LinkedIn helps DCS to £1bn
Distribution service DCS Europe, which recently announced it had broken the £1bn sales barrier, has revealed to Insider that £1m of its business was made through social networking site LinkedIn. Denys Shortt, chief executive of the Stratford-upon-Avon-based company, said many Midlands firms “have no idea” how profitable social networking can be for business.
DCS, which is the UK’s largest distributor of health and household products, was founded 16 years ago and recently announced that sales had passed the £1bn mark.
Shortt told Insider that the company now plans to double that turnover in the next eight years.
“We’re on target to hit £2bn of sales in eight years’ time,” said Shortt. “We had our best ever month in October, and look like we might beat that with our November figures.”
He said that social networking site LinkedIn had aided the company in reaching its high sales figures.
“I would say we had made around £1m from customers we have looked for on LinkedIn.
“Many businesses have no idea how profitable it can be. We had a list of 300 or so potential customers which we wanted to target, and searching for them on LinkedIn proved to be hugely successful.”
The company, which was founded in 1994, now employs 200 people at its Stratford base. Twelve months ago, DCS invested £2m in a factory on the site, selling its own health and beauty products under the Enliven brand.
Shortt said although the products have been “hugely popular” both in the UK and in many of the 70 countries which it ships to, manufacturing is “very challenging”.
“If sales and distribution was one out of ten for difficulty, manufacturing would definitely be a ten out of ten. It’s a very challenging environment – many high street brands sell their products at 99p and below, and it’s difficult to make a profit when you’re selling items so cheaply.”
The company provides products for 30,000 retailers and 500 wholesalers every week.
