A start-up is aiming to bring on-demand technology to the removals and deliveries market.
Jacob Corlett is the entrepreneur behind Shift, which provides its 2,300 self-employed drivers across the UK with an app to carry out bookings. This allows Shift’s customers to request a delivery whenever and wherever they please.
The entrepreneur set up his first company – a ‘man and van’ removals service –聽in 2012.
“When we first started, people were more than happy to book whenever we had availability,” Corlett told 老九品茶Cloud.
He acknowledged that the likes of Uber and app-based service models had聽changed his customers’ expectations.
“They were choosing not to book with us if we couldn’t do the exact time that they wanted. The market had changed. I think this is something that you see across the board in all different industries. It鈥檚 an on-demand culture that’s formed.”
Corlett聽began trialling聽Shift in February 2017 in direct response to the new demand. The founder says that the company was immediately operationally profitable.
“Everything that we’ve done to date is just market trials,” he said.
“It’s only now that you’ll start to see our vans on the road. Our plan over the next year is to properly launch and strengthen聽our position in the UK.”
With funding from investor Mark Pearson and deliveries already聽fulfilled聽for Starbucks,聽the entrepreneur is also聽hoping that Shift can exist in both consumer and business-to-business markets.
Corlett also has plans to expand the service and replicate his success in other countries.