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Nightfreight announced new Executive Chairman

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

The Nightfreight Group has announced the appointment of Robbie Burns as its new Executive Chairman, which will incorporate the roles and responsibilities of Chairman and Chief Executive. He will be working closely with Peter Louden, Managing Director of the Nightfreight network.

Robbie has been a leading player in the transport and logistics industry for many years, holding a variety of high profile roles. He was the founding Chief Executive of Exel (Logistics) and has held a number of board advisory roles at CTR (Tiphook), Ryder, Tibbett & Britten and Hays. He was the architect of the recent Burns Inquiry into freight taxes and foreign competition on behalf of the RHA and FTA. John Aspin, who has been running the business on a temporary basis, will now resume his position as Non Executive Director of the Nightfreight Group.Robbie commented that: “The UK express freight sector is both dynamic and competitive and has contributed greatly to the growth of the UK economy. Nightfreight will be another new challenge and I am looking forward to helping the team move further forward in both the express freight and 2-man Deliver to Home market segments”.Nightfreight is a specialist delivery business with a well-established national distribution network capable of handling items of all weights and dimensions.

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An Post gets the stamp of approval and delivers profit

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

For a service provider that was on its knees just a few years ago, An Post has engineered a remarkable reversal of its financial fortunes.

Between 2001 and 2003 it made accumulated losses of EUR 67m, having reported a loss of almost EUR 43m in 2003 alone. There was little doubt the organisation was fit for intensive care.

By late 2003, it was selling assets simply to meet its wage bill. For the first time in its history, it resorted to an overdraft, using the facility during the final weeks of that year. An Post had become a financial basket case.

In early 2004, the then chief executive, Donal Curtin, said the company was on a “knife edge”. He sold off the loss-making SDS delivery business and, in the process of shaking up An Post, alienated the unions. But in 2004, An Post returned to the black, making a profit of over EUR 11.6m from continuing operations. In 2005, that rose to EUR 16.2m, but in 2006 it slipped to EUR 14.6m before exceptional items.

However, the overall profit figures were skewed in 2005 and 2006 by the sale of a site on the Naas Road in Dublin, which resulted in a net gain of EUR 94.7m, and by a further EUR 59.3m gain from the company’s Post TS UK and An Post Transaction Services businesses, which were sold to Alphyra. An Post accounts have yet to be released for 2007.

For years the organisation, faced with the prospect of a completely liberalised market from 2011, has been hatching plans to reduce overheads and boost revenue.

That has resulted in its joint venture with Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis, but also in other attempts to revamp the traditional notion of the service.

Among the ideas previously floated has been the elimination, in some areas at least, of direct-to-door postal delivery. Customers might instead be expected to collect their post from the local post office.

None of this has happened yet, and it could an unemployable strategy as An Post gradually reduces the number of rural post offices, in particular, with a view to streamlining the organisation and preparing for a tougher environment.

But part of its plans to shrink its footprint and save money has incensed some interests, particularly some so-called postal contractors, who provide services in mainly rural areas.

There are currently just under 1,300 such outlets, typically located in local shops such as newsagents.

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Swiss Post International strengthens its presence in Sweden

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

Swiss Post is continuing to pursue its international niche strategy. Its international unit, Swiss Post International (SPI), has acquired the Swedish letters processing company IMS Europe AB. It is thus expanding its presence in Scandinavia and will become a key provider in the Swedish postal market. IMS Europe AB, which has a staff of five, generated sales of around CHF 3.6 million in 2007.

The takeover of IMS Europe AB by Swiss Post International (SPI) took place with effect from 1 January 2008. IMS Europe AB is an independent letters processor based in Limhamm, near Malmö in southern Sweden. The company operates with the product groups marketing mail, business mail, business to consumer as well as press and packaging, and generated sales of around CHF 3.6 million in 2007 with five employees. With the takeover, SPI has gained a second foothold in Sweden in addition to its branch in Stockholm. SPI is thus strengthening its position in southern Scandinavia and is advancing to become a key provider in the Swedish postal market. It was agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed.

With the acquisition, Swiss Post is continuing its strategy of generating growth in international niche markets, in line with the strategic objectives set by the Federal Council. In the meantime, Swiss Post already generates 20 percent of its sales abroad and in its cross-border business. Swiss Post International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post and currently employs 1,200 people in eleven European countries, four countries in Asia and the USA. For 2007 SPI is predicting sales of over 1.1 billion Swiss francs. SPI is now number five on the cross-border letters market after Deutsche Post, United States Postal Service, Great Britain’s Royal Mail and France’s La Poste.
1 US Dollar = 1.09657 Swiss Franc

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TNT applies for EU's new AEO status for priority treatment at customs

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

TNT NV said it will apply for EU authorised economic operator (AEO) status, which will allow it to receive priority treatment at European customs when agents inspect shipments.

The new standard, launched Jan 1, is accompanied by increased border control, with the aim to increase security in the international supply chain and to modernise EU customs procedures.

The status gives companies the right of access to simplified procedures.

