Diamond Logistics said its eCommerce volumes grew faster than internal forecasts in the first five months of the year, running 15% above expectations.

The UK fulfilment and same-day delivery group had expected monthly growth of about 10%, but results from January to May exceeded that level despite pressure across the wider retail sector. Diamond Logistics operates more than 35 fulfilment sites across the UK.

The figures come as retailers and logistics groups assess the impact of weaker consumer confidence, higher household costs and geopolitical instability on spending. Warehouse utilisation remained strong going into the third quarter, with goods continuing to move steadily through the network and no noticeable drop in demand for either essential or non-essential categories.

Industry data has been mixed. The British Retail Consortium reported that retail sales rose 3.7% year on year in May, the strongest increase since April 2025.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its UK growth forecast to 1% for 2026 while warning that geopolitical instability and domestic uncertainty could still weigh on activity through higher energy and food prices. The GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer also fell by four points in April to its lowest level since autumn 2023 before recovering by two points.

Consumer demand

Kate Lester, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Diamond Logistics, said the company was seeing firmer demand than some economic indicators suggest.

“There’s no question the UK economy is under pressure right now, particularly with ongoing instability in the Middle East feeding through into energy markets, which could lead to a temporary spike in inflation and a rise in interest rates.

“We’re already seeing the impact of rising fuel costs, and that always has a knock-on effect across the supply chain and consumer spending. Fears that prices will rise can hit household finances, leaving retailers to operate in a far more cautious and price-sensitive environment that naturally translates into a dip in sales over time.

“But what we’re seeing on the ground is that consumer behaviour is holding up much better than some of the headlines would suggest. That’s reflected not only in the growth we’re achieving but also in fulfilment volumes, which remain strong across our nationwide network. Goods are still moving, and demand hasn’t fallen away in the way people might expect in this kind of climate,” said Kate Lester, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Diamond Logistics.

Her comments suggest a more mixed picture for consumer demand than broad confidence measures alone indicate. For logistics operators, order flow and warehouse occupancy can offer an early read on actual spending patterns.

Diamond’s business spans fulfilment, inventory management and last-mile delivery, placing it close to the day-to-day movement of online retail orders. That makes its trading performance a useful indicator of whether consumers are still buying routine and discretionary items even as budgets remain under strain.

Spending shifts

Lester said the business had repeatedly seen shoppers change what they buy rather than stop spending altogether during more difficult periods.

“In the last six years we’ve faced Covid, a succession of wars, persistent inflationary pressure and ongoing uncertainty around interest rates. As a result, people have become much more accustomed to an environment where things don’t necessarily feel stable.

“We’ve also been around for much longer than six years, and the pattern we’ve seen over time, especially during periods of economic uncertainty, is that although consumers might pull back on bigger-ticket purchases, they still allow themselves smaller, more affordable treats that feel manageable.

“While that shift could be one reason our volumes remain strong, I think consumers are generally becoming more resilient. Rather than stopping spending altogether when times are tougher and budgets are squeezed by rising essential costs such as bills, their spending habits often just adapt slightly,” said Lester.

That view aligns with a pattern seen across parts of retail in recent years, where consumers have traded down on some purchases while maintaining spending on lower-cost items and convenience-led buying. For fulfilment groups, that can still translate into steady parcel volumes even when demand for larger discretionary purchases softens.

Diamond’s update also points to the continued importance of operational efficiency in logistics as retailers look to manage costs in a more price-sensitive market. Rising fuel prices and broader supply chain pressures can squeeze margins even when volumes remain stable.

The company was founded in 1992 and has built a national fulfilment network serving eCommerce merchants across the UK. Its latest figures indicate that, for now, online order volumes have remained steady even as the broader economic backdrop remains uncertain.

A voluntary liquidator has been appointed for Shaw’s Carpentry and Construction Limited a firm that was based in Grove.

On April 17, at a general meeting of the members of the company, it was decided that the business would be wound up voluntarily and that liquidators from Antony Batty & Co would be appointed.

READ MORE: UK swimming pool construction firm in liquidation battle amid £44K debts

On The Guild of Craftsmen website – which Shaw’s was accepted into in June 2017 – the firm was described as carpenters as well as kitchen planners and installers.

