Scalable EU fulfilment for Blakely

Blakely

Founded in Norfolk back in 2012 by Gareth Newman, Blakely has grown from a local startup into a global fashion community, built on a belief in beautifully designed, long-lasting apparel. Over the last decade, the ambitious athleisure brand has expanded its popularity outside of the UK, developing a significant and fast-growing customer base across the EU and beyond. This has been achieved through a pure-play direct-to-consumer (D2C) model, with products exclusively available via its own website.

Industry

Fashion and lifestyle

Solution offered

Full-scope e-commerce fulfilment

Customer since

2021

Service location

Kruisem, Belgium

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Customer challenge

Until 2021, Blakely was fulfilling all EU orders from a distribution centre in the UK, but following Brexit, its products became subject to additional customs duties. Typically, an order worth €100 would have cost an extra €20–€30 to ship from the UK to a customer based in the EU. The brand therefore needed an in-country fulfilment solution that would both increase delivery speed and reduce administrative complexity – resulting in a superior customer experience and enabling Blakely to build on its EU momentum. This required a warehousing and distribution solution that could deliver streamlined fulfilment times and scale at the pace of the brand’s rapid expansion. From best-fit last-mile carriers to seamless IT integrations and full supply chain visibility, each element had to be tailored to the needs of a brand on the rise – prioritising agility, reliability and customer excellence. In short, Blakely required a well-established third-party logistics (3PL) partner with reach across the EU to power its next growth phase.

eu.blakelyclothing.com

A person wearing a taupe Blakely Studios hoodie is seated on a white couch, with one arm resting on the back of the couch.

Bleckmann’s approach

With specialised end-to-end fulfilment enabling same-day dispatch, Blakely benefits from centrally coordinated operations with country-specific capabilities. Based at our distribution centre in Kruisem, Belgium – within four trucking hours of Blakely’s core markets – we designed a purpose-built logistics solution enabling the on-time performance and scalable capacity it needed to maintain its commitment to customer excellence while expanding across the EU.

Underpinning all of this is seamless IT integration: Blakely’s e-commerce platform connects directly into our warehouse management system, enabling full supply chain visibility and a consistent customer experience across outbound orders and returns. Meanwhile, our multi-brand facility means we can flex space and staffing to meet demand peaks at Black Friday and Christmas without the overhead of a fixed warehouse. The results speak for themselves – EU sales have grown fourteenfold since 2021, and the partnership is now set to expand to Australia using the same robust and agile set-up.

Solutions implemented

Red line icons of a warehouse, a store, and a delivery truck connected by a circular line, representing a supply chain or delivery process.

End-to-end EU warehousing and fulfilment

Powered by our Local Hero regional last-mile network, our comprehensive solution enables same-day dispatch and timely, cost-effective delivery.

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Customs and freight handling

Bleckmann manages container pickup from the Port of Rotterdam alongside the full import administration process, simplifying customs compliance.

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Flexible and scalable capacity

Our multi-brand warehouses mean we can scale up support to give Blakely the capacity it needs to unlock long-term growth and meet short-term demand peaks.

Red icon of a cardboard box with a return arrow circling around it, indicating a return or shipping concept.

Returns handled with care

Every morning, Blakely receives a full report of returns received and processed. Items are quality-checked and approved within 48 hours of arrival, feeding into Blakely’s returns portal.

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Value-added services

From promotional inserts to gifts-with-purchase, our specialised warehousing set-up supports the bespoke touches that enable a distinctive customer experience.

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