Uncovering Radial’s sites: Manchester, UK

Discover the distinctive attributes of Radial’s facility as presented by Sarah Harvey, the Site Manager overseeing operations in Chadderton, on the outskirts of Manchester, UK.

One noteworthy advantage of the UK site is…

The great thing about the UK site is its central location within the country. We have a great network of carrier hubs around us, which gives us the ability to have later cut-off times. We’ve also got excellent access routes throughout the UK and via the local airport, making it easy for us to achieve next-day deliveries and adjust cut-off times accordingly.

What adds to the appeal of this site?

Another compelling reason for this location is the availability of labour. We benefit from a highly flexible labour pool supported by our on-site agency. We have an account manager and team associates right here with us, so the convenience is unmatched. When we need more people, all we have to do is ask a day before. This enables us to meet our clients’ demands with great flexibility.

Is the facility in Manchester manual or automated?

All our operations are manual, which means we have great flexibility. Within the warehouse, we allocate specific areas for each client, allowing us to customize and brand the storage space to suit their needs. We handle all their goods, including picking and packing, in these designated areas. This manual approach enables us to offer highly bespoke solutions, whether it’s tailoring storage arrangements or customizing packaging. For instance, we can provide branded packaging or personalized pick slips upon request. Our manual processes allow us to be incredibly flexible and offer customized services tailored to each client’s requirements.

What kind of VAS do you offer?

The unique aspect of the UK site is our focus on customization and personalization. We provide a lot of value-added services, such as steaming garments, kitting, engraving, and handling high-end bespoke luxury outbound orders. We do a lot of kitting operations, specifically in the caged area, with very high-end, expensive goods. Their packaging is almost like a gift wrap; it has ribbons, tissues, and stickers. It’s beautiful!

How many and what kind of clients do you have?

Across the site, we’ve got 15 clients, ranging from fairly small ones to very large ones, and we have a wide range of products. We possess extensive experience across various product types and in managing the scalability of different clients. Many of our clients, I’d say 70%, operate in the health and beauty sector, where we also have a rich heritage and significant experience. We also have clients who offer fashion, dietary supplements and home décor. We can handle clients that are doing dozens of orders a day equally as well as we can handle those that are doing several thousand orders a day. So it’s quite a significant range.

Overall, it’s an excellent site for managing all ecommerce fulfillment and logistics needs.