LDC exits J&J following transformational global growth journey

LDC, the leading private equity investor, has exited its investment in J&J Global Fulfilment (J&J) to QLS, a Netherlands-based eCommerce fulfilment specialist, following five years of rapid growth. During the partnership with LDC, J&J expanded internationally, more than quadrupled revenue and invested in its people and proprietary eCommerce technology platforms.

Headquartered in Northampton, J&J is Europe’s largest independent eCommerce fulfilment provider, serving more than 350 high growth mid-sized brands and online retailers. Powered by its proprietary real-time, cloud-based software platform, the business provides customers with an end-to-end fulfilment solution specifically designed for online orders, enabling clients to increase order volumes, manage order flows, improve inventory management and enhance customer experience.

LDC backed J&J’s management team, led by Founder James Hyde, in March 2020 with an £11m investment to fund operational expansion and wider future growth initiatives. Since then, J&J’s growth has been driven by both UK and overseas expansion alongside investment in its market-leading proprietary eCommerce software platform: CommandPort, the world’s first Warehouse Management System designed specifically for eCommerce, and ControlPort, which enables clients to manage and view orders across multiple channels and locations via a ‘single pane of glass’. With LDC’s support, J&J invested in a new purpose-built 200k ft² facility in Northampton and established new operational capabilities in Holland, USA, Australia, Canada and Poland – bringing its total number of sites across the UK, Europe, Australia and North America to seven. It also invested in its first US-based sales team and international sales now represent more than 30% of orders, up from 8% at the outset of its partnership with LDC.

Over the last five years, the business has grown revenues by 415% to £74m. It has also invested heavily in its workforce, growing global headcount by 350 to 470 over the same period, and increasing its annual orders fulfilled from 2.1 million to 8.5 million, fulfilling over 35 million global orders.

In addition, LDC has supported J&J to enhance its award-winning company culture. The business is certified as a Disability Confident workplace and has been named Employer of the Year at the Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards. It has also been recognised by several prestigious UK awards programmes, including the Elite Business 100 (EB100) Awards.

The transaction was led by Chris Baker, Partner at LDC. J&J CEO Emma Dempsey, alongside the rest of J&J’s management team, will continue to lead the business as part of the QLS Group, which is backed by private equity investor Waterland.

Emma Dempsey, CEO of J&J Global Fulfilment, said: “From the very beginning, LDC understood our business, appreciated our culture, and backed us while giving us the confidence, resources and freedom to run the company our way. We are now perfectly positioned to seize new opportunities as part of QLS. Our proprietary technology platform remains a real differentiator in our market and will enable us to support more businesses with global ambitions, all while remaining focused on the world-class service that our clients have come to expect.”

Chris Baker, Partner at LDC, added: “When I first met James back in 2018, it was clear that he had both the vision and the ambition to establish J&J as Europe’s largest eCommerce fulfilment provider – daring to think differently and challenging the status-quo to offer customers a superior level of service. We’re incredibly proud to have helped the business achieve this ambition and shift the paradigm in the eCommerce fulfilment market.  When Emma joined us in 2021, she hit the ground running and, along with the team, has worked tirelessly to delight clients with exceptional service delivery and take the J&J offering to five new locations across three continents. This wouldn’t have been possible without the award-winning technology platform which is central to everything that J&J does.  We wish Emma and the team all the very best as they embark on an exciting future journey as part of the QLS Group. ”

LDC has a successful track record in the businesses services sector, having invested £644m into 29 businesses across professional advisory, asset management and logistics over the last decade.

LDC and J&J were advised by Rothschild & Co, Broadfield, OC&C, Coppett Hill Advisory and Alvarez & Marsal.