Network has big plans for Europe
EuroExpress, the independent distribution consortium, has pledged to double its coverage from 10 to 21 member countries and believes it can take the fight to postal authorities, integrators and their many subsidiaries.
The organisation has averaged 12% growth in recent years, but new chairman David Burtenshaw, chief executive of Lynx Express, says future growth rates can top 20%. He is convinced that a network of market-leading domestic parcel operators, linked by effective linehaul systems, can dominate the pan-European road distribution sector.
EuroExpress has undertaken a period of quiet rebuilding under president Heidi Senger-Weiss of Gebrüder Weiss in Austria, investing significant sums in state-of-the-art IT and trading systems.
The previous EuroExpress board was convened from general management representatives and was focused on internal tariffs, operational matters and linehaul structures. A reconstituted executive board comprising major players in European distribution is now preparing for the next phase.
Luigi Rosso is chief executive of Bartolini, Italy’s largest distribution company; Juan Quitana is chief executive of express distribution at Azkar, which has more than 20% of the Spanish market; Jean-Marie Broussaud heads French operator Sernam; and Manfred Haas of Pracht represents Germany, Europe’s largest parcel market.
Burtenshaw says: “Board members will have a more hands-on role in the future direction of the group, enabling us to seize the obvious commercial opportunities ahead of us.
“A number of the shared networks, even integrators and postal services, have oversold their coverage of the market. By bringing these chief executives together in what is by far the largest independent network, we are finding that panEuropean group accounts are prepared to talk to us – we are seen as a serious entity.” EuroExpress will have full coverage of western Europe by the end of this year and aims to recruit like-minded operators in eastern Europe.
Burtenshaw said this was in response to customer demand, but the network needed to locate companies that could match existing members’ service culture.
“We don’t under-estimate the size of the challenge and we have to be careful we don’t compromise the network by taking new members on board too soon. But I would hope by this time next year we would have at least a foothold in 21 markets.”
