PostNL buys Dutch courier firm “with a social heart”
PostNL has acquired a small express company in the Netherlands that has a niche in providing jobs for chronically ill and disabled people. The Dutch postal operator said the addition of Valid Express from the DOEN Foundation, for an undisclosed amount, provides it with a “nationwide courier network with a social heart”.
In particular, PostNL suggested it would now be able to offer a new kind of same-day delivery option for retailers and ecommerce merchants, who will be able to support vulnerable people in the shipping they offer.
Valid Express was started up in Amsterdam in 1999 by social entrepreneur Nicolette Mak, whose motive originally was to help her disabled brother, who had been unable to find a job.
The company started with one car and one customer, and now has about 600 customers and 23 vehicles, with 60 employees, about 90% of whom have some form of disability.
Valid has branches in Amsterdam, The Hague/Rotterdam and Utrecht, picking up items in and around these cities for delivery to any address in the Netherlands, partnering with other couriers and subcontractors to reach the whole country.
Offering services including a rush 30-minute option, same-day, overnight delivery and an export forwarding service, Valid has a turnover of about EUR 2.2m a year.
“Social ambition”
Gerrit Mastenbroek, PostNL Parcels, said he expected a lot of interest among his customers for the new service.
“This way, retailers and webshops can differentiate themselves even more from their competitors,” he said.
Mastenbroek said the acquisition came as PostNL Parcels increasingly sees the preferences of parcel recipients becoming increasingly diverse.
“The customer wants increasingly more influence on where and when the parcel is delivered,” he said. “With the acquisition of Valid Express we can deliver parcels even faster and give further meaning to our social ambition.”
PostNL said former shareholder the DOEN Foundation, a seed funding agency supporting entrepreneurs in sustainable, cultural or social fields, was “delighted” with the acquisition.
