At just 15 years old, we unpack the attributes spearheading J&J Global Fulfilment’s rapid growth
Founded in 2010, J&J Global Fulfilment (J&J) is a fulfillment business with a difference. As the world’s first cloud-based fulfillment company, J&J is a tech-led, people-focused company using proprietary technology to help e-commerce brands achieve total visibility throughout the supply chain. With a vast global network of fulfillment centers, the business supports the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by helping them break into new geographic markets around the world.
The story behind J&J’s foundation is one of personal determination and ingenious innovation from founders, James Hyde and James Strachan, who, after working with several companies, weren’t satisfied with the outdated, inefficient systems on offer and, instead, founded their own company using proprietary technology.
We sit down with Emma Dempsey, CEO, to learn more about the company’s evolution to date, as well as how Emma leads the team to provide outstanding fulfillment services and technology to a diverse range of customers. “J&J began in 2010 when James and James were unsuccessful in their mission to find a reliable, cloud-based solution, and instead set about creating their own tool for e-commerce fulfillment aimed at SMEs,” she opens.
“Their technology quickly appealed to many small businesses that were looking for a cloud-based, easy-access e-commerce platform for both customers and logistics providers. Having started as a software company, J&J grew arms and legs as a fulfillment business, and while we remain a technology-led business, we’ve grown substantially and we’re on track to achieve £60 million in revenue in 2024.
“Our operations are primarily D2C fulfillment, but we also do some B2B work where we’ll supply marketplaces and major retailers on behalf of our customers,” Emma explains. “We deal with our customers’ returns, which is a key service in the e-commerce space due to high volumes of customer orders, and we also offer value-added services like kitting and assembly, bundling, or at this time of year particularly, advent calendar assembly.”
Internal investment
Having worked in management consultancy with a focus on the supply chain, Emma joined J&J as CEO around four years ago to focus on driving efficiency and accelerating the company’s growth. “I came across J&J through their investment partner, LDC. We initially discussed helping with some non-executive support, but as conversations continued, the opportunity to join the business as CEO organically emerged.
“We’ve seen a real increase in volume, revenue, and profits over the last few years because of internal investment into our team, our sites, and our technology. As a relatively small business, we’re making our processes scalable so we can push for further international growth in years to come. J&J is a fantastic business with an excellent culture, and our people are very self-motivated and determined; it really is my privilege to lead them and I’m looking forward to many more years.”
We ask Emma what makes J&J unique in the market, and her answer is simple. “Our technology, a relentless focus on customers, and last but not least, our people,” she states. “Our technology is easy to use, very intuitive, and accessible for organisations of all sizes, combining warehouse management, system inventory, reporting, and analysis functions. It’s also integrated with most of the major shopping platforms and carriers, acting as a one-stop shop offering total visibility and better decision-making processes for our customers.
“Our relentless focus on our customers is crucial in the ever-evolving field of e-commerce and multi-channel retail. There are constantly new challenges like Brexit or COVID-19, so we must be extremely agile and responsive to provide solutions and alternatives when our customers need them most. Lastly, our passionate people positively transform challenges into opportunities, facing them head-on to create revenue-generating leads. We genuinely care about our culture and we’re embracing ESG across all areas of the business. Not only have we embarked on a carbon reduction plan, but we’re engaging with local schools and striving to be the best employer in all our locations.”
Adaptive and proactive
Elaborating further on J&J’s technology, Emma continues: “While we use standard processes for everything we do, there are inevitably some nuances or specific requests across our portfolio of between 350 and 400 customers. We’re constantly evaluating trends and commonalities, not only in retail fulfillment but also by looking cross-sector to find concepts or features we could incorporate. Alongside a new Head of Strategy role, we have a customer user group where customers can provide feedback on the features they like and suggest areas for improvement. 
“With two sites in the US and further fulfillment centers in Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, and most recently, Canada, our geographic network is also attractive to SMEs. We use two models for our centers: some are owned by us, but we also leverage an extensive partner network where sites are owned by a third party but operated by us, using our technology, processes, customers, and stock. By using J&J as a fulfillment provider, customers can take advantage of our network by testing out new markets and learning more about certain demographics where their products would be particularly successful.”
Turning to how J&J will continue to meet future demands, Emma says: “We work with several customers in the fashion, health, and beauty industries, and we’re preparing to service trends like mystery boxes or one-day ‘drops’, where a brand builds demand for a product that is released on one specific day. With hundreds of orders to be fulfilled on the same day, we’re working to ensure we can meet customer requirements and that our technology is configurable for interesting new retail models as they emerge.
“We have a strong, healthy pipeline of customers and we’re on track to see a record year in 2024, followed by another record year in 2025. We’re looking to expand with new fulfillment centers, so customers can expect more locations alongside further developments to our technology and integrations.
“We haven’t yet ventured into Africa or South America, for example, but those territories will be on the radar for the next five years, and we’re currently exploring expansion in Asia,” Emma concludes. “By our 20th anniversary, I’d like to see J&J able to support our customers with fulfillment and returns solutions in every continent of the world.”