PJ Scott and Eddie Latham started Velocity Commerce in 2013 with just £1,500 each. Back then, they were selling clearance items online from their garage part-time. Within two years, they hit a million turnover and were regularly featured on lists like the Financial Times 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies and the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100.
Now, the consultancy and retailer helps global brands boost their sales through sites like eBay and Amazon. They handle the entire product sale, from listing and optimisation to distribution and customer service. Today they’re turning over more than £30 million every year – and all from their slightly more glamorous (!) Cambridgeshire offices and warehouses.
Velocity also has a strong commitment to continuous innovation. It’s one of the reasons they built their own range of radios and speakers through the name Majority (sound familiar? It should do – they’re in more than a million homes). And that’s where we came in.
We met Velocity when they were looking for a proactive insurance partner. In fact, they’ve been a Capsule client since the beginning, and they were also our very first renewal. Their financial controller reached out to arrange cover for their products as they get shipped around the world. At this stage, they didn't have the right policy in place to protect them. But once we’d spoken, we set about creating a comprehensive insurance programme that covered ‘the now’ and allowed them to grow.
This included Professional Indemnity, Public and Employers’ Liability, Stock, Building, and Marine Cargo cover. We also needed to leverage our knowledge of Fulfilment by Amazon and the specific risks sellers face as Amazon gets involved in the product storing and shipping process. After just a couple of weeks, Velocity had everything in place to ensure they were protected.
Fast-forward a year, and Majority’s award-winning speakers are Amazon ‘Best Sellers’ and often make the ‘Amazon’s Choice’ cut. They’re also the second largest UK digital radio brand. And their direct-to-consumer strategy has catapulted Velocity’s growth.
But what we love most about Velocity is how they share the same ethics and sustainability goals as us. They’re going through the Capsule ESG index process at the moment and they have an amazing initiative in the form of the Majority forest, which plants trees for every newsletter subscription or product purchased (425,000 and counting!!).
Capsule has helped us go from strength to strength. Not only are they experts in identifying the right solution for an expanding business, but their passion for the environment matches ours. It’s refreshing to partner with someone that just ‘gets’ it.
Silvia Misa, Financial Controller at Velocity
Partnering with us protected Velocity from the pitfalls of being a high-growth and increasingly international business. Unsure if your policies cover your next phase of growth? Get in touch and we’ll build you the kind of programme that supports your ambitions.