A UK zero-emission delivery company that uses electric cargo bikes and trikes from city-edge hubs to carry parcels and goods in more than ten UK cities.
Zedify delivers parcels and goods in UK cities using electric cargo bikes and trikes rather than vans. It collects loads at small hubs on the edge of city centres, called microhubs, and rides them to shops, offices and homes. It handles the first and last stages of a journey for retailers, national parcel carriers and hundreds of local independent businesses. The company says its service produces over 90 per cent less carbon per parcel than urban delivery by electric van and that all its deliveries are zero emission. Its own software supports the hub and delivery work.
Zedify was founded in 2018 by Rob King and Sam Keam, who had each run a small cycle delivery business, King in Cambridge and Keam in Brighton. King has said the idea began years earlier after a lift from a cycling courier in York. The company's stated aim is to become the "go-to green solution for last-mile delivery in the UK" and, in King's words, to offer "better deliveries and better cities". It has said it hopes to reach 50 UK cities. It also says it wants to avoid being used for greenwashing, meaning only looking green.
Zedify reported operating in ten UK city locations in 2021 and 2023, among them Bristol, which opened in January 2021, and London through a licensed network that began with support from Waltham Forest Council. It was planning Manchester and Birmingham in 2023, and a Plymouth launch was reported in 2022. It runs some depots itself and uses franchises in others to encourage local ownership. Those reports are dated, and we did not confirm the current list of cities.
On people and culture, Zedify says its couriers are directly employed on the real Living Wage rather than being self-employed gig workers, and it is accredited as a Living Wage employer. The company reports 120 Living Wage jobs created and 600,000 van journeys removed from roads, which are its figures. A reviewer on Escape the City described the team as upbeat and quick to give recognition, and the head office team is described as fully remote with a four-day working week, though that description may be dated.
Jobs include cycle and trike couriers, depot and hub staff who sort parcels, local managers and franchise partners, and a smaller head office team covering software, sales, operations and finance. If you like being active, care about air quality and climate, and want to see how a city really works, a company like this lets you do useful work that is easy to explain to friends. It is also a good example of how a small start-up can take on a problem facing every UK city.
Website: zedify.co.uk
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