Whistl bought Prism DM in July last year as part of an ongoing focus on expansion in its fulfilment arm, which is based in Farnborough and Rushden.

Now the business is set to expand its 10,000sqm Rushden site by leasing a neighbouring 5,570sqm building, which the company said would be used for racking and pick-and-pack facilities to accommodate increasing demand for fulfilment services.

Meanwhile the new position of commercial director has been created to drive business for the growing division, with Mark Elwood stepping into the role in August, from previous employer DK Group. Elwood brings with him extensive experience in the European fulfilment and warehousing sectors.

Whistl Fulfilment managing director Lieneke Happel, said the business was firing on all cylinders. She added: “Growing existing and winning customers; investing in the business so we can expand the range of services we can offer; bringing in new talent to take us forward as a key driver of the future growth of our parent company, Whistl. We have an amazing team in Farnborough and Rushden and we look forward to an equally exciting and ambitious second year.”

The company said that Whistl Fulfilment has seen impressive growth during the past 12 months, building business with existing customers and adding a client a month across the beauty, electronics, luxury goods and charity sectors.

This growth has been further fed by Whistl’s acquisition in June of Nottingham-based multi-carrier shipping and e-commerce customer service provider Parcelhub and sister company Mail Workshop, which provides e-commerce shipping and fulfilment services. 

Marlow-headquartered Whistl UK, which underwent an MBO in 2015 from PostNL (still a 17.5% shareholder), reported a turnover of £603m in 2017. It provides mail, parcels, doordrop media and fulfilment services in the UK and internationally, handling 3.8 billion items a year. The group operates eight depots and two fulfilment centres across the UK.