New Drop2Shop MD makes instant impact for Coll-8

27/02/2023

Irish-based Coll-8 Logistics has recruited Tony Scott as Managing Director of its award-winning e-commerce delivery and returns platform, drop2shop.
 
Founder and Chief Operations Officer, Dave Field, has said that Mr Scott's arrival had helped generate "almost instantaneous results".
 
The move comes after Coll-8 announced that it had experienced a year of "unprecedented growth" during which turnover, client, employee and depot numbers had all at least doubled.
 
"Tony is both tremendously experienced and exceptionally capable. Persuading him to join us is a real coup.
 
"We have seen many more e-commerce firms and their customers opting to use drop2shop over the last 12 months because they recognise how much quicker, more secure and more convenient it is than rival methods.
 
"Adoption of the platform continues to increase week by week and, as a result, the number of purchases which it processes is growing rapidly too.
 
"What's more, drop2shop also provides retailers outside of Ireland with access to a much broader infrastructure, which enables them to overcome the potential headaches of customs clearance and having to reclaim VAT on purchases returned by consumers.
 
"Tony's vast knowledge of the Irish e-commerce market and skill in managing enormous volumes of e-commerce orders has already proven invaluable for us and the businesses and shoppers whom we serve."
 
Mr Scott was previously employed as Regional Operations Director at Nightline, the company co-founded by Mr Field which went on to become Ireland's largest independent delivery firm before being sold to UPS in 2017.
 
Mr Field outlined how Mr Scott would be instrumental in expanding the drop2shop footprint across the Republic.
 
The platform was launched in 2020 in collaboration with BWG Foods, which owns Ireland's largest network of convenience stores, including familiar brands such as Spar, Mace, XL and Londis.
 
It is available to more than 500 online retailers, including leading brands in the UK and further afield.
There are currently more than 400 participating premises but interest in drop2shop is rising so rapidly that store numbers are anticipated to grow by as much as 50 per cent during 2023.
 
Its appeal was heightened even more by the development of a unique new system to automate the process of reclaiming VAT and duties on returned e-commerce purchases.
 
As a result, Coll-8 has opened two new facilities - a 35,000 square foot depot at Blanchardstown, Dublin, and a 15,000 square foot cross-docking site at Runcorn, Cheshire, to consolidate shipments to the Republic.
 
That has led to staffing levels across all three of Coll-8's offices, including its head office at Baldonnell, doubling from 42 to 80 since August.
 
Mr Field has also stated that the company is well on target to double its turnover in the coming 12 months.
 
The developments have been warmly appreciated by clients. One - the SMP Group, which is among Britain's leading print and marketing communications specialists - said that Coll-8's service was "second-to-none and unequalled for UK to Ireland shipments.