Whistl is continuing its march into the fulfilment industry with the acquisition of Spark Ecommerce Group, which has over 200 staff and an annual turnover of £15m.
The group consists of Spark Response, a provider of contact centre and fulfilment services to some of the UK’s best-known brands; and Spark Etail, which acts as an online retailer for ethical products through its Ethicalsuperstore.com, Natural Collection, Frank & Faith and Spirit of Nature websites.
The Spark business is made up of a consortium of investors led by London-based chairman Barry Stiefel and includes Spark directors Peter Slee and Noel Lambert.
The company, which will be rebranded Whistl Fulfilment, has worked with online brands and retailers, most recently including WW (formerly Weight Watchers), FitFlop, Micro Scooters, Shark Ninja and PGA European Tour.
Whistl chief executive Nick Wells said: “We are looking forward to integrating the Spark Ecommerce Group into the Whistl family as part of our strategy to grow our business in the parcel, fulfilment and international arenas.
“Spark brings to Whistl great people, great brands and a shared philosophy of providing outstanding customer services to our clients. This is a great time to become part of the Whistl family.”
Spark will continue to operate from the North East and the existing operations and leadership team will remain in place with Peter Slee, as managing director, together with his co-director Noel Lambert.
“We have a great team here at Spark and we have been looking for a partner who can take us to the next level, yet retain our entrepreneurial, customer focused approach to doing business,” said Slee. “I look forward to working with Nick and his team to integrate our company into Whistl Fulfilment.”
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