Storage, pick and pack and fulfilment
Rapid Despatch runs storage, pick and pack and order fulfilment from its Reading site (around 7,000 sq ft on Robert Cort Industrial Estate) and from Southampton, with same-day despatch on its own vehicles from the same building and no minimum volume.
We store, prepare and despatch stock for businesses that would rather not run a warehouse. Two facilities, Reading and Southampton, plugged straight into our same-day, next-day and international delivery. Some customers search for this as storage and fulfillment services; it is the same thing.
Built around your stock, not ours
It flexes to the job: a single campaign, a seasonal peak, a growing e-commerce business, or ongoing fulfilment for a small operation. We handle point-of-sale material, marketing collateral, printed literature, product samples, parts, accessories and retail products we can store safely.
We don't have a standard warehouse package to sell you, and we are not trying to be a national fulfilment centre. This is a small, hands-on operation for SMEs, campaigns and field stock, run by the same people who run the courier work. We start with your stock, your order profile, the service level you've promised your customers, what reporting you need and where it all has to go. Then you use the components that fit, and change them as volumes or campaigns move.
What our fulfilment can include
Goods-in and stock receiving
Flexible storage
Pick and pack
Kitting and campaign prep
Labelling, rework and salvage
Returns processing
UK and international distribution
How orders reach us, and how they leave
Orders come into our booking system directly from Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Magento and Wix. They go out on DPD, UPS or FedEx, or on our own vehicles when they are urgent.
Our warehouse system is Barcodery, and it does not integrate with your store. That means stock levels are reported to you rather than synced live into your shop. It is worth knowing before you scope, because some providers imply otherwise and it changes how you manage stock. If your platform is not on the list, we agree a file or order-transfer process instead of promising an automation that doesn’t exist.
Fulfilment for different business models
E-commerce fulfilment
Most growing online retailers hit the same wall: receiving stock, printing orders, finding packaging and handling returns starts eating the time that should go into product, marketing and customers. Outsourcing turns some of that fixed warehouse and staffing cost into a service that follows your actual activity.
We support B2C, B2B and e-commerce order fulfilment. The design work covers order transfer, product identification, inventory updates, packing rules, carrier selection, tracking, returns and customer-service exceptions. How orders reach us and how they leave is set out above.
Point-of-sale and marketing fulfilment
Rapid Despatch handles one-off and ongoing point-of-sale work: posters, printed literature, display material, product samples. Retail campaigns mean many destinations, several kit components and an in-store date that won't move. We take in the campaign components, build store-specific kits and despatch to your address list.
Two things make or break a campaign: clean destination data and version control. If different store formats get different materials, the kit matrix needs to exist before production, not halfway through it. Leave time for a sample, a stock check and address validation rather than sending the file the day before launch.
Parts and field-stock support
Engineering and service organisations often need parts held near the teams and customer sites that use them. Forward or field-stock support holds agreed items and despatches them next-day or by urgent same-day vehicle, so engineers carry less without losing access to critical components.
The stock policy needs to define minimum levels, replenishment, who can request what, delivery priorities and what a stock-out costs you. A part for planned maintenance can travel next-day. A failure at a live site justifies a dedicated vehicle.
Project and seasonal fulfilment
Not everyone needs an always-on warehouse partner. Sometimes you need space and hands for a product launch, a seasonal peak, a corporate event, a recall, a rebrand or a distribution project. We'll scope temporary storage, preparation and despatch around your dates.
Project work still deserves an onboarding plan. Confirm what's arriving and when, how it's identified, what work has to happen, how destinations reach us, and what we do with whatever's left when the campaign ends.
Our fulfilment locations
Branch
Reading
Our Reading operation at Robert Cort Industrial Estate is close to the A33 and M4 corridor and provides around 7,000 square feet of storage, from a few boxes upwards. It sits alongside the Reading courier branch, so project and order work can move onto a vehicle the same day.
Branch
Southampton
Southampton covers storage and fulfilment on the south coast, with access to the M27 and the regional commercial areas. It serves businesses around Southampton, Eastleigh, Fareham and the wider Hampshire area, and feeds national and international distribution. It sits alongside the Southampton courier branch.
What goods in storage are covered for
Goods in storage are covered to £500 per tonne under our conditions of carriage and storage. Higher cover can usually be arranged on application at an additional charge, so tell us the stock value when we scope the work rather than after something happens.
How onboarding works
Understand the operation
We go through the products, stock volume, number of lines, order or campaign profile, destinations, packaging and service level, plus peaks, returns, exceptions and reporting. Averages hide a lot. If most of your activity lands in one week a month, that's the week the process has to survive.
Receive and organise stock
Incoming goods go through the agreed goods-in process and into the storage arrangement. Product codes and location logic have to be reliable before live orders start. If the opening stock data doesn't match what turned up on the pallet, we sort it then, not three months later.
Go live and review
Live orders or project work begin, and we review performance against what was agreed. When volumes, products or destinations change, the process changes with them. Informal workarounds have a habit of accumulating until nobody knows how it works.
How onboarding works
Understand the operation
We go through the products, stock volume, number of lines, order or campaign profile, destinations, packaging and service level, plus peaks, returns, exceptions and reporting. Averages hide a lot. If most of your activity lands in one week a month, that's the week the process has to survive.
Receive and organise stock
Incoming goods go through the agreed goods-in process and into the storage arrangement. Product codes and location logic have to be reliable before live orders start. If the opening stock data doesn't match what turned up on the pallet, we sort it then, not three months later.
Go live and review
Live orders or project work begin, and we review performance against what was agreed. When volumes, products or destinations change, the process changes with them. Informal workarounds have a habit of accumulating until nobody knows how it works.
Questions worth asking any fulfilment provider
Ask these instead of accepting a general "end-to-end fulfilment" claim:
Where will the stock physically be held?
What types of goods and projects does the operation handle?
How are incoming quantities and damage recorded?
How are orders transferred and acknowledged?
What happens when stock is short or an address fails validation?
Which packaging is included and which is charged separately?
How are batch, serial or expiry details handled?
What despatch cut-offs are available on each service?
How are returns categorised and reported?
Can urgent orders move on a dedicated courier?
What data and reports will I receive?
How are changes approved and audited?
We'll answer all of them against the service you actually need. Where something needs confirming, we'll say so in the conversation. That is not a claim to bury in a web page.
Storage and fulfilment FAQs
No. There is no minimum. We work from a few boxes upwards; tell us the volume and the activity rather than just a square footage.
Yes. B2C, B2B and e-commerce pick, pack and despatch. How orders reach us and how they leave.
Storage, handling, picking, packing materials, project labour and carriage are separate cost drivers, and we set out the charges so you can see what activity moves the invoice. Setup work and unusual project costs are confirmed at quotation.
Yes. One-off and seasonal projects, point-of-sale and marketing fulfilment, kitting, rework and multi-site distribution are all normal work here.
Yes, where the stock, order cut-off, preparation time and vehicle allow it. Agree the service level before launch, because not every order will qualify.
Yes, against an agreed decision process. We'll define the inspection, restock, quarantine, repair and disposal outcomes during onboarding.
Yes. International parcel and freight services. Export orders need accurate product descriptions, values, origin and customs information from you.
No, and it is closer to the opposite. This is a small operation built for SMEs, campaigns, field stock and growing online retailers. What matters is the products, the activity and the service you need.
Yes, as part of a serious enquiry. Give us notice so the right location and the right people are available and site security is maintained.
Talk to us about your stock
Tell us what you need to store, how orders or projects reach you, what has to happen to them and where they end up. We'll turn that into a scope and a quotation.