City Link wins £3m wine deal
Struggling UK courier City Link has received a welcome boost after winning a contract from one of the country’s leading wine merchants. Internet retailer Laithwaites has awarded the firm – owned by Rentokil Initial – a £3m contract to deliver wine from its distribution centre in Gloucester.
The deal will see City Link handle almost a third of the wine merchant’s volumes, with the retailer using the courier’s 48-hour service as a standard. Customers will also have the option of next day delivery.
Laithwaites’ carrier operations manager Lee Andreas said: “The improvements in technology which City Link has introduced over the last couple of years have given us the opportunity to enhance our customer service offering. Additionally the new MyCityLink service gives us a much higher level of visibility than would normally be experienced in the market: it is a superior service.”
Originally called Bordeaux Direct, Laithwaites was formed in 1969, with a customer base of 150. The company now makes more than 3m deliveries a year.
Last month, Post&Parcel reported that City Link made an operating loss of £17.8m for H1 – £13.1m worse than the corresponding loss made in 2010, on a £22.6m (13.5%) drop in revenue.
