He recounts the story of the managing director of one of its funders who had tried with his daughter to live plastic free for a month and had given up after just three days. “He realised just how difficult it is to consume anything that is not wrapped in plastic. He got it straight away.”
Modern Milkman started life as one single round in Pendle. The idea was sparked by Simon and three friends watching Sir David Attenborough’s acclaimed Blue Planet BBC documentaries which highlighted the urgent need to reduce plastic waste.
He says: “We started to think about solutions to the problem that had worked before, anything that had been done before that could help. The traditional milk round was all about putting food from the local farm on the doorstep in recycled bottles.
“Most problems have been fixed before, you just have to look back in time at what we used to do. The milkman was part of the local culture when I was growing up.”
While home milk delivery was the norm for many households, particularly in the 50s, 60s and 70s, the introduction of fridges into people’s homes and the rise of the supermarket and bulk-buying saw a steep decline in the demand for the daily pinta.
To get an insight into the way surviving milk rounds operated, the fledgling business bought one. Operating in the Colne area it had 100 customers and an old truck.
It soon became clear what the problems were, including managing orders. However, Simon adds: “The big problem was trying to get paid. We were buying milk up front and delivering it to doorsteps. Three weeks in we needed to get money in.
Most problems have been fixed
before you just have to look back in time at what we used to do
“We went knocking on doors and out of the 100, 90 didn’t answer because they weren’t at home. Others couldn’t pay because they didn’t have cash on them. Today’s lifestyles are really different, with everything moving into direct debit and digital payments.”
However, Simon also discovered customers loved the service they were receiving. He says: “The nostalgia around it is really powerful.”
That positivity inspired the building of the Modern Milkman tech platform, a central database with a front-end web app for the customer, making ordering and payment easier, and a driver app to work out routes and stock requirements. It was the game changer.
Having a decentralised supply chain has also allowed the business to expand. The business has a portfolio of regional hubs working with a network of independent suppliers. The company’s 2022 revenue will be £50m. The business and its network partners employ around 800 people in total.
Simon, 36, comes from a strong Lancashire farming stock, his dad was a butcher with a shop in Nelson which opened in the 1970s, his grandfather was a farmer.
He says: “I spent a lot of time in the shop as a child and on and around farms. That gave me a broad understanding of food and food production from quite a young age.”
Watch the Big Interview video produced by
Bigtank by scanning this QR code
He left Walton High School in Nelson at 16 but didn’t enter the family business. Instead, he trained as a mechanic before entering the world of motorsport as an engineer, spending several years travelling the world working for the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.
After that spell globe-trotting he returned to Lancashire and started building businesses with his brother Nick. That was when he first began developing the thought process around sustainability and food production which would eventually lead to the Modern Milkman concept.
He says: “Before supermarkets people went shopping two or three times a week and had good relationships with suppliers. That changed when it all moved into supermarkets and shops couldn’t compete.
“The supply chain completely changed from small independents working really well with local producers to the big box supermarkets. The relationship between food and the consumer was completely lost.
“Part of the inspiration behind Modern Milkman was my thinking about trying to reintroduce people with food.”
R&D is an important part of the business as it looks to create innovative ways to deliver more fresh groceries in return and reuse packaging.
Simon says the long-term objective is to become “a market place” for local food producers to offer their produce online, with Modern Milkman delivering on their behalf, plastic-free – in essence building an Amazon for food.
Global expansion is also high on the agenda. The company is looking to launch in Europe, where it is currently testing the model to see if customers understand it. “We’ve seen some pretty good results,” he says.
It also has the USA, which like the UK has a tradition of doorstep milk delivery, in its sights. Simon says: “We’re passionate about finding new regions, routes and areas where we can make a difference.”
Taking your engagement to the next level Whatever your industry, create Impact
and Growth with Bigtank Video Produtions
We’d love to hear from you: 01706 587401
hello@bigtank.co.uk www.bigtank.co.uk
@realbigtank bigtank-productions-ltd bigtankproductions
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
51
THE BIG INTERVIEW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