TNT said: ‘The AEO standard is to express carriers what the green ‘nothing to declare’ line is to individual passengers: a fast-moving and formality-light solution. The officials may inspect your luggage, but normally they won’t.’

The company says it is the first of the main express-services companies to apply for the status.

It said its TNT Post unit applied for the status as a pilot in the Netherlands in December, and now its flagship air hub in Liege is applying for AEO status with the Belgian customs authorities.

The European Commission said although each company must apply for the status with each individual country, it only has to complete the paperwork for the first application. The other countries are expected to grant the status without requiring the process to be repeated.

TNT said it will soon apply for the status for its main operations in the Netherlands as well as in Germany, Ireland and the Czech Republic, with all other EU countries to follow by the middle of the year.

The company said it is providing the authorities with a comprehensive self-assessment, which should allow them to process the application within 90 days instead of 300, and expects to receive full EU-wide accreditation by mid-2009.

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Royal Mail recruits ‘experts’ to boost postal campaigns (UK)

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has ramped up its commitment to improving the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns by recruiting a panel of expert data partners.

The postal operator is setting up the supplier panel as part of its investment in data services. It will enable it to offer customers data solutions across a range of specialisms to ensure new and existing customers are effectively reached via the post.

Once the panel is complete, it will provide expert solutions covering acquisition, retention strategy, data processing, database work and online services for SMEs. Royal Mail has put in place a client services division and a team of data consultants to support the panel.

Dataforce is the first company to join the panel, following the issue of a tender to find five specialist data supply companies. The company is a UK leader in implementing, executing and managing multi-channel, integrated communication campaigns.

Royal Mail Head of Data Strategy Colin Bradshaw says: “The panel builds our credibility as a supplier of key services to the data industry. Going through the tender process means we are able to choose what we believe to be the best companies to meet the needs of our customers.

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Deutsche Post World Net and HP sign letter of intent to transfer global IT functions

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net and HP today announced that they have signed a letter of intent to transfer responsibility for parts of Deutsche Post World Net’s global IT operations to HP Services.

Under the terms of the agreement, Deutsche Post World Net expects to save at least 1 billion euros over the next seven years by driving down overall IT costs and better leveraging IT resources needed to run the business and service customers. The companies expect to reach a definitive agreement by mid 2008.

If an agreement is reached, HP would take over the approximately 2,500 employees who currently provide the services for Deutsche Post World Net’s data center operations – including information & data management, infrastructure & network management, and application management. Specifically this would cover IT operations in Prague, the Czech Republic, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Cyberjaya, Malaysia, as well as in a number of European countries.

All applications used by Deutsche Post World Net customers will continue to be designed, developed and governed internally, including IT security standards and their implementation. Deutsche Post World Net will also retain the Professional Services and Customer Integration Supply Management components of its IT Services unit, including project management, project consulting, application development and deployment services, as well as electronic data integration for its messaging and supply chain programs.

Managing and transforming IT infrastructures and data centers are core competences of HP, not only at customers but also within the company. HP has distinctive knowledge and experience in transforming IT environments to support Deutsche Post World Net for better business outcomes.

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Malaysian express firm targets strong growth under new management

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

Malaysian parcels company GD Express (GDEX), one of the largest independent players in the country’s expanding express market, is targeting strong growth in 2008 under a new CEO.

With effect from January 1, Teong Teck Lean resigned as chief executive officer, paving the way for his former deputy chief executive Leong Chee Tong to assume the position. This was part of the company’s succession plan, GDEX said in a statement. Teong will remain deputy chairman and oversee group strategy.

GDEX will expand parcel handling capacity at its head office substantially later this year with the implementation of a new integrated hub management system (IHMS) that will take daily capacity to 60,000 items from 25,000 at present, the locally-based newspaper The Edge reported. The company will also add 30 more vehicles.

Leong was cited as saying that GDEX aims to broaden its services into logistics as companies started to outsource more operations.

Outgoing CEO Teong noted that competition was intensifying due to price competition, rising costs and higher customer expectations. GDEX did not exclude acquisitions in order to grow its business as the industry consolidated, he added.

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3 New Direct Marketing Associations join FEDMA Membership

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

FEDMA has increased its DMA membership by welcoming three new national Direct Marketing Associations from Croatia, Latvia and Turkey.

The adherence of these three DMAs demonstrates how FEDMA remains the unique voice of the European direct and interactive marketing industry attracting new markets within Europe and beyond.

By joining FEDMA, the Croatian, Latvian and the Turkish DMA will work closely with both FEDMA and the other 25 DMAs in FEDMA membership at an international level in order to protect, promote and inform the industry.

“We are delighted to welcome the Croatian, Latvian and the Turkish DMA into FEDMA Membership. Although they are located in very different countries, each DMA has similar challenges and opportunities since they are all in a new, but growing, DM markets. Together with our other DMAs and members, FEDMA will promote, inform and protect the industry, which are the three pillars of our mission statement” said Alastair Tempest, Director General of FEDMA.

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