Swiss Post subsidiary MailSource invests in the UK
MailSource, Swiss Post’s subsidiary for the management of internal company postal services, is building up its market position after a two-year start-up period in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Italy: on 2 September 2002 MailSource took over Mailroom Management Services Ltd (MMS), one of the UK market leaders in its core business of internal postal services. Swiss Post’s foothold in international markets will reinforce its leadership in Switzerland and will enable MailSource to offer both Swiss and global major customers cross-border services.
MailSource AG has built up a strong position over the past two years by taking on and managing company postal services and related in-house services. The Swiss Post subsidiary – founded in April 2000 – enables companies to outsource their internal and external postal services. It also manages archives, executes copy and print orders, operates reception services and performs courier tasks. MailSource currently has a staff of 274 and in 2001 it reported sales of 21 million Swiss francs. Its biggest customers in Switzerland include Swisscom, Swiss, sunrise, Ringier AG, Reka, Swissmedic, GEMedical, Jean Frei AG, Swiss Post and in Italy the ENI Group.
Having established branches in Liechtenstein and Italy, MailSource AG is now expanding its operations in Europe and is entering the UK market by taking over Mailroom Management Services Ltd (MMS). This company, which specializes in internal postal services, is one of the market leaders in the UK. Established in 1993, MMS has a staff of 620 (50 of whom work in Scotland) and generated sales last year of some 50 million Swiss francs. The takeover by MailSource AG will not result in any job losses. Key customers of MMS include Deutsche Bank, Shell, British Airways, the auditing and consulting firm KPMG and public authorities. The UK acquisition will enable the Swiss Post subsidiary MailSource to gain entry to an attractive European market for the outsourcing business: hiving off these business processes is already common practice in the UK and US. This market grew by 17% last year in the US.
In line with international strategy
The entry into the British market is opening up growth opportunities in an affiliated area for Swiss Post. Swiss and global large customers will be offered cross-border service. This undertaking will enhance Swiss Post’s international strategy. With its own national companies in the US, France, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, and by entering into alliances with TNT, General Parcel, Porta a Porta and Hermes General Service, Swiss Post International aims to bolster Swiss Post’s market leadership in Switzerland and provide customers with access to the top international networks.
