Local logistics firm buys Express Prep in latest deal

Why it matters: The deal marks another step in Raptor's shift from leasing warehouse space to growing through acquisitions, following its purchase of D&M Logistic Solutions last year.

The details: Raptor completed the acquisition of Express Prep on 11 June, buying the company's assets and client base through an Asset Purchase Agreement.

• Express Prep's stock has been transferred from its former site in Calne, near Swindon, to Raptor's sites in Ipswich and Stowmarket, and the Calne site has now closed.
• Raptor also acquired Express Prep's digital assets as part of the deal. The brand and website will continue to operate, but as a sales funnel for the wider group rather than as an independent trading company.
• Fred Benfield, co-founder of We Prep, described it as a "multiple six-figure deal" – smaller than the D&M acquisition, but completed within a week of Shane Gould, Express Prep's former owner, first making contact.
• Most of the transferred clients are being handled by We Prep E-commerce Logistics & Fulfilment, though work is being split across the wider Raptor Logistics Group, which also includes We Ship Global Forwarding and D&M Logistic Solutions, depending on the services each client needs.
• Raptor says the deal has brought a "multiple six-figure" increase in revenue, with all clients and stock already successfully onboarded.

What they're saying: Fred Benfield said: "Delighted to get another acquisition under our belt for the Raptor Logistics Group. The best part for me is the excitement we get from our teams across the different companies. Everyone is very onboard with it and works super hard going above and beyond for our existing customer base and new customers are onboarded with minimal disruption."

Shane Gould said: "I'm very pleased to be handing the reins over to the Raptor Logistics Group, Express Prep customers are now in safe hands and I'm sure will take them to the next level."

Anne-Marie Kewley, We Prep's general manager, said she was excited to work with "innovative new brands" that have come with the deal, naming Brick Me, GF Yourself and Wild Source as "exactly the sort of brands we want to partner with and scale." She added: "These brands have bespoke requirements and our team are already smashing it."

Brick Me, one of the new clients transferred from Express Prep, is based in Melbourne, Australia. It lets customers turn photos into brick mosaics through an app, ordering the design as a kit with parts and instructions.

For context: Raptor Logistics Group, headquartered at Raptor House in Stowmarket, has grown rapidly since Fred Benfield founded We Prep from his dining room table in Trimley St Martin in 2019. The group acquired 75,000 sq ft warehouse operator D&M Logistic Solutions in Ipswich last year, its first move from leasing space to buying competitors.

We Prep – it started with a single box, now it’s 100,000 sq ft

Fred Benfield admits he got a little carried away. What began as a “bit of fun” at his dining room table in Felixstowe six years ago has grown into a £5 million logistics operation spanning 100,000 square feet across three Suffolk sites.

Ipswich.co.ukMatt Stott

The bottom line: Raptor's second acquisition in under a year adds new clients and revenue to its Ipswich and Stowmarket operations, with Express Prep's former Calne site now closed.

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