Mike Longshaw likens the past two and a half years to a whirlwind – and he’s not exaggerating.

The Ferndown-based company he founded with his brother, Andy, has seen the most extraordinary growth.

Shark Logistics has gone from a fleet of five vans to, now, 40 including HGVs as well as 15,000 sq ft of warehousing, around 20 employees and annual sales of close to £2.5 million.

Mike, 50, pictured left, said: “It’s been a whirlwind and I don’t know where the time’s gone.

“It’s been an incredible couple of years.

“A little bit of luck, some good decisions, a not too small amount of risk but, most of all, having the right people involved.

“We’ve got some huge things coming up.

“I think we can probably triple revenue by just being here, utilising the space – and staff – we’ve got.”

A business genuinely born out of lockdown, it was back in 2020 that Mike, with more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector, decided on a change of career.

Andy, 52, pictured right, who had run his own courier business and also had warehouse experience, received an email from Amazon about becoming a delivery partner.

He said: “I didn’t think much of it because it involved money and I didn’t have much at the time but flippantly I just mentioned it to Mike.

“I didn’t think he would be interested at all.”

But Mike was and, in September 2020, they launched what was to become Shark Logistics with five vans operating out of Totton in Southampton.

By Christmas of that year it had grown to 25 vans.

Mike, who is the CEO of Shark Logistics, said: “It proved to be a very good introduction to a whole new world.

“But we thought: ‘We’re doing this for Amazon so why don’t we look at getting a couple of other vans for our own customers?

“We rented two vans from U-Drive and just worked all around the country doing bits and pieces which was our first foray.

“Then a friend phoned up one day and said do you have any warehousing type of space?

“We ended up taking a 3,000 sq ft warehouse at Three Legged Cross with plans to do storage, distribution and fulfilment [the receiving, processing and shipping of goods on behalf of third parties].

“It’s really grown from there.

“Last year we took on this 6,000 sq ft warehouse in Ferndown and then the same size next door.

“We’re pretty much full up within just a year.”

In June 2022, Mike and Andy struck lucky when Craig Brixey, formerly Operations Director with another local logistics company, applied for a driver’s job.

Mike said: “We very quickly ran through Craig’s CV and it was obvious he had a lot more to offer us with his skills and experience.”

Initially appointed as Operations Manager, Craig, pictured left, was promoted to General Manager in December.

He has overseen a big expansion of Shark Fulfilment as well as the introduction of the company’s own overnight, multi-carrier shipping portal.

Shark now looks after the fulfilment requirements of just under 40 businesses – all brands with BH postcodes – in sectors ranging from retail and clothing to watersports and wine.

They include Barista & Co, which previously used a company in Portsmouth before switching to Shark, and Winederful, founded by Simone Ippolito in 2021.

Louise Gray, Co-Founder, Barista & Co, with Craig Brixey and Terry Bennett, Fulfilment Centre Manager.

Craig said: “The development from when I joined in June to now is just incredible.

“We’re here on the map, this is what we do and if you want that really reliable ‘go to’ service where we can do everything in-house from a packet for Royal Mail to a pallet going up to Scotland, then we’re the ones to talk to.”

Shark’s next project is the launch of the area’s first local eco delivery service.

Two new Mercedes-Benz eVito electric vans have been purchased for upwards of £100,000 with plans to triple the fleet by the end of the year.

They’ll be used for local deliveries.

Mike said: “We believe the big differentiator moving forward is going to be the electric side of things.

“It definitely sets us apart from some of our competitors.

“If we’ve got someone in Poole who wants to deliver to Christchurch then what’s the point in that product being sent up to a hub in the Midlands to come all the way back down here the next day?

“From an eco-credentials point of view, every business that I come across is looking to improve their carbon footprint in some way.

“If we can be a part of that, indirectly it helps them achieve their goals which can only be a good thing.

“I love the high street.

“I think it’s always going to have a place but I also think the high street needs to embrace the online model which is where I’d like to think we can come in with the e-vans.

“If you’ve got a gift shop in Poole and you want to have people around the area buying from you, put the products online and we can get them to Christchurch, Salisbury or wherever we need to go in a cost-effective way that makes it work.”

Mike named the company after his fascination with sharks.

Indeed, he even has several body tattoos featuring the creature, and also underwater sea scenes, and has adopted two sharks.

He said: “I’ve always been fascinated by sharks.

“They’ve evolved over millions of years but are still the best at what they do.

“We looked at all manner of different names.

“It might have been my wife or one of my kids but they said what about shark? You love sharks.

“To my mind if you’re going to do anything, try and be the best at it.

“That goes for sharks and I believe it also goes for us.”

• sharklogisticsgroup.com