Amazon challenger to hire 20 at new Harrogate premises

Joe Todd and Terry McGinnis, co-founders of Harrogate-based OnlineShop, with lead investor Robin Vauvelle.

Online Shop was launched just five months ago, but has already secured new 20,500 sq ft premises and is distributing products for brands including Gucci and Bosch.

The company is the brainchild of young entrepreneurs Terry McGinnis and Joe Todd, with investment from Robin Vauvelle, owner and managing director at WHM Ltd, whose Hornbeam Park premises Online Shop will share.

Mr McGinnis said: “Online Shop was born as an idea several years ago, when my first bricks-and-mortar business didn’t do too well and I had too much stock left over.

“Fast-track several years down the line and both Joe and I tried our hands at a dropshipping platform that didn’t go to plan, out in San Jose, California. Whilst we both remotely worked on it with a great team and a pool of talent, we longed for a better, hands-on approach and solution, which inevitably span off into what today has become Cozy, a sister-service to Online Shop with a focus on comfort, home and mind.

“This is a monumental achievement and the momentum continues to build. Considering we have only been in existence for less than five months, we now have a warehouse, logistics centre and plenty of office space to help us rapidly grow.

“We have numerous suppliers applying for our fulfilment services to stock their products and have them ship out within rapid timeframes using our logistics partners, putting both supplier and end-customer at the centre of our business strategy.

“And we have major brands now distributing their products through us, from Gucci to Bosch, to become the UK’s one-stop shop and take away market share from Amazon, becoming UK’s first real e-commerce company.

“This is the first step in our long process of taking the UK-wide market by storm, and ensuring we uplift the UK economy. We aim to run this as a proper, sustainable business and reach UK unicorn status in the next five years, not a run-of-the-mill passion project or start-up.”

The new jobs will be in customer service, warehouse and fulfilment.