise within this industry so it's great to get him on board. I believe he will provide real tangible value to the three directors and the team to continually grow both the logistics business and our in-house-built tech platform, Smart LM. Having someone like Paul who shares the same ethics, culture and leadership qualities will be invaluable for our journey and the future for us.

We are continually investing in the organisation with the move to Biggleswade which will enable us to facilitate both local and national clients, as well as maintain our relentless execution with the right technology - supporting c65 courier companies Nationwide with unrivalled technology for their businesses. And finally, the culture for us, driven by the right talent and leadership team is critical for our future growth and an area, we will always invest in.

Paul Gisbourne Smart LM –‘Recognising other courier systems’

Smart Logistics Manager is an innovative, revolutionary logistics system designed by Ben and his development team in 2019 to run HBC Logistics. The system was successfully recognised by other logistics companies and Ben soon began to receive requests asking if they could also use the software. So further modifications were put in place to make it adaptable for different companies and in 2020, SmartLM was born.

Today, SmartLM is one of the smartest logistics systems out there, with 65 businesses relying on the system every day to run their operations. It’s a simple-to-use web-based platform where users can monitor and handle their customer bookings, PODs, invoices, vehicles and more. To find out more, visit the website here: https://smartlm.co.uk/

This is an incredibly exciting time for HBC and Smart LM as we push on to create a wider geographical reach and perform a wider range of services for our existing and new clients. Furthermore, Smart LM will continue to evolve in its mission of providing courier businesses with unrivalled advantages over their competitors with the right functionality and integrations to boost their service, transparency, revenues, and customer base.

HBC - a vision for Biggleswade

HBC Taking that extra step to accommodate our growth

In upcoming weeks HBC Logistics will be relocating its entire operation to a new facility in Stratton Business Park, Biggleswade. Located just 43 miles from London, our new upgrade is over four times the size of our current site in Baldock and provides us with over 62,000sq ft of office and warehouse space.

We are now conveniently situated fronting directly on to the A1, with excellent transport links and easy access to the M25 and central London, further supporting our final mile and London network. Outside, there is an entrance exclusively dedicated to HGVs with twelve parking spaces and seven dock levellers. This will drastically improve our loading and unloading processes and make it an easier operation for our drivers and warehouse team to transfer goods in and out of the warehouse. This is just the beginning of HBCs growth and we can’t wait to see what the new facility and Paul brings to this company.