John Allan has begun German lessons as he sees Exel’s merger with DHL Logistics as a chance to finish the job he started, he tells Angela Jameson.
Read MoreDeutsche Post said Monday it will pay about USD443 million for a 75 percent stake in Britain’s Williams Lea Group Ltd. with an eye toward acquiring it completely. The company said Williams Lea should bolster its own document management and logistics business. Under the terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, Williams Lea will operate independently of Deutsche Post and keep its board of directors. “We have been very impressed with Williams Lea and its management team. They have demonstrated an impeccable track record for delivering growth, integrating acquisitions and delivering a best-in-class service to clients,” said Hans-Dieter Petram, a member of Deutsche Post’s board. He added that that the company would help augment its DHL Global Mail. “We see considerable potential to leverage our world class mail and logistics capability in adding more value to Williams Leas customer proposition,” Petram said. Currently, 38 percent of Williams Lea is owned by the venture capital firm 3i Group.
Read MoreDeutsche Post World Net will take a majority stake in Williams Lea, a business process outsourcing (BPO) provider specializing in document management and mail services. Headquartered in London, Great Britain, Williams Lea is a leading provider of value-added document and mail-related services, offering a wide range of products in the areas of print management, mailroom management, document management as well as direct marketing. As the number one service provider in the UK and Europe, Williams Lea has significantly strengthened its international presence through organic and acquisitive growth, especially in the USA. With the acquisition of a majority stake in Williams Lea, Deutsche Post World Net strengthens not only the presence of its brand DHL Global Mail in foreign mail markets, but also builds upon the breadth of its global mail services. This strengthens the overall position of the Deutsche Post World Net Group as the leading one-stop-shop for the provision of express, logistics and mail services.
Read MoreRoyal Mail faces another multi-million-pound fine this week from industry regulator Postcomm over using its dominance in the postal market to thwart competition. The action comes a week after the state-owned postal operator was fined pounds 11.7m for losing millions of items of mail. Its timing is also sensitive because the market was only opened to full competition at the beginning of last month. Postcomm has been investigating the terms on which Royal Mail gives access to its network of postmen to rival companies, enabling them to process bulk business post such as bills and mailshots. It is thought Postcomm has found that Royal Mail has gained an unfair advantage because there has not been adequate separation of its wholesale division, which deals with and offers terms to rival operators, and its retail arm, which offers products and prices direct to customers such as banks.
Read MoreThe Royal Mail was hit by a huge GBP11.7 million fine today over the loss or late delivery of millions of letters. The financial penalty, on top of a previous fine of GBP7.5 million, was imposed by the industry’s regulator Postcomm, which accused the postal group of “serious breaches” of its licence obligations. Consumer group Postwatch said it supported the “tough stance” taken against the Royal Mail, but maintained that the fine should have been higher. The Royal Mail announced that it would appeal against the fine, which it described as “unfair”. Postcomm Chairman Nigel Stapleton said: “Customers are entitled to expect that when they post mail, it will reach its destination.
Royal Mail is a large and highly decentralised organisation and it is essential there are controls in place to ensure that procedures for protecting mail are being followed across the company.”
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