Proper Music Group, the largest independent distributor in the UK, has signed a new global fulfilment deal for Southern Record Distributors’ (SRD) roster of indie labels.

Proper will now manage SRD’s pick, pack and ship and warehousing for its vast exclusive label base, currently numbering around 200 and spanning all genres, including Light In The Attic (Rodriguez, Lee Hazlewood), Kompakt (The Field, Gas), Daptone (Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley), and Text (Four Tet), as well as The Leaf Label, Tresor and Melodic.

Since its formation in 1987, SRD has become a prominent and well-respected distributor, providing a specialist and independent service to hundreds of shops, stores and online platforms.

The gradual move from the Dagenham HQ to Proper’s new home in Dartford means that SRD’s labels and customers will experience a seamless transition, with SRD and Proper benefitting from both parties’ broad and established customer databases.

The new 100,000ft², purpose-built warehouse more than quadruples Proper’s existing space, and will introduce state of the art automated systems, further improving capacity and efficiency across operations not only for SRD, but for all existing clients as well.

Drew Hill, Managing Director at Proper, commented: “It is a pleasure to start work with Andy and Steve, and we are happy to help protect the independence of one of Europe’s biggest distributors. We are proud to expand and develop our client roster as the opening of our new warehouse draws ever closer.”

Andy Slocombe, joint Managing Director at SRD with Steve Collins, said: “Steve and I have a responsibility to our labels and to the business to make the best decisions for our future. Handing over responsibility for logistics to a third party is a tried-and-tested model, and we are entirely confident that working with Drew and his team at Proper is the right road to pursue.”

About Proper Music Group
Proper Music Group is a full services company providing everything from global physical and digital distribution to artist and label services, publishing, online retail and its own record label. Clients are able to tap into as much or as little of Proper’s offering as fits their needs.

Its distribution arm, Proper Music Distribution – the largest totally independent distributor in the UK – is renowned for having the knowledge, experience and personal service of an independent specialist coupled with the reach and power of a major. The company represents over five percent of the UK physical recorded music market, handling over 1,000,000 titles at any time. This year, it won the coveted Sales Team award at the 2017 Music Week Awards.

Latest accounts show the year to 31st March 2016 was one of Proper’s best yet with profits of over £280,000 – up from last year’s record figure – and an overall turnover of over £21 million.

Proper is listed in the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2015 report compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

www.propermusicgroup.com