In March 2020, three weeks before the first COVID lockdown, David Drake left his full time employment to start a new business – Retail Distribution Services (t/a RDS eCommerce). Foolhardy? You’d think so. But against the odds, Retail Distribution Services has thrived.
Why? Well it might have something to do with David’s wealth of experience, which includes heading up retail sales at one of the UK’s leading courier companies, where his happy clients included Adidas, ASOS, John Lewis and O2.
But if you were to ask one of David’s many customers now, one year on, it’s far more likely that the answer would have something to do with the huge amount of effort RDS eCommerce puts in to helping small & medium sized retailers.
Or as he puts it:
“SMEs, who are often independent retailers, have to compete in the same space as the retail giants. To level that playing field, we provide UK overnight and international courier services at a consolidated price, which you will never find by going directly to the couriers themselves. We’re proudly giving smaller businesses a fighting chance, which this year is more important than ever.”
Thanks to this ethos, (which has come to be known as ‘The RDS Way’), and the boom in online sales brought about by the pandemic, the company has gone from strength to strength in its first 12 months of operations.
“But we are still very mindful of just how challenging times are, especially for the independent retailers,” says David.
Brighton & Hove Same Day Delivery Service
With that in mind, RDS eCommerce has extended its offering by launching the Brighton & Hove Same Day Delivery service, “to help smaller businesses and retailers continue to serve their local community and hopefully stay afloat, despite their shops being closed.”
Priced at a flat rate of £4.95 (+vat) per item, the pioneering new local delivery service is less expensive than a ‘next day’ parcel rate with any other carrier for most – and less than a Royal Mail small parcel.
“But more important than the very low price,” says David, “is the fact that this service is an opportunity for two local businesses to support one another.”
“That’s why we’ve chosen to offer this premium service at a significantly discounted rate, to help our fellow Brighton & Hove businesses in these extremely challenging times. Because that’s The RDS Way.”
For more information on RDS or the Brighton & Hove Same Day Delivery service, search #thatstheRDSway visit www.rds-group.co.uk
Author, Alice Cook
