We didn't set the world on fire. We don't have millions of listeners. And we still don't really know who's listening.

But we do know this: supply chain is one of the most interesting, most misunderstood and most important industries in the world — and nobody was making a British podcast about it in a way that felt real. So we did.

In this episode Keith Dupres and Dan Culverhouse look back at ten weeks of Under the Pallet Wrap. What worked. What didn't. What surprised them about each other, about their audience, and what comes next.

If you've been listening from the start — thank you. This one's for you.

If you're new — welcome. You've picked a good moment to join.

It's a question that comes up in almost every conversation about warehouse operations — and the answer is almost always more complicated than the person asking it expects.

In this episode, Keith Dupres and Dan Culverhouse dig into the reality behind the automation conversation. When it's the right answer. When it absolutely isn't. What happens when a system that was supposed to solve everything stops working and you can't get to the stock. And why the business case you're presented with is rarely the whole picture.

Dan has spent a career delivering large-scale automation projects across multiple sectors and countries. Keith has spent a career walking into operations where the decisions have already been made — and working out what to do next.

Between them: a frank, experienced and occasionally uncomfortable conversation about one of supply chain's most exciting — and most misunderstood — topics.

If you're considering automation, have been told automation is the answer, or have ever been in a building when the generator ran out of fuel — this one is for you.

Cut marketing. Cut people. Cut costs. Move fast and hope it's enough.

In this episode, Keith Dupres and Dan Culverhouse dig into what actually happens when the volume slows down — and why the brands that come out strongest aren't the ones who cut fastest. They're the ones who used the quiet period to fix what they'd been living with.

From slow-moving stock sitting in warehouses to processes nobody had time to question, to the founder who had no idea a carpet could save them thousands — this episode is about using downtime properly before someone forces you to.

If your operation has things you've been meaning to fix but never had time to, this one is for you.

In this episode, Keith Dupres and Dan Culverhouse get into the conversation most founders aren't having — the one about what's quietly bleeding your business while you're focused on the next campaign, the next launch, the next market.

Fulfilment costs have overtaken marketing as the biggest barrier to growth for UK e-commerce businesses. Not because founders are failing. Because the environment has changed faster than anyone's operation could keep up with.

We talk about what's actually going wrong inside scaling businesses, why hiring a six-figure ops director isn't always the answer, and why the fractional option — the one that gets you experienced hands in weeks not months — is still the best kept secret in e-commerce.

If something in your operation doesn't feel right and you can't put your finger on it, this one's for you.

A customer drops off a return. A few days later, a refund lands in their account. Simple, right?

Behind that simplicity sits an entire industry most customers never think about. Dan Culverhouse and Keith Dupres pull back the curtain on what actually happens to a return once it leaves the customer's hands, the sorting, the grading, the decision on whether something can be resold or has to be written off entirely.

They cover the real cost of a return, often as much as 60% of the product's original value once everything is accounted for, the rise of bracketing and serial returners, and whether AI grading, better sizing tools, and store credit can genuinely move the needle.

They also disagree. Should retailers be allowed to charge for returns, or does that just punish the customer for a problem the industry built? And is the resale and vintage boom the quiet solution nobody's properly capitalised on yet?

No tidy conclusion, just an honest conversation about an industry that's been allowed to grow unchecked for years, and is finally being forced into the spotlight.

Keith bought a Sony TV from Argos. He thought about the South London depot. He thought about Sony. He stopped there.

He didn't think about where it was assembled, where the screen came from, the chips, the rare earth metals in the components. He's spent 30 years in supply chain and he stopped at the depot.

In this episode Keith and Dan get into the question most of us avoid: do we actually know what we're buying — and does it matter?

They cover the brand as a proxy for everything we don't ask about, the £8 dress paradox, what happens to the return you sent back without a second thought, and the Digital Product Passport — the legislation that by 2027 will legally require brands to make their supply chain visible after 30 years of designing it to be invisible.

They also disagree. Dan thinks the consumer has a responsibility. Keith thinks that's a comfortable story that lets everyone off the hook — and that policy and producer accountability are the only mechanisms that create change at scale.

No tidy conclusion. Just an honest conversation about something neither of them fully lives up to either.

Every leader thinks they're helping. Most don't realise when they've become the problem.

From staying at the office until 11pm answering questions nobody else could, to taking over an entire operation across another country for three months and not knowing how to stop - this is an honest conversation about the moments that taught them the most.

When does micromanagement have its place? What does it take to let go? And is walking away ever the bravest thing you can do?

If you lead a team, run an operation or work for someone who won't get out of the way - this one will feel familiar.

In episode three of Under the Pallet Wrap, Keith and Dan get into the detail. What automation can and can't replace, why the humans who've done the job will always matter, and what the next generation of supply chain professionals actually needs to learn.

If you work in ops, logistics or eCommerce - or you're just wondering whether your career is safe - this one's for you.

In episode two Keith and Dan get into the detail — unpacking one of the most misunderstood questions in ecommerce and operations.

Dan breaks it down to three questions every founder and ops leader should be asking before anything else: when, what and how much. Get those wrong and everything downstream suffers.

If you're running an ecommerce business, managing procurement, or just trying to get your operation under control, this one will make you think differently about where your real problems begin.

They unpack the experiences, lessons, challenges, and moments across their careers that shaped how they think about supply chains, operations, leadership, and business today.

It’s an honest, insightful, and grounded conversation about the realities behind the industry, the people within it, and why these discussions matter now more than ever.

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