Herts FullStop reduces £4.5M in stock holding with Netstock

Inventory hurdles before Netstock

Before implementing Netstock in 2020, Herts FullStop faced growing inventory hurdles that strained both operations and working capital:

• Inefficient ordering: stock replenishment often occurred only once or twice a year.
• Poor visibility: limited transparency around stock coverage and availability.
• Warehouse space constraints: excess stock consumed valuable capacity.
• Service risks: stock-outs of fast-moving items hurt product availability as the business grew.

The arrival of COVID-19 brought unprecedented demand spikes and forced rapid shifts into new product lines such as PPE, masks, gloves, and sanitizers. As orders surged and supply chains strained, the cracks in manual, reactive planning quickly surfaced.

“The busier we became, the more our service level would suffer. COVID forced us to rethink everything, from stock levels to warehouse management.” Glenn Facey, CEO, Herts FullStop

Shifting from reactive to proactive planning

Before Netstock, replenishment decisions were mostly guesswork, driven by instinct and historical data. With Netstock in place, Herts FullStop gained the visibility and control they needed to respond quickly as supply chains faltered and customer needs evolved.

When the Russia–Ukraine war introduced new raw material shortages and price shocks, the business stayed agile instead of slipping back into reactive mode.
Netstock enabled the team to:

• Adjust dynamically when suppliers failed to deliver
• Protect cash flow by avoiding excess stock build-up
• Maintain service levels for fast-moving, high-value items even amid disruption

“The Russia–Ukraine war added another layer of volatility, but Netstock gave us the visibility to adjust quickly and avoid major service disruptions.” Glenn Facey

Results that transformed operations

The impact of Netstock reached every corner of the business, from the warehouse floor to the balance sheet.
Herts FullStop reduced stockholding from £7 million at COVID peaks to c. £2.4 million, freeing up cash to reinvest in growth. Improved visibility and data-driven planning increased stock turns from 2.5 to 6+, aligning with industry benchmarks.

By optimizing inventory across product categories, the company:

• Freed up 2,500–3,000 pallet spaces, one-third of bulk space at its 75,000 sq. ft facility
• Cut excess stock by 50%, from £1.2M to £600K
• Improved service levels, ensuring the availability of critical items
• Used Netstock dashboards to focus effort on high-value SKUs, improving decision speed and accuracy

“Netstock has allowed us to align the stock we hold with actual demand. That’s freed up around a third of our warehouse space — which we can now utilise to generate new revenue streams.” Glenn Facey

Unexpected wins with Netstock

One of the biggest wins from Netstock was freeing up warehouse capacity. By optimizing inventory, Herts FullStop liberated 2,500–3,000 pallet spaces, around one-third of its 75,000 sq. ft facility, which is being used to generate new revenue streams.

Beyond the physical space, the platform transformed the way the team worked. Netstock replaced reactive “firefighting” with proactive, data-driven planning, allowing the team to spend less time chasing problems and more time optimizing performance.

“We’ve gone from firefighting problems to seeing where to invest time to make a difference, and avoid issues before they happen.” Glenn Facey

Netstock delivered measurable gains across operations, agility, and planning efficiency:

• Operational efficiency: eliminated costly bulk storage consolidation during peak periods.
• Agility during disruption: supported rapid pivots to distribute PPE, masks, gloves, and sanitizers at scale.
• Smarter planning: freed the team from reactive firefighting, enabling proactive decision-making and continuous improvement.

This shift also empowered leadership to pivot quickly as market demands evolved, strengthening resilience across the business.

Partnership that goes far beyond software

Herts FullStop credits much of its success to Netstock’s hands-on approach to implementation and support.

“Netstock’s true point of difference is that it goes beyond technical support. Our consultant guided us through scenarios and helped us align inventory best practices with the software to get the most value.” Glenn Facey

Staying ahead in a mature market

Growth in the UK’s competitive education sector depends on insight, resilience, and precision. Netstock enables Herts FullStop to keep inventory perfectly aligned with actual demand, even when the market shifts overnight.

“To grow in a mature market, we need both insight and resilience. Netstock delivers that, helping us manage challenges beyond our control, and does so with a cost-effective approach that scales with our inventory rather than the number of users or locations.” Glenn Facey