Courier news -

City Sprint offer a way forward for those wanting to exit the industry -

After 16 years of growth the Office of National Statistics has continued to paint a gloomy picture of the economy. In its January (23rd) announcement it commented that the economy fell by 1.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 followed by a 0.6 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.
Essentially these figures = recession.

This comes as no surprise to many of us; not least because of the regular media reports detailing rising unemployment and inflation and the falling pound. As businesses look to reduce their expenditure service companies can often be amongst the worst hit. In fact, the services sector, which accounts for three-quarters of the economy, shrank by 1 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 alone.

Although does it have to be all doom and gloom? Many people, myself included, see the potential benefits which can be derived by fresh and innovative thinking packaged as customer relevant services. It is true that many service companies will feel the effect as companies look to reduce their expenditure. However, is it possible for those who can enable customers to cost-effectively outsource their service requirements to benefit? If competitors are struggling, not focused on their customers, isn’t this a unique opportunity to take market share? Whilst the majority of businesses will be looking at ways to reduce their outgoings, they do, however, still have to continue to trade in order to be able to weather the storm. This means that there are still many businesses out there looking for more reliable and cost effective partners who can add value to their business.

Regardless of the economic situation I believe there will always be opportunity for organisations which focus on delivering this added value to their customers through services which are provided in the right way, for the right price and most importantly relevant to their client’s needs today.

In 2002, CitySprint was acquired from its previous US owners through an MBO. Since that time it has grown year on year. In the past 2 years alone revenue has increased from £38 million to £50 million, which equates to c6500 ‘dockets per day’. Currently, on any given day, we operate a liveried GPS’d fleet of around 1500 couriers, which is a 7 per cent increase on last year, and we believe the largest national dedicated SameDay fleet in the UK. We also have a solid and diverse service portfolio and have worked hard to successfully achieve a professional and standardised service across each of our 30+ wholly owned regional ServiceCentres.

Despite the economic outlook we, at CitySprint, are committed to our growth and sector consolidation strategy and see the future as ‘more of the same’; growth by focusing on organic expansion and through strategic add-on acquisitions. We are determined and well equipped to maintain our strong foothold in the industry and to continue to achieve significant market share in a fragmented arena.

Our organic growth has been fuelled by our innovative approach to the development of new services and investment in our ServiceCentre and direct sales staff. During the past couple of years we have also been leading the industry in the development of cutting-edge technologies which provide our customers and operators with unrivalled levels of live tracking transparency.

Our technology solutions have been well received by the industry and general business community. During 2008 CitySprint was chosen as one of the ten finalists for the ‘Orange Best Use of Technology in Business’ award category of the National Business Awards 2008.

We also identified the real need for secure services and, in response, developed SecureData Courier. This is a premium SameDay Courier service which has a number of unique features, such as the use of a single, dedicated ‘solo’ courier assigned to each delivery and a specialist support team to assist with bookings and ensure the delivery is achieved exactly to the customer’s requirements. With the SecureData Courier service the package is delivered to the addressee only, as opposed to the offices or reception of the recipient, ensuring a seamless and secure hand-over. Our business development is driven by industry need and it is fresh-thinking such as this which recently helped us secure a multi-million pound contract with the MoD.

Our innovative approach to environmental options has also received industry recognition. Conventional wisdom is that the tougher the financial climate, the further environmental issues slip down the agenda. In times of recession companies look to reduce expenditure and become more conscious of the premium usually associated with environmental options. CitySprint’s refreshing approach to CSR means that our environmental options don’t carry a premium. We work in partnership with our customers enabling them to take advantage of environmental solutions as and when relevant and appropriate. Therefore, in times such as these, our customers won’t have to compromise and choose between business-sense and being environmental as the options we provide our customers carry both labels.

We believe that further strengthening our network capacity in the UK, and therefore our ability to support our customers and couriers, will also help us not only weather the economic storm but continue our growth momentum as purchasers and decision makers recognise us as a stable and reliable provider.
At a time when many companies are choosing to streamline their operations we remain committed to our regional network, the benefits it provides our customers and the positive contribution it makes to the local economies we operate in. Our dedicated infrastructure which comprises 30+ ServiceCentres is unique to the SameDay courier industry. It gives us scale and resource which is unrivalled; whether customers are local or multi-site.

The most recent testament of our commitment to our network was the successful acquisition of central Birmingham based PBS which was finalised in October 2008. This acquisition enabled us to further strengthen our Midlands operations. As part of the business deal we also took on the existing offices and the senior management. Four months on, the majority of couriers and all the staff continue to be part of CitySprint. Most importantly the PBS customers have experienced an overall improvement in the range of services they now receive and our increased Birmingham fleet is now even better able to meet needs of all our clients – local and national.

Organic growth combined with carefully selected acquisitions, such as PBS, helped us achieve a year on year growth rate of 16% per cent in the regions (all ServiceCentres outside of London) in 2008, our fifth successive year of double digit growth. The right acquisitions, amongst other things, help us continue to improve our service reach and scale. We are always very interested to talk to businesses who believe they can provide a complementary fit to our SameDay network, whether on a full or partial exit. CitySprint is 100% management owned and operated and we therefore take the job of integrating new acquisitions and the relevant staff very seriously, so that we all achieve a ‘win win’ and crucially ensure that the customers experience tangible benefit and added value.

The coming months will be a challenge for all of us – who really knows what the effect on our sector will be? However fresh, relevant and innovative customer focused applications will help organisations such as ours ensure that our services are relevant, and more importantly, that we have customers. Hopefully, ‘when we come through the other side’ we will be even stronger as a result.

If you are considering an exit or sale and would be interested in talking to CitySprint then please contact me in the strictest of confidence,
Ben Haynes Managing Director, Regions – bhaynes@citysprint.co.uk