November 2000

A new spin has been put on the rapid home delivery business by Beck & Call, the latest last-mile specialist to hit the London scene. Web shoppers using specified sites (among them Amazon.com, BOL, BigSave, Boden and Best of British) enter the address of Beck & Call's west London warehouse as their delivery point. When the goods arrive, Beck & Call notifies the customer (by SMS, email or phone), and offers free delivery within 15 minutes to either side of any nominated time between 7am and 11pm. The e-tailers themselves carry the cost.

Founders include Benedict Ely, a former intellectual property rights lawyer, and Charles Doyle, an investment banker who has worked with JP Morgan and latterly Robert Fleming. The company is promoting the friendly, local nature of the service (it currently operates just in the Fulham area), but further bases are planned in London and elsewhere. It is using distinctive yellow scooters and Ape scooter-based three-wheeler vans to make the deliveries.