Member Article

Disruptive mail platform Postworks expecting further growth after ‘game-changing’ product launch

Postworks, an East Midlands business that is revolutionising corporate mail, has announced a new product that is set to further accelerate its expansion.

The company digitises the mailing process for businesses and organisations of all sizes. More than 4,000 organisations - from large corporations to SMEs – use Northampton based Postworks to ensure their post is delivered securely and efficiently.

Clients include Savills, Begbies Traynor, Purple Bricks, Bensons for Beds and GP practices across the country.

Postworks has experienced tenfold growth since Foresight’s investment through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund in 2018.

The company recently launched its latest product, ClearSend, at Foresight’s offices in The Shard. ClearSend gives clients certified proof of postage and tracking through the Royal Mail network, at no extra cost. Postworks is the only provider to offer such a service.

An intuitive platform, clients simply upload their letters to the Postworks portal for sending, whereupon SMART barcodes are added. The letters are printed, enveloped and posted, before being delivered by Royal Mail. This process is used whether the order contains one letter or 10,000. Clients can also view inbound post items that have been opened and scanned on the same portal.

The company was founded by Marvee-Lisa and James Booker in 2017. After giving up their apartment and using savings and loans to start the business. their first office space also doubled as their home - with the pair using a local gym to shower.

The early days of the business were driven by a shared belief that practises for corporate mailing such as franking machines are outdated and digital solutions would better serve the needs of organisations in sectors such as legal, accounting, social housing and a myriad of small businesses.

From these modest beginnings, the business now has 30 employees based at its Northampton headquarters, with 30% anticipated growth across the next year.

Marvee-Lisa Booker, Chief Growth Officer at Postworks, comments: “ClearSend is a gamechanger for our industry, providing a level of transparency and clarity that has never previously been available for post of any sort. At our recent launch event, the reaction was overwhelming – our clients know that Postworks is focussed on innovation to give them confidence and peace of mind in their corporate mailing.

“Our expansion over recent years has been possible thanks to the supportive stewardship of the team at Foresight. They’re brilliant and offer us guidance when needed but let us focus on what we know best – using technology to provide increasingly dynamic postal solutions for our clients.”

Irfan Ashfak, Investment Manager at Foresight Group, added: “Postworks is an inspirational business and their success demonstrates what can be achieved when innovation meets business expertise.

“Marvee-Lisa and James are leaders in their sector and have used their insights into the post industry to deliver a product that not only addresses a vast unmet need for both large corporations and smaller businesses but has the potential to enable businesses to benefit from considerable savings.

“Marvee-Lisa and James’ success reflects the ethos of Foresight and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which is designed to help our region achieve its potential by enabling economic growth through enterprise.”

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The MEIF’s primary goal is to provide greater access to finance across the Midlands, to support innovative companies such as Postworks. This earlier investment is a good example of how SMEs in the region can benefit from the MEIF funding options available to support expansion, evidenced here with the latest new product launch. We’d encourage other SMEs in the Midlands to consider options for their growth.”

In calendar year 2022, Foresight made over 90 investments into SMEs and, since launching MEIF in 2018, Foresight has supported 28 SMEs in the East and South East Midlands. Foresight, in partnership with MEIF, supports promising SMEs to achieve their business objectives and has enabled over 350 high-quality, local jobs to be created to date.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2022 and the European Investment Bank.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Robson .