Business advisory firm Quantuma has advised Whistl on its acquisition of Clientbase Fulfilment (‘Clientbase’) as part of its further expansion of fulfilment and contact centre services. This transaction represents the fourth acquisition by Whistl of a fulfilment business that Quantuma has advised them on.

Founded in 1999, Clientbase is a privately held company based in Paignton, Devon. It offers a full fulfilment service for home shopping companies, including pick & pack, a 140-seat contact centre, warehousing, returns handling and delivery.

The company’s customer base includes well-known brands, such as Cisco, Dogs Trust, Madeleine, Peter Hahn, RSPCA, Secret Lab, Scotts of Stow and Sophie Conran.

Clientbase was founded by David Fanous, Managing Director, Rob Smeddle, and Angus Dick. As part of the acquisition, David will remain with the company, Rob become a consultant and Angus will retire.

Headquartered in Marlow, Whistl is a leading delivery management company providing efficient, high-quality and competitively priced services across Business Mail, Parcels, Fulfilment and Doordrop Media both in the UK and internationally. They are the market leaders in Downstream Access Mail (DSA) services, handling over 50 per cent of bulk business mail in the UK.

The acquisition follows Whistl’s recent announcement of the expansion of its facilities in Rushden and a new warehouse in Northampton as well as a new site opening in Bristol in 2021. The firm now has 8 fulfilment warehouses across the UK and a 500-seat contact centre capability.

This is the latest in a string of recent acquisitions for Whistl, following Spark Ecommerce Group, Parcelhub, Mail Workshop and Prism, all of which Quantuma has provided lead corporate finance advice on.

The Quantuma team led by Ian Barton, a managing director from its Corporate Finance Thames Valley team, advised Whistl on the transaction.

Nick Wells, CEO of Whistl, said: ““Having provided lead corporate finance advice to Whistl on three previous acquisitions, we were delighted to work with Ian and the Quantuma team on this transaction. They advised us through the process and helped ensure a smooth and timely process for all parties involved despite the challenges of the lockdown period. ”

Ian Barton said: “It was a pleasure to advise Nick, Manoj and the whole Whistl team on another acquisition. It is a growing company looking to meet the ever-increasing demands of the UK parcel business, which has grown significantly during 2020 with the shift into online retail and delivery as a result of the pandemic.

“Clientbase provides expansion both in terms of clients and geography for Whistl and, despite the challenges of completing a deal in the current environment, the whole Whistl team and their advisers worked seamlessly to get the deal done. We wish all parties continued success as Whistl continues to further grow its fulfilment operations"

ENDS

Notes to Editors Quantuma is a leading business advisory firm which works with businesses at the key milestones, delivering bespoke solutions to help clients take advantage of opportunities and overcome a range of operational and financial challenges, enabling them to achieve their business objectives and ambitions. The business has 20 offices, including 17 in the UK, two international offices in Cyprus (Nicosia and Paphos) and one in Mauritius.