Key Takeaways
- • YardOps valued at £2.5m following investment from early-stage VC firm Haatch and angel investors via York Angels platform, securing nearly £500k in funding.
- • Secured first major contract with a leading UK supermarket to handle operations across five logistics sites, validating product-market fit in the FMCG sector.
- • UK-specific software advantage: YardOps addresses a fragmented market where approximately 70% of UK logistics yards still operate on spreadsheets, radios, and manual processes—a significant gap relative to established US-focused competitors.
- • Modular platform integrates multiple logistics functions including booking, gatehouse, shunter coordination, dock management, driver communications, and trailer maintenance into a single system, delivering measurable operational improvements (reduced vehicle turnaround times, lower leased vehicle needs, improved H&S compliance).
- • Expansion strategy targets UK and continental Europe following six years of product development working directly with one of the UK's largest food and drink companies across four logistics hubs.
Summary
YardOps, a logistics technology platform, has achieved a £2.5m post-money valuation following a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Haatch, with participation from York Angels, an angel investment platform. The company raised nearly £500k in this round, bringing validation to its solution designed specifically for UK and European logistics operations.
The funding milestone arrives following YardOps' first major commercial contract win with a leading UK supermarket, where the platform will manage operations across five logistics sites. This contract represents significant validation of the company's product-market fit in the FMCG sector, a notoriously complex operational environment. The platform's success reflects six years of product development work with "one of the UK's largest food and drink companies" across four logistics hubs, during which the founding team refined their understanding of market pain points.
YardOps addresses a substantial inefficiency in the UK logistics market. According to FourKites research cited by co-founder Jim Wardlaw, approximately 70% of UK logistics yards continue to rely on spreadsheets, radios, and fragmented tool ecosystems—a notably higher proportion of manual operations than exists in the US market, where most competing yard management software has been designed. YardOps' modular architecture integrates booking, gatehouse operations, shunter coordination, dock management, driver communications, and trailer maintenance into a unified platform. Early results indicate the platform delivers measurable operational benefits: reduced vehicle pick-up turnaround times, lower leased vehicle requirements due to improved asset utilization, enhanced health and safety compliance, and better management of arrivals and departures through integration of live traffic data.
With secured funding and a validated customer contract, YardOps plans to expand its customer base across the UK and into continental Europe. Wardlaw characterized the opportunity as substantial, citing the combination of a world-leading FMCG industry operating with outdated logistics processes and a "very significant addressable market" ripe for digitization and operational integration.
The funding milestone arrives following YardOps' first major commercial contract win with a leading UK supermarket, where the platform will manage operations across five logistics sites. This contract represents significant validation of the company's product-market fit in the FMCG sector, a notoriously complex operational environment. The platform's success reflects six years of product development work with "one of the UK's largest food and drink companies" across four logistics hubs, during which the founding team refined their understanding of market pain points.
YardOps addresses a substantial inefficiency in the UK logistics market. According to FourKites research cited by co-founder Jim Wardlaw, approximately 70% of UK logistics yards continue to rely on spreadsheets, radios, and fragmented tool ecosystems—a notably higher proportion of manual operations than exists in the US market, where most competing yard management software has been designed. YardOps' modular architecture integrates booking, gatehouse operations, shunter coordination, dock management, driver communications, and trailer maintenance into a unified platform. Early results indicate the platform delivers measurable operational benefits: reduced vehicle pick-up turnaround times, lower leased vehicle requirements due to improved asset utilization, enhanced health and safety compliance, and better management of arrivals and departures through integration of live traffic data.
With secured funding and a validated customer contract, YardOps plans to expand its customer base across the UK and into continental Europe. Wardlaw characterized the opportunity as substantial, citing the combination of a world-leading FMCG industry operating with outdated logistics processes and a "very significant addressable market" ripe for digitization and operational integration.
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