The family-run business also delivered house extensions as well as fencing and pergolas, and had built up a strong social media presence with almost 7,000 TikTok followers.

In the period January 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, it had an average number of employees of 10 an increase from 2023 when that number was eight.

READ MORE: Top UK charity’s £350,000 debts to National Lottery and Amazon as jobs lost

However, now those jobs are likely to have been lost.

In its ‘Statement of Affairs’ which is dated April 10, 28 creditors are listed amounting to a total of £318,100.85.

This includes businesses local to Shaw’s as well as well-known brands.

The largest sum is owed to the tax man in VAT, totalling £82,685.01, with £24.875.49 and £34,806.20 also owed to the government in the Construction Industry Scheme and PAYE taxes respectively.

READ MORE: Over 70 creditors owed £736k as housebuilder collapses with jobs lost

Wantage and Grove businesses owed money include CP Jones Roofing Contractors which has logged a £56,198.12 debt and County Plumbing, which is based in Didcot and is owed £12,165.17.

Swindon-based Close Brothers Finance is owed £15,625.36 and Grant and Stone in Buckinghamshire is owed £11,525.31.

Aviva, the insurance business, is listed as a creditor worth £10,426.85, BNP Leasing Solutions wants £13,304.07 and Capital on Tap has logged £23,259.77 debts.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

FICO has added DataOps features to its FICO Platform to support wider AI adoption in businesses.

The update focuses on three areas: data pipeline operations, data quality and validation, and optimisation and decisioning. FICO has brought those elements together within the platform so companies can manage data flows, governance and decisions in one environment.

The move comes as many companies push ahead with AI projects while struggling with the underlying data systems needed to support them. Broken data pipelines, poor data quality and slow governance processes can undermine model performance and make operational decisions harder to explain, particularly in regulated sectors.

FICO said the enhanced platform now treats data quality and governance as a core part of the product. Data inputs can be classified and checked against defined standards before use, while data lineage can be tracked from source to decision and from decision to outcome.

The approach is aimed at organisations that need closer oversight of how data informs automated decisions. Industries such as credit, fraud and collections often face tighter scrutiny over reliability, traceability and compliance when using AI systems in live operations.

Alongside governance, the new DataOps functions are designed to reduce manual work in building, managing and monitoring data pipelines. Their scope includes decision context, data productisation and environment management across pipeline development.

FICO argues that applying software engineering methods such as version control, reproducibility, rollback and continuous integration to data infrastructure can make development cycles shorter and more predictable. In practical terms, teams can spend less time maintaining supporting systems and more time working on models and decisions.

Nikhil Behl, President of Software at FICO, outlined the company’s view of the problem facing AI projects in many organisations.

“The investment in AI is real. The infrastructure to support it, in most organizations, is not. For organizations running credit decisions, fraud detection, or collections operations at scale, the stakes of operational failure are high. A data pipeline that shifts subtly but without detection, a model that drifts without a correction, a deployment that cannot be rolled back safely – any of these can produce suboptimal or even catastrophic decisions that are difficult to explain and create risk of compliance failure,” said Nikhil Behl, President of Software at FICO.

Platform focus

The additions extend FICO’s existing decisioning tools rather than sit beside them as a separate layer. By linking data pipelines with model operations and decisioning, the company is positioning the platform as a system that manages the path from incoming data to business outcome within a governed framework.

For companies adopting AI, that integration addresses a common operational gap. Models may be developed successfully, but if the data arriving in production changes unexpectedly, or if teams cannot trace how a decision was reached, confidence in those systems can weaken quickly.

FICO, known for analytics and decisioning software used across financial services and other industries, has long focused on operational decision-making. The latest update reflects a broader industry trend in which software suppliers are trying to tie AI tools more closely to data management and governance controls.

Businesses in sectors including banking, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare and retail are under pressure to show that AI systems are reliable and accountable. That has pushed demand beyond model building alone towards tools that monitor data quality, document lineage and support rollback when systems behave unexpectedly.

Behl said the company sees the latest update as filling a missing link between data operations and decision management.

“FICO Platform now completes the enterprise intelligence stack, connecting data pipelines, model operations, and decisioning into a single governed environment. From the moment data enters the system to the moment a decision is made, organizations have visibility, control, and confidence at every step,” said Behl.