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Case study

Partnering with White Stuff to deliver value after Brexit

The UK’s departure from the EU brought White Stuff a significant number of supply chain challenges and added complications.

White Stuff is a leading British fashion brand and omnichannel retailer. Originally founded in 1985, they now have more than 130 shops and concessions in the UK and internationally, as well as 135 factories across 12 countries and 58,000 workers.

Prior to Brexit, White Stuff had been managing their own European distribution via a courier network. The UK’s departure from the EU, however, brought with it a significant number of supply chain challenges and added complications. To make matters worse, fixing these problems had become a major drain on resources.

In order to navigate Brexit and its ripple effects successfully, White Stuff sought support from Ligentia. Having taken the time to understand the issues White Stuff were facing – delays due to customs formalities, goods not reaching stores on time, deteriorating shipment visibility – the Ligentia team was able to implement a multifaceted solution tailored to their needs.

This solution involved:

  • A twice-weekly collection of White Stuff’s European deliveries from their Leicester distribution centre
  • Receiving and checking packages at our Heathrow warehouse, then loading them onto a truck to our accredited Belgian partner’s customs bonded warehouse
  • Consolidating deliveries to be cleared into the EU as a single shipment in the name of White Stuff, and then – through our Belgian partner – arranging delivery to individual White Stuff customers
  • Implementing a live online tracker that enables shipment activity to be reported and visible to all parties

Supply chain technology

Through our cloud-based supply chain technology Ligentix, White Stuff have benefitted from simplified collaboration across their supply chain.

Ligentix provides access to real-time data related to the order process, inventory delivery and potential supply chain disruptions, and also enables users to manage every purchase order booked. It offers end-to-end control of POs and Lots through automation and critical paths.

From an analytics perspective, Ligentix provides White Stuff and the team here at Ligentia with real-time data and detailed analysis that supports better decision making. Complex decisions have become an easily managed process of data evaluation, review and implementation.

Driving results for White Stuff

As a result of the solution put in place, we have been able to work with White Stuff to achieve a number of successes and drive improvements.

With all of White Stuff’s goods being imported into the EU as a single shipment, the time spent on clearance and administration tasks has been significantly reduced. What’s more, by customs clearing goods under White Stuff’s Belgian EORI number, the business is able to avoid import VAT.

The implementation of Ligentix, combined with the knowledge and experience of our global supply chain experts, now means that every step of the movement is expertly coordinated. For White Stuff, their visibility and ownership of the end-to-end process has been considerably improved.

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