BunzlOne
From 60+ OpCos to a smart platform
Bunzl is a distributor of non-food essentials (GNFR: Goods Not For Resale), such as packaging, workwear, cleaning supplies and PPE for sectors such as supermarket, retail and healthcare. With more than 60 operating companies (OpCos) in Europe, Bunzl is one of Europe's largest distributors.
Globally, Bunzl operates across 32 countries with approximately 150 OpCos. Bunzl’s highly decentralized, acquisition‑driven structure gives local operating companies entrepreneurial freedom, but also leads to fragmented systems and experiences for larger customers who see Bunzl as one company. A single retailer can have 5,000–6,000 individual supplier relationships for non-resale products alone. As a consequence, procurement can become fragmented, slow, and costly.
Frank Daamen, Digital Director and founder of the BunzlOne concept shares: "Our decentralized way of working gave us strength, but also fragmentation. BunzlOne came from that realization. How do we keep the entrepreneurial spirit, but remove the complexity for the customer? "
800+
categories active
8
months to create a live MVP
1
platform connecting buyers, suppliers, data and processes
We’re not replacing decentralization; we’re smartly connecting it
Our solution
BunzlOne
To solve this, Bunzl Retail & Industry launched BunzlOne as a separate, agile entity offering a unified procurement platform that connects inventory, pricing, and fulfillment from multiple Bunzl operating companies and selected third‑party suppliers into one smart digital platform. “BunzlOne is our way of rethinking how operational supplies are bought and sold”, added Frank Daamen.
Why aim for a separate entity? Rather than building within the existing Bunzl organization, Frank and his team vision BunzlOne as a standalone startup positioned between the OpCos which will be reality in the near future. This gives the team the agility to test, adapt, and move fast, while still leveraging Bunzl's existing customer base, supplier relationships, and logistics infrastructure.
Design
Besides the technical implementation, Youwe supported BunzlOne by translating their brand style into the digital environment. In cooperation with BunzlOne's branding agency and by using the Hyvä UI Components library, our design team made sure to translate the new brand style to the web as efficiently as possible for pages such as the PDP, PLP and checkout.
The results
We turned the vision into a platform. Now we're adding new customers and suppliers. We want to make BunzlOne commercially successful, but also operationally robust, and have a new standard in the B2B procurement. We're also looking for international expansion, BunzlOne is intended to become the blueprint for all Bunzl companies.
Frank Daamen, Digital Director Bunzl & Founder of BunzlOne
Curious?
BunzlOne illustrates how a large, decentralized organization can preserve its entrepreneurial DNA while becoming smartly connected by turning complexity into a competitive advantage through an ecosystem-led, curated marketplace.
Do you want to learn how the experience from this project can help you in resolving similar business challenges?