Mark's business package

No one can say that Mark Livsey has failed to deliver. From a start-up grant from the Prince’s Trust, he now has a fleet of 20 vehicles and is keeping things moving all over the north-west

Parcel Partners Ltd is a logistics company. So rather than being a same-day delivery firm, we manage our clients’ delivery network.

So, if we’re approached by someone who supplies goods nationally, we have our own vehicles to deliver in the north-west of England and we’d find the best carrier to outsource the rest.

We deliver about 6,000 packages a week: toilet rolls, engines, ladders, electrical goods – anything except hazardous liquids.

We’ve got 20 vehicles at the moment and 25 staff. A typical day for me involves administration work, visiting clients, and dealing with the accounts. I can’t do any of the driving: it’s impossible. I’m not in a wheelchair but I do need wheelchair access. I’ve bought all these seven-and-a-half tonne trucks but I can’t get into the things. It’s frustrating but that’s the way it is.

The main reason I set up the business is that I’ve got a young family and wanted to create a job that would give me a comfortable life. I used to be in the courier business when I was 19 and knew that quite a lot of courier firms sub-contract their routes so I knew there was work there, and the delivery industry seemed to be sustainable because more people are ordering goods on the internet.

I got a contract but didn’t have any money to fulfil it, so I went to the Prince’s Trust and they gave me £4,000 to buy a vehicle. Having got 20 I can’t get any more investment from the banks to buy any more. But I’m looking for new investment because there are opportunities there and I’m having to turn down new business.

I work from home and I can manage all my drivers from here on the phone, because our vehicles are based at other courier company sites in the north-west.

One reason why we’re different from other sub-contractors is that many business owners are also the ones driving the van. I manage from a distance, see what problems the drivers have and react to them, which I couldn’t do if I was delivering.

It’s quite a physical industry but people help me when they see me struggling with my cane.

There’s only ever been one person who’s been negative about my disability. We’d been talking on the phone and we were talking about which vehicles we were going to use, which runs we could do and even start dates. But as soon as he saw me face-to-face, he changed completely and said, “Um, I don’t know if we’ve got any opportunities at the minute.” I walked out.

In five years’ time, I want to be competing with the likes of Wincanton, which is one of the largest logistics firms in the UK, doing deliveries for the likes of Tesco, Shell and Unilever.

My advice is never give up. If you believe in yourself, your self-belief will win through. It’ll be harder because of your disability, but if you get over that fact, you’ll be alright.

• Mark Livsey was talking to Sunil Peck

Mark Livsey: Career Path

• 1994 – Left Prestwich High School. Went to Bury College to study business
• 1999 – Studied for an HND in business at the University of Salford
• 2000 – Went to work in finance in Bangkok
• 2001 – Came back to England to work in recruitment
• 2004 – Set up a mobile phone company
• 2007 – set up Parcel Partners Ltd