Lynx invests in The Netherlands as part of European Expansion
Parcels carrier Lynx Express is investing € 10m in the Netherlands as part of a European expansion plan which will see international traffic build to 25% of its business within five years.
Negotiations are under way for new hub premises in the Utrecht area and the company will put 100 vehicles on the Dutch roads by the end of next year, five times the size of its current fleet.
A founder member of the Euro Express network. Lynx established a direct presence in the Netherlands two years ago when its Dutch counterpart, Van Gend & Loos, was bought by Deutsche Post.
With facilities in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, Lynx now handles 10,000 shipments a month to the Netherlands and 40,000 outbound.
Lynx has doubled its European business to €40m in the last 18 months but this still
represents only T of its turnover. Chief executive David Burtenshaw said the international market was growing at more than 20% compared with domestic growth rates of 5-6%
“It is obvious that the future lies in cross-border parcels movements in Europe,” he said. “You can’t continue to he a little Englander.”
In the crowded and price-sensitive Dutch express distribution market, Lynx has adopted
the strategy of offering a broad
product portfolio, delivering parcels overnight by road, to home addresses, and in-night to service engineers’ vehicles or secure pick-up points. “There are a lot of capable players here, so it was important differentiate our business,” said European director Nick Basford.
The Dutch operation will focus initially on medium and large clients. UK distribution contract wins from inultina
tionals have paved the way for similar services in Europe, while JJB Sports, from which Lynx clinched a UK retail distribution deal earlier this year, is now opening its first stores in the Netherlands.
Lynx is also investing in Germany, where Frankfurt will become a full gateway with order processing and consolidation capability.
• The terrorist attacks and anthrax scares in the US have delayed the commercial launch of Lynx Express’s partnership with the US Postal Service.
° Because USPS will sort and deliver in the US, Lynx has access not just to the home delivery sector, but to P0 boxes, enabling it to attack the B2B market.
But just 100-200 parcels a night are currently going into the US system. Burtenshaw said: “We’ve got the IT and the clearance organised. We will start selling aggressively in January and will roll out the service formally in February.”
