PACKAGING MADE BETTER.
Simplelifeco started with a simple ambition: to build a business that could grow, make a difference and leave things a little better than we found them.
The business has changed considerably since 2019. That ambition hasn't.
A SMALL START. A BIGGER IDEA.
Simplelifeco began in a spare room in Cardiff in 2019.
The original idea wasn't packaging at all. It was gardening — a brand built around greener living and encouraging people to make more considered choices.
As the business grew, so did the operation. Before long, the spare room had spilled into a living room that looked suspiciously like an understaffed Royal Mail sorting office at Christmas.
But growth also exposed a problem we couldn't ignore.
WE WANTED TO SELL PRODUCTS WITHOUT CREATING A MOUNTAIN OF PLASTIC TO SEND THEM.
The more products we sent, the more obvious the packaging problem became.
Single-use plastic was everywhere — and finding practical alternatives wasn't nearly as easy as it should have been.
If we were struggling with it, other businesses would be too.
That became the opportunity.
SO WE CHANGED THE BUSINESS.
In early 2020, Simplelifeco began shifting its focus from gardening to packaging.
We started developing and sourcing alternatives designed for the realities of running a business: packaging that needed to protect products, perform properly, look good and offer a more considered choice.
One product became a range. A range became a packaging business.
And Simplelifeco began to grow.
WE NEEDED MORE ROOM.
In 2021, Simplelifeco moved into its warehouse in the South Wales Valleys — or, as it's been known ever since, The Gemba.
Gemba is a Japanese term for “the real place”: the place where the work happens and value is created.
We discovered the idea while reading about continuous improvement and it stuck immediately. It also sounds considerably better than “the warehouse”.
This is where Simplelifeco products are stored, packed and prepared for businesses across the UK and Europe today.
GROWTH CHANGED THE SCALE. NOT THE STANDARD.
As Simplelifeco grew, so did the range — from ecommerce mailers and inner packaging to paper packaging developed for bakeries, cafés, makers and food businesses.
But adding more products was never the goal on its own.
We want every product we introduce to solve a genuine packaging problem and make a better option easier for businesses to choose.
GROWTH IS GOOD. HOW YOU GROW MATTERS.
In 2023, Simplelifeco became a Certified B Corporation.
Certification measures far more than the products a company sells. It looks at how a business operates and its impact across workers, communities, customers, governance and the environment.
For Simplelifeco, becoming a B Corp wasn't a change of direction.
It was a commitment to keep moving in the same one.
FROM ONE IDEA TO A GROWING PACKAGING BRAND.
Today, Simplelifeco supplies packaging to businesses across the UK and Europe — from independent makers and growing ecommerce brands to bakeries, cafés and food businesses.
Our products travel considerably further than that spare room in Cardiff ever suggested they would.
And we're still building.
New products. Better materials. Smarter packaging. More businesses making more considered choices.