Spring 2010

Groundwell Logistics, the former fulfilment arm of Book Club Associates, is now fully up and running as a free-standing third-party fulfilment business, and reports that it has gained ISO14001 accreditation for its environmental management policies.

Groundwell offers a range of warehousing, order fulfilment and back-office business services to the mail order and e-commerce sectors. It operates from an extensively automated 200,000 sq ft facility in Swindon, Wiltshire, which includes a substantial 14,000 sq ft package handling area.

Services include pick, pack and despatch, same-day despatch, quality control, returns processing and full IT support. It lists its specialities as books, CDs, boxed toys, games and jewellery – all items that lend themselves well to automated handling.

Book Club Associates, which dates back to 1966, is also based at Swindon, and claims to be Britain's biggest mail-order bookseller.