Logistics boom benefits Chesterfield courier business which went from working at kitchen table to a £3.5 million turnover

Managing director Darryl Claypole set up City Couriers Direct in April 2020 with three other colleagues working from the Brimington kitchen of the business’ now commercial director Rebecca Hunter.

Fast forward 16 months and the firm which specialises in collecting and delivering parcels is on track to turn over £3.5 million in their second year of trading and has moved into the largest office space at Tapton Park Innovation Centre in Chesterfield.

Darryl said: "We effectively are a courier service and in our first year of trading, we went from standstill, we operated from basically nothing and we turned over around half a million pounds in our first year which alone was successful.

"In our second year of trading now we're on target for about £3.5 million turnover.”

City Couriers Direct first started subcontracting work for other companies such as delivery service City Sprint before partnering with Hermes and delivering and collecting parcels on their behalf, which expanded the Chesterfield firm’s growth.

The business which was originally called Darryl Claypole Owner Driver took on their new name and moved into their first premises in the smallest office space available at Tapton Park – which they rented from Chesterfield Borough Council.

The managing director praised the local authority, calling them “magnificent” in the role they played in helping City Couriers Direct to progress, as the business now operates with nearly 70 couriers.

City Couriers Direct’s team has also expanded to a 10-person strong team made up of local people – including two apprentices from Chesterfield College and Darryl is keen to continue attracting new talent.

The business owner continued: "We want to give an opportunity for young people in terms of graduate trainees, we want people to join the fastest growing industry in the UK.

"We've seen sadly the demise of the high street but we have seen the remarkable growth in online shopping so we are tapping into that and we are encouraging people to come and be part of that industry and to grow with us.

"We celebrate Chesterfield and we celebrate the area that we work in and all our people are local people so they are very proud of the area that they work in and that's grown.

"In our presentations that we've made to the stakeholders within the Hermes organisation and new prospective clients, we've utilised the Spire, we've utilised the fact we use Tapton Park and all as a focal point as something new and something innovative that we celebrate where we are."

The firm plans to open another smaller office and now operates from depots across the country, including Chesterfield, Sheffield, Normanton, Brimingham, Peterborough, New Market and Coventry following their growth acceleration.

In the future, City Couriers Direct plans to expand its client base, introduce new ways of collecting and delivering parcels along with advanced technology to track vehicles and upgrade courier apps and their own IT department.

To get in touch about employment opportunities, email [email protected] or call 01246541937.

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